‘Keep people safe’: Designing a participatory performance within the strict parameters of social distancing in Australia

Fahd, C

‘Keep people safe’: Designing a participatory performance within the strict parameters of social distancing in Australia

Fahd, C

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Publisher:: Intellect
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Scene, 2022, 10, (1-2), pp. 83-101
Issue Date:: 2022-12-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Fahd, C https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3404-1535
dc.date.accessioned	2023-06-18T23:12:01Z
dc.date.available	2023-06-18T23:12:01Z
dc.date.issued	2022-12-01
dc.identifier.citation	Scene, 2022, 10, (1-2), pp. 83-101
dc.identifier.issn	2044-3714
dc.identifier.issn	2044-3722
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/170782
dc.description.abstract	<jats:p>This article recounts designing and performing an intimate encounter with strangers during the pandemic. At the end of 2020, as Australians emerged from a long period of ‘lockdown’, the celebrated Sydney Opera House again opened its doors to the public. Commissioned to create a new work for the Sydney Opera House’s Antidote Festival, I designed a ‘touch’ performance that met the Australian Government’s COVID-19 protocols for social distancing at indoor events. Instead of being frustrated by the restrictions, I used the health and safety rules as if they were conceptual instructions. Surprisingly, I was reminded of the 1960s and 1970s conceptual artists whose experimental capacity was borne from instructive limitations. Seeing the restrictions as an opportunity, I discuss how the physical limitations ushered in by COVID-19 (along with the heritage status of the Sydney Opera House) provided the parameters for conceiving a scene and an experience that was everything the pandemic denied – public, participatory, intimate and physical. I also reflect on what I learned in the process and how needing to <jats:italic>keep people safe</jats:italic> brought profound ethical understanding.</jats:p>
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Intellect
dc.relation.ispartof	Scene
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1386/scene_00045_1
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1904 Performing Arts and Creative Writing, 2102 Curatorial and Related Studies
dc.title	‘Keep people safe’: Designing a participatory performance within the strict parameters of social distancing in Australia
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	10
utslib.for	1904 Performing Arts and Creative Writing
utslib.for	2102 Curatorial and Related Studies
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building/School of Design
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2023-06-18T23:11:59Z
pubs.issue	1-2
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	10
utslib.citation.issue	1-2

Abstract:

This article recounts designing and performing an intimate encounter with strangers during the pandemic. At the end of 2020, as Australians emerged from a long period of ‘lockdown’, the celebrated Sydney Opera House again opened its doors to the public. Commissioned to create a new work for the Sydney Opera House’s Antidote Festival, I designed a ‘touch’ performance that met the Australian Government’s COVID-19 protocols for social distancing at indoor events. Instead of being frustrated by the restrictions, I used the health and safety rules as if they were conceptual instructions. Surprisingly, I was reminded of the 1960s and 1970s conceptual artists whose experimental capacity was borne from instructive limitations. Seeing the restrictions as an opportunity, I discuss how the physical limitations ushered in by COVID-19 (along with the heritage status of the Sydney Opera House) provided the parameters for conceiving a scene and an experience that was everything the pandemic denied – public, participatory, intimate and physical. I also reflect on what I learned in the process and how needing to keep people safe brought profound ethical understanding.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/170782