Day 24: CONFESSIONS, DAY 1

Today we held a "crit" day ("Critique day") in class, in which about half of the class presented their confession pieces. A thought the great majority of the pieces were really interesting, making it hard to choose a favorite.  However, one piece that stood out to me as particularly powerful was the piece about the father-daughter relationship. In this piece, the artist set up a dinner place setting, equipped with a salad, with a heart shaped bell-pepper on the top, a wine glass filled with water, a candle, a small pile of sand, and lastly, utensils wrapped in a two page letter. As a visual piece (what it was intended to be), it seemed to make a statement about loneliness, and in a sense, heart-ache, with a single setting, untouched and alone. The letter was long and dense, so the majority of the class didn't read it at first. The artist, however, decided to read it after everybody had a look at the display. The letter, eloquently written, was addressed to her father, spilling the artists emotions and feeling about her fathers unhealthy habits, and how she resents the fact that they have never had a strong relationship, and how she has longed for one her whole life. By reading her letter, the artists transformed an already strong visual piece, into an extremely powerful performance piece. Looking around the room as the artist read her letter, nearly every member of the class was completely fixated, many even visibly trying (rather unsuccessfully) to hold back tears. A truly passionate piece, well thought out, and well executed.