Tea Time

Instructions: Do something YOU KNOW: A Task - use real materials, objects, no pretending. It is not representing, not recounting, not re-enacting, but simply doing. This should be something that makes sound. Use minimum language or none at all. EXPERIMENT. Short. Simple. Direct. SOLO.

For this project, I began by thinking of everyday sounds that I hear. So, I thought about the annoying sound that my tea kettle makes when I boil water and the sound of a spoon clanking around in a ceramic mug. I had absolutely no idea how to make a performance out of making tea. The task seemed to fit all of the criteria given to me, but I thought that it would be a stupid and boring performance. Nonetheless, that is what I did. This being my first performance, I felt pretty nervous, especially because I was unsure of it and because I didn't no what I was going to do with my body when I was waiting for the water to boil. Basically, I just tried to look really bored and impatient by tapping my fingers, folding over onto the table, and blowing the tea bag wrapper onto the floor. I'm not sure if that came off to the audience. It felt a lot like acting to me, which is not one of my strengths. Plus, performance art isn't even about acting; it is about doing. Once my tea was made, I took a sip, looked at the audience, and walked out of the room. Overall, I didn't like my performance, and it felt weird and silly, but I got some good feedback from my audience. One suggestion was made to have lots of tea kettles and lots of actions going on that have to do with making tea (like putting honey in or having things to eat). That would surely make this performance more interesting, and the sound of a lot of tea kettles would be cool. Another observation was made that my performance kind of looked like a painting. This inspired an idea to make a performance of recreating paintings/sculptures with my body and other props.