In order to explore the increased level of intimacy that will occur during a one-to-one performance, our group have explored these levels privately as a group. We devised an exercise which borrowed elements from performing artists Adrian Howells and Marina Abramovic. We borrowed Adrian Howells’ concept that we communicate more through touch than voice and mixed that with Marina Abramovic’s durational performances. What we created is an exercise where two people hug for 5 minutes uninterrupted. We then developed this exercise further by experimenting with hugging in different situations which provoked  different feelings of intimacy. First we hugged side by side, then hugging whilst sitting on each other’s lap, then laying down on top of a bed and hugging and finally laying down under the duvet whilst hugging. Please see the post Our first practice by Gabriel for a video of this exercise being performed.

I found that the more intimacy the situation provoked the more intimate the hug became. Hugging under a duvet is a lot more intimate than hugging side by side. The factor of time was also important in developing the intimacy. When we hug someone who is dear to us, rarely do we hug them for even a minute in length at a time even though it may feel longer. By having a set duration of 5 minutes you go on this internal journey that takes you past your boundaries of comfort and into a new place in which only you and the one you are hugging exist in.

For me the most intimate hug was the one which took place under a duvet. I believe this is because of the childhood association we have with the duvet. As a child we believe that being under the duvet is a place of safety and I feel that, that childhood belief transcends the barriers we place upon ourselves as adults. Again, the duration of the hug really aids in going well beyond your internal comfort zone.

We have also come up with how we can incorporate the use of media in our performance. We are going to change the duvet from a physical one to a metaphorical one and see if when people are given something to ‘hide’ under, such as a pseudonym on an online chat room, do they feel like they can go beyond their internal comfort zone and share intimate parts of their lives? This will be something we will need to explore with people who are not in our small group as we are all quite open with each other. We are also going to use a webcam to live stream our performance for the world to see, of course the participants will be unaware of this because we want their reactions to be genuine and not ‘acted for the camera’. We want their reactions to be like that of Marina Abramovic in the video I included in my post My Thought Process Part II. If you have not yet seen this video, please do watch it.