Monday
June 18 “Insight”
documentation written by Alex Fayer (21)
Intention: “In 2027 we will all be much closer to nature: eat organically, wear clothes from organic materials, and be much more at peace with ourselves and with the world.”
On the 18th of June we pulled a card in which someone wished for closer harmony between humans and nature. We went outside and explored the idea of what closeness to nature means and then A.B. tried to physicalize what that all meant. He went and relaxed in the roots of a tree and then we all joined in: some in the roots, others in the branches. We then did our first performance—we did what we had just done, but without the tree. Some people walked slowly and relaxed on the ground, then others “climbed” the ground and lounged. We went inside just as it started to rain.
Tuesday
June 19 “Spreading World Peace”
documentation written by Selena Lester (14)
Intention: “In 2024 the world is at peace. People live in harmony, and the cubs won their 10th straight world series.”
Lori suggested that someone could be the ball and we would have various batters running around the bases. A.B. then thought of doing the performance in slow motion, so before we got on the bus we practiced so that we knew what to do. We wanted to incorporate baseball and world peace. So our theory was that the “ball” was spreading world peace. We did the performance at Buckingham Fountain in downtown Chicago. In the performance we took turns on who was up to bat and my dad Lenny [who was working on a building downtown] was one of the batters. Lori and I took turns as the ball and we unfortunately never had the time to do the slow motion performance. We didn’t have a big audience because we weren’t in uniform that day—my dad was one of the main audience members and part of the show. He enjoyed the performance and was happy we did it for him.
Wednesday June
20 “The All-Seeing Eye”
documentation written by Elizabeth Skalecki (15)
Intention: “In 2024 we will have cut greenhouse gases in half before the 2050 deadline. By 2024 I will have published a book and have a house by a lake.”
Based on the card, we wrote down ideas and words we associated with these intentions. Then we chose the three most interesting words or phrases to use as text in the performance. We wanted to incorporate the eyeball-making that Adam’s group had working on. They taught us how to make eyeballs out of raw wool. For the performance, we sat down and made eyeballs while saying “I see…” and the three phrases we had picked out of our writing. A.B. played his guitar in the tree. Adam’s group watched the performance. They thought it was cool how Lori walked off in the middle of the performance (she had to go to work.) They also liked the help we gave them with making a few eyes for their project.
Thursday June 21 “ Windows”
documentation written by Erin Garceau (14)
We each had to pull an intention card and think of a picture that represented that card. They all varied, from “children will all have graduated from college, and be successful,” to “physical pain will be more understood and alleviated.” Since everyone had their own card, we all created a picture, and simplified it to be able to trace the picture into someone’s hand and our own.
We made the performance at the Prairie Labyrinth in Harvard, IL. It was very convenient that there were six stepping stones for six people, so we all had a starting point and an ending point. I think we wanted to pass on different ideas of the world on to everyone there in the hope that they would pass them on too, and therefore they would never die. We all formed a circle and then faced the audience [Chishan’s group.] The person we were looking at was the person we drew on our hand for. Once that was over we each, in time, turned back around to face each other. We moved in a circular motion until we were opposite of where we started. Then, facing the audience, we walked forward until we met up with them. Then we opened their palms and drew a picture just for them then closed their hands and walked backward toward the circle. We then sat down and drew our picture on the ground. When we finished we stood up and walked back to our starting position, then bowed to show it was finished. The audience didn’t know what to do when we closed their hands so they just stood there with their hands still placed. I think they really enjoyed being part of it.
