tommy

The performance was based on the rock opera Tommy, circa 1977.  At that time, I was ten years old.  I remember the music from the film, and images from a book based on the film rather than the film itself, which I have only become familiar with recently.  I simulated Tommy’s experience in the film by playing pinball while having my eyes covered, my mouth taped, and my hearing blocked.  The performance explored ideas of struggle and futility as I negotiated the small window front.  In effect, I turned the small public storefront window into a domestic space by wallpapering parts of the window, sleeping underneath the pinball machine with a blanket, and eating hotdog buns.  As I consumed the white bread it acted as a filler, an empty nutrient.   This circular loop of activity – sleeping, playing pinball, eating hotdogs – conveyed ideas of entrapment and repetition.   A kind of failure to connect was communicated through my body as I reached out to make contact and encountered a glass wall and emptiness.  The barrier of glass between performer and audience also served as another referent to silence and silencing within the piece.

Vancouver, BC
Simon Fraser University Games Room
Curated by Jordan Strom
2003

Photography: Rafael Tsuchida