A PERFORMANCE:
THE GHOST OF AN UNDRAWN DRAWING (AN UNBORN BABY)
Date: May 21st, 2015
Duration: 2 hours (3-5pm)
I. Prior to the Performance
It’s the end of the year, and everything is either being hung up on the walls
for final critique and preserved for the future, or thrown away and gotten
rid of. The floors of the studios, the recycle bin and the donation box are
overflowing with art supplies that were once purchased with an intention of
making art with. The sketchbooks of students are full of idea sketches and
plans for art projects that weren’t selected and never actually made. An
average RISD graduate must have had such “unborn babies” of art
hundreds of times before they graduate. In this performance, I wanted to
give a chance to the ‘ghost of art never made’ by giving it a physical form
and letting it walk around our campus amongst its parents that abandoned
it (the RISD students).
As the ghost solemnly strolls about it sings in its head:
I am the Ghost Of An Undrawn Drawing, An Unborn Baby.
You are babies that were born; you draw drawings but not me.
You thought of drawing me but you didn’t,
You had a better idea for a better drawing.
I am what you chose not to do,
What road you chose not to take.
I am the lonely ghost,
the unfortunate soul,
the most pitiful devil
of drawing not drawn,
the baby not born.
II. Preparing the Performance
In constructing the ghost, I used the leftover, soon-to-be-trashed art supplies
from this semester including: cardboard, leftover canvas cloth, a white wig
that was a part of another project, pieces of acrylic painted paper I ended up
not using for some other project, old white gloves, paper towels from the
restroom, pantyhose with holes, a battered rope, crappy sunglasses I got for
free, some paint and lots of tape. The ghost costume was very hot and
uncomfortable, and because I had taped it onto my body I couldn’t take it off
to use the restroom. The ghost also had face paint on its face and arms to
further conceal its identity. The ghost was only wearing one shoe on its right
foot, which made it limper pitifully and slowly. The end product turned out like
a “trash monster” as someone had commented on it on the street, or like a
very old woman, as I saw it.
III. The Performance
For the duration of 2 hours between 3pm-5pm, the ghost staggered around
the RISD campus, visiting the academic buildings, offices and the student
cafeteria. It was a very hot day and the ghost was dehydrated as it was
sweating a lot from its layered outfit. The ghost also maintained its crouched
position and staggering method of walking for the duration of the
performance- which hurt the poor ghost’s back. The most satisfying moments
were when the ghost ran into people that were its friends, but they didn’t
recognize the ghost at all. The ghost knew them but they did not know the
ghost- that really felt like I was a ghost.
IV. Responses
Some were surprised at the ghost’s sudden appearance and let out a scream,
others were entertained, and some others supported the ghost by giving a
thumbs-up and complementing its dress. A few attempted to converse with
the ghost and when the ghost did not reply and went on walking, were
offended. One friend who lives in the same house as me realized the ghost’s
identity because he had seen me in the house in the ghost costume, and he
told people that the ghost is Ahjin, which I did not appreciate. Another friend
who knew the ghost’s identity politely addressed it as “the ghost” and
proceeded to give the ghost a warm handshake, which I much preferred.
