A proposal for performance on the internet

Materials - computer with internet and chat room capability, cell phone, camera, .022 rifle, paper target, car, an operator

Preparations - Before the performance, an announcement will be posted on the internet and sent to individuals by e-mail. This announcement will give the date, time, and web address for a live participatory trick shot with Annie Oakley.

Site work - Before the performance, a .022 riffle will be placed in the trunk of a car. The car will drive to the front of the start location. At the time for the performance to begin, a call from a cell phone will be placed to the operator at a start location.

Performance on the internet - The web page (internet site) at the time of the performance should contain the following information.

An image of Annie Oakley (one showing her over shoulder trick shot), a map of area marked with the starting location, a photograph of the gun in the trunk of a car and the following text:

I am in a car in front of (name of starting location).In the trunk of the car is a .022 riffle. In my coat pocket is a paper target and one live round. I am speaking to you from a car phone. My voice is being transcribed onto the web by an operator at (starting location name). Except for the delay in transcription, this is live. For the next 30 minutes, I would like to have anyone on the net select a traveling direction for an attempt at Annie Oakley’s over the shoulder trick shot.I am not interested in hurting anyone. Destruction of property or a night in jail is not my goal. All I am interested in is the shot. Everything else is up to you.

The performance then begins with information about the direction and speed of the car (i.e., I am heading west at 25 mph.) It will be my attempt for the next 30 minutes to have people on the web direct the car to some unknown site. After 30 min. of travel the car will stop. I will set up the target, load the riffle and take the shot.

Annie Oakley’s act in the Wild West Show brought a distilled version of the West to the big cites. The violence or necessity of life was presented as a nomadic circus performance. An argument may be made that the internet is all performance without the need for a link to the physical world. It is my hope that the participants on the web, in their response to the performance, will further define a relation to the external world.

Afterwards - At a later date, the images from the performance will be inter spliced onto the text of the conversation. This will create the final document of the work.
permanent link to this post