White shirt moment

Michelle Isava [tt/ve]
PAS #20 | “In Context”
Berlin, Germany 2011
40
Why did you go so far? / 10 minutes
I conceived of my performance with three basic elements; a cage, feathers and a childish
dress. The process of finding these items also directed the action. The cage became
more symbolic and so I decided to use a metal fold up bed as a substitute. The dictated
that the bed would have to be hung instead of on the ground if it was a cage. The bed only
covers one side, so I had it suspended in front of a window sill. On that window sill I stood
behind the bed waiting to start the performance. Like caged birds at night, the front bars
of my cage-bed were covered with a sheet. The audience met me hidden in this way.
I started slowly to struggle behind the sheet making sounds hitting the bars to brake
free. Eventually the sheet fell down. At this point I stood still and repeated the word
‘emergency’ like a lullaby. When I stopped I found a simple way to gain freedom
from my cage and I merely crawled out. On the ground were many feathers on which
I started to move but could never get away from as they moved with me, made me slip
and even got into my mouth. I struggled in this way for several minutes until I slowed
down and stopped. Slowly I crawled under the feathers to hide again.