Presence
The word presence simply means the fact or condition of being present, as stated in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Presence of a person can be felt regardless of the person’s physical existence at a certain place in time and space. When hunting for an animal, hunters tend to look for any marks, such as footprints, left behind by the animals to judge whether they are still in the vicinity or they are long gone. Instinctively hunters look for the presence of their prey.
In Bill T. Jones’ The Breathing Show, makes an interaction with his audience before and after his Ghostcatching piece. Here, Jones is leaving his presence amongst his audience for it to be felt when watching the Ghostcatching for them to be able to sympathize that the unhumanlike figures on the blue screen are actually a product of him and his art. When Jones’ personality (even if it may be the one that he puts on as an act) is made clear for the audience before watching the Ghostcatching and they are aware of how the work of art is produced, it is hard for them to feel his presence through the blue screen. This implies that a certain level of knowledge about Jones would be required for this to happen. Would it be possible to feel the presence of something or someone that are unknown to us?
In Bill T. Jones’ The Breathing Show, makes an interaction with his audience before and after his Ghostcatching piece. Here, Jones is leaving his presence amongst his audience for it to be felt when watching the Ghostcatching for them to be able to sympathize that the unhumanlike figures on the blue screen are actually a product of him and his art. When Jones’ personality (even if it may be the one that he puts on as an act) is made clear for the audience before watching the Ghostcatching and they are aware of how the work of art is produced, it is hard for them to feel his presence through the blue screen. This implies that a certain level of knowledge about Jones would be required for this to happen. Would it be possible to feel the presence of something or someone that are unknown to us?
Discussion of "Presence"
Add your voice to this discussion.
Checking your signed in status ...