Image: Sarah Walker
When we see injustices occurring in public, can we intervene? If so, how? Who are we to police others?
These are some of the questions at the heart of performance artist Nicola Gunn’s latest offering, Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster, currently showing at Arts House in North Melbourne.
Gunn strolls onto the stage. It is a blank, white space, with a large black space separating her and us. She begins to move her body through a series of abstract movements as she unfolds a story. The unfolding takes some time, as she is carried off on anecdotes about various celebrities and their heart conditions, but eventually a moral dilemma unfolds: a woman is on a jog in a foreign country, when she sees a man she presumes to be an immigrant throwing stones at a sitting duck. This scenario having been established, the entire performance is an examination of her dizzying loops of logic and ethics as she tries to decide what to do – or what she should have done – in this scenario.
Early on in the piece, she talks about the woman going home and making an outraged Facebook post about the incident, resulting in hundreds of likes and dozens of comments. One hurdle I faced in experiencing this piece was that I was unsure if there was a difference between the aforementioned Facebook post and this performance. Gunn openly identifies that the Facebook post is a self-soothing act that changes nothing. It is not too hard to apply this logic to the piece itself. It may soothe us all to know that we all face these moral questions in our day-to-day lives, but didn’t we already know that?
I may be asking too much of the piece. Gunn’s natural candour as a performer is as captivating as ever; and the writing is skilful, seamlessly linking ideas and moments with wit and insight. The movement is an interesting contribution; although (or perhaps because) it is completely abstract, it assists Gunn’s large tracts of text to be digested. And the sensory explosion that forms the climax of the piece creates a wondrous space for reflection in which the audience are finally left.
I’m mystified by the intentions of this piece, and unsure as to how it contributes to the subjects it purports to address. Nevertheless, for me, Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster created a relatable space to think in, and has expanded in my mind since I left the theatre.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster
Creator & Performer: Nicola Gunn
Arts House
North Melbourne Town Hall
Wednesday 11 – Sunday 15 November, 2015
