Thinking about our interests in the process of physical beauty and perfection we attempted a few interesting exercises to trigger thought about what being a woman consists of. Bringing a collection of items revolving the idea of womanhood to our rehearsal we experimented with the idea of being tied down to material objects. Amongst our collection there were the likes of gym shoe(s), stilettos, make-up wipes to tampon cases and hair. Playing around with various objects got us thinking and exploring what it is to be a woman. What is the ugly truth behind the woman you see on a night out who appears physically flawless? Or that perfect catwalk model? Every woman is different, that’s a given, for me this exercise was about exploring the truth behind being flawless or ladylike.
The exercise of tying ourselves to sturdy objects and attempting to escape them, although interesting did not appear as a great performance idea. Although the exercise provided us with many ideas in which to develop it further. We tried tying ourselves together as a unit and moving around in our own direction whilst the objects we brought were attached to sellotape holding us together. The items weighed down the lines which made us more aware of how we were moving in fear that they would fall off. It made me question if we did let them drop what would happen? Would the meaning of the exercise grow or fall apart, or both? Looking back, even though the exercise was simply an exploration of items, we still showed the idea of being tied to the objects and that fear of breaking away from them.
Many women in the Western culture use items like what we brought in to explore, whether it be feminine hygiene related to getting sweaty in the gym (represented by running shoes), what can be focused on is the not so typical aspects about a woman’s life. My interests lie with the process and ritualistic nature of beauty rather than the end product which is displayed in the media. Now by ritualistic nature I’m not thinking about the making-up before a night out, I mean the struggle and strain of everyday life, whether it be through hobbies or weird OCD habits that I may display myself. I have been interested in displaying myself in the museum, contemplating whether it would be interesting to explore myself as a woman and exhibit the dirty or ugly truth of my own life.