Upon arriving into the tiny room that the video installation, "Acting Out", by Austin Shull and Chelsea Knight, was playing in, I sat down in a fold up chair and watched a screen filled of people rehearsing and acting out a play in a jail. I'm not going to lie, I was really confused. Thats not a bad thing though, I get confused easily. Upon seeing Avatar over winter break, I couldn't keep my mouth shut. I think I asked the person sitting next to me "I don't get it, what's going on?" every five to ten minutes. Needless to say, I will never be seeing a movie like that with that person again, they didn't appreciate my curiosity about a world a blue people speaking, what I thought was, pure gibberish. Anyways, to get back on track, I was both confused but yet totally intrigued and interested. Confusion always leads me to investigating what something really is about though, so it was all good in my book. In the viewing room, I sat there as I watched actors bang upon walls and windows trying to escape the dismal looking, white walled, jail, and then rehearse acting out a play while laughing with each other, swapping roles, and testing different voices. It was so different, so unique, and I knew there had to be good meanings and points behind it all. I knew from the second I started viewing "Acting Out" that this was going to be a cool learning experience.
After viewing the film I headed downstairs where I actually got to question the filmmakers themselves about their project. (Thank you for introducing me, Gokey.) They were really chill and cool people. I knew they knew their pop culture and film when they were familiar with David Lynch. I was, honestly, a little nervous around them but I don't even care. I get nervous around artists all the time, I think its just because I admire artists for doing what they love and making statements through their creations. They explained their video to me and I was actually really impressed.
The scenario behind it was that they found local actors to rehearse and perform the play "Ubu Roi", by Alfred Jarry, in an old, abandoned, prison. Their piece was not only a mockery of our prison system but also made the point that a person's behavior relies a lot upon the environment in which they live/are in.
Upon researching the play "Ubu Roi", and by researching, I mean looking it up on Wikipedia (I have no shame, and I'm an honest person), I figured out that this play was strategically chosen by the artists to get their point across. The play itself is all about being a "[satire of] power, greed and their evil practices". In conclusion/to connect the two pieces, prisoners today are placed into corrupt environments that only damage their mentality and keep them from actually pulling themselves together while they are forced into isolation. It is their surroundings that unfairly keep them from bettering themselves. These people, who have been caught making stupid mistakes, or even wrongly convicted, aren't given the chance at a-new-and-improved-them because of the way society handles them.
I actually mentioned to the artists how, if I was ever hired, as an interior designer, to design the inside of the prison, I would make it a cheery place. You know, like, use lots of fun patterns, bright colors, and try to emphasize windows and sunlight as much as possible. However, a big part of me felt that that idea would be all wrong. Aren't prisoners supposed to suffer when they're incarcerated? Wasn't the ugly, plain, bareness, of the inside of prisons supposed to be that way as apart of their punishment? Don't they deserve to be put into that dismal building because they are reckless people to our society? Then, Chelsea informed me about the Quaker's view of the idea of prison and a light bulb went off in my head. She told me that the Quaker's actually believed that a prisoner's only punishment should be isolation. Other than that, the surroundings of a prison should help them improve themselves mentally in order to better themselves. Quaker's emphasized that prisoners meditate while they are incarcerated and only suffer by being away from others.
The information Chelsea gave to me made me think a lot about the media and how it effects how we view our society's systems. The prison system is just one of many that we have come to view in completely uneducated, and wrongful, ways. All in all, I think there is more to learn from our history than what certain media feeds into our heads today and it is up to each individual to do the research and find truths.
Btw- That film about an interior designer, or something like that, that was made by Woody Allen is, I think, called "Interiors". I don't know if I'll be watching it anytime soon though, "Annie Hall" is and always will be my favorite Woody Allen film. I know its cliche, but its completely true and makes it really hard for me to watch any other film directed by him.
So thats that about "Acting Out". I was told its not a finished piece yet but I'll be keeping a look out for when it is. I liked the message, it was good stuff, and I hope Chelsea and Austin keep doing what they're doing. Check ya later.
The history of how the Quakers influenced prison life is actually quite sad. The Quakers had good hearts and good ideas, but none of it actually worked. In fact a lot of what they tried had the exact opposite of the desired effect.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that is interesting to me about the way they designed prisons was that they were supposed to be like monastic cells. The idea was that instead of being a prison, the monastic design was supposed to be liberating.
We can see examples of this throughout history. For example, the only people who are truly free are those who can discipline themselves. Monks who fast, spend years in silence, and live in a small cell, are actually more free than the average person out in the world. Gandhi was more free in prison than the British leaders who were controlling armies. Martin Luther King was more free when he was in prison than Bull Connor was when he was 'free' to go wherever he wanted.