Live Art Ritual

“A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviours that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning.”

We all engage in rituals, from everyday actions like drinking a cup of coffee in the morning or applying makeup, to sacred rites or components of ceremony. Rituals range in significance, scale, duration, and frequency. They can be performed with significant objects, with the voice, with the environment, or with the body. They can also be performed alone, or with a partner or group.

You will create a Live Art Ritual, individually or as part of a pair, which follows a written script or score. This ritual will disrupt the notion that a ritual is performed “regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning”. You will be highly conscious! Big Brain Conscious!

As you create your ritual, you will also document moments of magic. This exercise will help attune you to noticing extraordinary moments within the mundane or everyday, as well as hone your on-the-go documentation skills.

Your Live Art Ritual can be performed live in class, in which case it must not exceed 5 minutes in length, or it may be performed outside of class and documented in photos and/or video. If the latter, your presentation of the documented ritual must not exceed 5 minutes. If you decide to work in a pair, you will have double the length of in-class presentation time. You may invite your classmates to participate in the ritual. We will share our rituals in class on Wednesday September 24th. An artist statement, script/score, documentation of the piece, and a selection 3-5 of moments of magic are due on the blog by Monday September 29th.

The Live Art Ritual gives you a framework in which to engage with script/score-making for live art. It invites you to consider the significance of personal, cultural, spiritual, etc. “rituals” that you may already be familiar with, and creatively re-interpret those rituals to give them a new significance.

GRADING CRITERIA

Concept (5 points): The ritual the student has chosen has been carefully researched and planned. The student references artist(s) reviewed in class and/or situates their ritual in relation to personal/experimental themes. If touching upon traditional or cultural knowledge that is not their own, the student demonstrates respectful engagement. The overall concept demonstrates critical and creative thinking.

Execution (10 points): Evidence of time invested in the creation of this artwork; high level of ambition. The student has demonstrated what they have learned throughout this unit through use of Live Art methodologies. The artwork succeeds in garnering the student’s desired outcomes: effect, affect, etc. The students’ use of props, gestures, voice, etc. are highly considered and relevant to their piece. The artwork, if presented live in-class, is a maximum of 5 minutes long. If performed outside of class and documented, the documentation presented is high-quality, legible, and accurately imparts a sense of the live performance.

Communication (5 points): The written artist statement and in-class introduction both clearly articulate the student’s intention for the work and the process they took to make it. The student demonstrates in-depth understanding of their artwork in relation to the assignment. Documentation is high-quality, legible, and accurately imparts a sense of the live performance. The student has included the script or score for their work in the final blog post.

20 points total (20% of final grade)