Circling Square, Oct 2011
Performance Art
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New York City (Union Square Park), USA for Artinoddplaces Performance Festival
Photo credit: Cordell Murray, USA
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‘Circling Square’ is an extension of ‘Silent Cloak (Jubah Kersserpi)’, which was performed in Buka Jalan International Performance Festival, Kuala Lumpur.
I was very much inspired with the history of Union Square Park being that countless important community events and festivals took place in Union Square; from the first Labor Day parade in 1882 to workers’ rallies in the 1930s to the first Earth Day in 1970. This former burial ground has seamlessly transitioned from a town square to a bustling City park where statues of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Mohandas Gandhi, and Marquis de Lafayette are commemorated in the park.
My proposal then altered to highlight the actions of these events through the act of a prayer for kindness and freedom.
As I walk through Union Square Park on every 10th step, I stopped and kneeled to pray to the skies before getting up to approach a citizen to request if I could listen to their heart (beat). Once a citizen allows me to listen to their heart, I put my ear close in and say repeated words of prayer for hope, freedom, anti-corruption and all the vices as humans we are capable of. There were several people who were reluctant to engage with me and so I had to move on and seek others who would participate. There were 2 young volunteers whom I picked out from Union Square Park 30 mins before my performance to assist in the distribution of the flyers which had information and content about the performance and my works. This sort of spontaneous energy reflects on the attitude of New Yorkers.
