the voyeur
watching from a distancewithout being seen
T he interacting subjectivities of the performers—through what I would describe as the naked effrontery (in the sense of a scandal) of their texts, and in movement that comfortably existed in the here and now, in this time spot (however past)—showed us that unsheltering in Levinas’s sense can become a homecoming and a healing.
This was ambiguously spoken for in Dyson’s Magdalene-like action of washing Sinatra’s hair, and in Sinatra’s self-absorbed jouissance in a dance to Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life while she sweeps the floor, but could only truly, finally be mediated, in Dyson’s wonderful dispensation, her gift to us, by the despicable voyeur, her audience."
Doug Leonard Real Time
People don’t change, they just reveal themselves. This dance work explores notions of intimacy, desire and the performative act of revealing.
Inside a large box onstage are two dancers. The box is littered with peepholes – enough for each audience member to see through. Some are large enough to share, but most are for individual watching. Some have steps, some seats and many are at head height. Some of these ‘peep holes’ also have headphones, and some binoculars.
Each set of headphones has text – revealing text – one about each dancer. Revelations and vulnerabilities. Most in English, but some in other languages: Mandarin, Indonesian, Spanish or French depending on the demographic of each performance space, so the choice can be closer to what you desire.
Each viewpoint has an advantage and a disadvantage: you might be able to see everything, but that position has no headphones. You might have binoculars but you are a long way from the action. And so the audience move, exchange headphones, choose to watch through binoculars and alter their viewpoint for a different perspective. They choose how much they want to take and what they want to know about the two dancers they are watching.
Slowly as the work begins, the lights dim and only the inside of the box is lit. The watchers are now anonymous. Voyeurs. Able to take and see what they want, themselves unseen. To choose how they consume their performance – these choices made without judgement.
Georg Simmel, an early 20th Century sociologist, discusses the act of watching and revealing and the profound relationships that are made within this process: “the eye of a person discloses his own soul when he seeks to uncover that of another. What occurs in this direct mutual reciprocity is in the entire field of human relationships.” *
Philosopher Emmanual Levinus similarly believes that an encounter with ‘the Other’ is the only way of revealing the truth about yourself. A central concept in this performance, but this work looks to make this encounter a private act. Something that engages individuals within a liminal space, while keeping the possibilities open: allowing for difference within the viewers. Peepholes make the watcher anonymous, so their watching experience can be both private and individual. Similar to being in a darkened auditorium, but this work also offers choice: where to stand, what to hear, where to look, how to engage. These choices allow for diversity of audience and a performance that has multiple layers of reading. Much like life.
This work is an exploration of raw vulnerability, desire and what it means to watch another person and the choices made in the watching.
and then it ends
after we have revealed ourselves. and you have watched us.
*Flanagan, Kieran, 2004, Seen and Unseen: visual Culture, Sociology and Theology, Macmillian, p. 109
CREATIVE TEAM
Created by clare dyson
Performers clare dyson & jonathan sinatra
Lighting design mark dyson
Stage & costume design bruce mckinven
Original text clare dyson, jonathan sinatra & simon ellis
Photographer rachel parsons
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was funded by the New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project, the Australian Government from the Australia Council for the Arts Going Global fund, Diverseworks (US) and QUT