This work transposed my performance practice from the the safety of the studio and an intimate relationship with the camera, to the potent uncertainty of the live moment. Thus the dialogue with an imagined viewer becomes a face-to face encounter with a live audience who become implicated in the performance through the live projection of the performance context which becomes mise-en-scene.
In this slightly ludicrous yet sultry performance, a vamp-like female in stockings and stilettos plays a game of punishing the male viewer for his desiring gaze. Initially seductive, her performance escalates into a hysteria that is simultaneously threatening and humorous. The promise of seductive performance descends into a hysteria that is both threatening and humorous.
Contrasting the live with the mediated, the work raises questions around the ethics of spectatorship and representation of the erotic female body. In particular the narcissistic motivation of the performer in her self-objectification, and the role of the viewer as both voyeur and image, trouble comfortable viewing.
