Winding down...

This semester is coming to an end. A welcome one of sorts. I did have a lot of good times in the past four months. I feel adjusted to San Antonio living, schooling, commuting. I have finally felt good about my work and situation here, unlike the Fall semester that was a shock to my system. I was feeling a bit burned out from the first two months of the year, all the sleeping at school, planning and installing of the exhibition at Blue Star took a toll. The rest of the semester has been catch up from then, trying to pull together ideas and seeing what can work in the remaining time. Both in the Blue Star performance piece, and current work, I have pulled back some. Whereas last semester I had been relying almost absolutely on my participation with people, I would seek them out, and success was measured almost solely on whether my experiments would show feedback; No Talking, Just Typing has allowed me to set up an experiment in a safe location. Safe as far as the gallery is designated as an art space, and I am not meeting strangers from CraigsList in strange locations. I perform, people react. I can get into a character, an office clerk that does not talk, except for the abrupt distorted announcements calling the next participant over the PA system. The stress is different. Being on for three or four hours is rough sometimes. But I've been having a lot of fun with the piece in the last two sessions. People stand right behind me, sit around me at times. That freaked me out on the first occasion, but I have learned to relinquish my personal space even more, and I am ok with people that close when I'm on. (When I'm at the bus stop, please don't come within6 inches, that's just rude.)