Final Performance Piece: John Galt Speech

Typically, I wouldn't have regarded a formal speech as a work of fine art. But due to its length, and thus mental endurance required, I found the John Galt Speech of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged a suitable undertaking for my performance piece. My goal in reciting the one hundred-plus pages was to breathe life into the tenants of the Objectivist philosophy, a school of thought some have called practical only between the pages of a book. I consider my act of speaking a way to expose Ayn Rand's work to the practices of the real world, something an individual can take away and actively use, only if they sat in for only a few minutes. The speech is rich with information and allows for the audience to come and go as they please.

My choice for Holmes auditorium's red curtains and simple lighted podium reflected the simplicity and efficiency of Ayn Rand's world while my own attire was a nod to descriptions of John Galt in the novel itself.

The act of speaking for three hours was a challenging and tiring affair. My tongue swelled and made it hard to pronounce words as the hundreds of sentences went by. There were moments that I felt my mouth being directed by the words on the page, on seeming auto-pilot. It was at these times I had to re-engage the text and the thoughts being conveyed so as to remain under the persona of John Galt. I wanted to avoid the image of mere dictation, of babbling words. I wanted to remain emotionally engaged with what I was saying. I think I succeeded in doing this, though the increasing lethargy of my tongue and the cinching of my throat towards the end did cause occasional lapses in the flow of the speech.

(I attempted recording the speech, but the volume from the auditorium speakers was too loud for the sensitivity of the microphone recorder)

(Full Text of the Speech- http://amberandchaos.com/?page_id=106)

Performance Critical Analysis

Alexander Kozacheck's piece was an effective endurance performance in communicating the emotive implications of juvenile punishment. The artist was dressed in semi-casual attire and sat hunched and facing the corner of a white wall. These simple elements contributed to the idea of a young schoolchild being reprimanded. He also strategically placed himself on a stool at the bottom of a expansive staircase. The result was a powerful implementation of forced perspective. The artist looked insignificant, subordinate, and almost forgotten at the bottom of the staircase. By positioning the audience at a higher altitude, Alex allowed viewers the role of superiors; adults. By exposing his back to the audience, Alex also (whether intentionally or not) forfeited the control and awareness of his surroundings to the audience.

The piece fits the "endurance" concept very well. One can imagine the excruciating strain on the back and loss of blood in the legs from trying to sit perfectly still on a stool for three hours. There is also the aspect of mental fatigue, or becoming anxious and weary. It took no convincing to understand the discipline involved in achieving that kind of extended stillness, as anyone could relate to. Thus, the piece was easy to appreciate as well as interesting to witness.

I personally felt pity in viewing the performance (especially the closer I came down the stairs), which is certainly what Alex was hoping to evoke when he addresses in his performance statement: "I will be attempting to recreate a punishment often used on children to show the Barbarity of the punishment used on children." This pity was enhanced as I walked back up the stairs, leaving the patient sufferer alone to bear his "punishment".

Performance Proposal

I, Caleb Fletcher, will adopt the persona of John Galt from Ayn Rand's magnum opus "Atlas Shrugged" and recite his triumphant and imploring speech on the tenants of Objectivism. The speech is said to last around three hours. I will be dressed professionally but simple, as Galt would have done. I will be broadcasting my speech from either a podium at Holmes auditorium, the WALF radio station booth in Powell Campus Center, or in Cohen barring the latter options fall through. There will be no breaks in the speech, and I will allow myself water only in order to maintain clear articulation. This will occur the morning of the twenty-third day of April 2010, from the hours of 8 am to 11 am.

Just for Fun "Daft Celt"

Some dude playing bagpipes and a healthy reworking of a Daft Punk song.

Sonic Postcard "Getting In Late"

Sound Project Two Minutes "(Better?) Living Through Chemistry"

Kinetics Sculpture "Forces"

Our focus was diverted almost entirely towards to achieving the proper function of our kinetic sculpture. This function being the orbital movement of metal shavings through rotating magnets. We decided against constraining ourselves and thus our audience to a particular aesthetic sense. To attempt to govern interpretation of art, especially something as subjective and variable as in the realm of three dimensional movement, is an exercise in futility.

From the now detached point of view of an onlooker, I have decided what "Forces" suggests to me: An equalizing, unifying statement on the chaotic forces of the universe, traceable from the wild vectors of charged particles to the ancient spirals of clockwork galaxies. Lauren prefers to view "Forces" as an intimate portrait of Time itself; a tangible link to intangible forces.

Automata #1

I chose a simple pulley system for my automata to retract the back of the head, thus stretching the jaw. I came across the idea of pulleys after reading through the "Flying Pig Machine and Mechanisms" link on the Time workshop blog. I enjoy the aesthetic of the cardboard against the flat white of the box. This was an unexpected turn, though I wish I had crafted the head to match the simple geometric composition of the mechanisms. In terms of the actual function as a movement of the jaw, I see that there should have been a a greater accentuation of the rubber band-stretching by using longer bands. Also, user interaction and engagement with the automata could have been increased with turning the head 180 degrees to face the user.