Hello, It’s So Nice to Meet You
Advancements in technology provide the opportunity to interact with
one another on a global scale that has never before existed.
Information and networks are constantly at our fingertips, but does more
always mean better? There is a sense of loss as technological
interactions replace interpersonal interactions. With multitasking
rapidly becoming a way of life, we have become distracted and stingy
with our time. Since there is no turning back, I am interested in
discovering ways to foster more intimate and genuine relationships
within this expanded social environment. I begin my exploration of these
ideas in Hello, It’s So Nice to Meet You, which focuses on the
relationships that occur between myself and the gallery audience viewing
my art. Through the two-part installation, I reveal both my internal
and external struggles with this interaction and attempt to form
relationships through transparency, vulnerability, trust, shared
rapport, and emotional generosity. Hello, part one of the installation,
is a performance piece disguised as an animation. Through the use of
animation I am able to present a transparent portrait of myself that
reveals my conflicting internal traits and emotions. This transparency
and emotional generosity are my first steps in gaining the audience’s
trust. The second part of the installation, It’s So Nice to Meet You, is
a performance piece that builds on this trust by presenting my
vulnerable self as I attempt to initiate a conversation with members of
the audience. Throughout the performance, I try to maintain the level of
transparency and emotional generosity that is first presented through
the animation. By inviting the audience to spend time in conversation, I
hope to create an environment in which we are able to share, sparking
the intimate relationships that I am after.
