Imitate
Live Performance
2014
Available
My works consist of video documentation of live performances where I intervene as an object within everyday public spaces. In a particular space and at a particular time my body assumes the role of an object, to be observed on a “stage” which is a public space. My own vulnerability as a performer, which is crucial to the work, resonates with the vulnerability of the audience as they encounter this intervention into their everyday. The performance pieces also become a comment on the media’s role of panopticon in contemporary society.
The piece Imitate is basically a comment for my public to experience a reflection of themselves exposed through my appearance. My face is unseen and basically is active as a mirror. The audience feels startled when they walk inside a room and the unexpectedly figure out there is an individual but instead of a face they see a box, a man inside the box, the box is performing like a mirror, my audience have all the rights to interact with me. It also remarks on how generally people think inside the box but in real the audience can only see themselves. So it’s fascinating yet contradicting at the same time. The question is the basic keen interest that I want to cultivate for my viewer a question that answers for its own.
Zayed Malik is a graduate of Beaconhouse National University, Lahore.
Image Courtesy | Zayed Malik