Being & Doing - ACE144.2

Sound only. Drums and voice repeating "Was ist Kunst?" Same sound continues over photograph of soldiers and of Stuart Brisley. Monochrome film of woman sitting almost completely still. Voice-over now shouting "Was ist Kunst?" Woman. Commentary VO says that "All behaviour is performance. Performance behaviour is a condition of art. Performance behaviours are Ghost Dances in a dying culture. Performance behaviour is an artistic and social phenomenon of East and West where differing ideologies mask the common destruction of cultural values, and simultaneously suppress the search for new models." "Was ist Kunst" continues over at the same time. "Performance is made up of moments where the performer behaves according to an inner reality, unhampered by prior notions of how a thing should be done. It involves risk. Risk is essential." Shouting voice continues over. Colour slowly fades into the monochrome image. Woman. Commentary identifies the off-screen shouting voice as that of Raśa Todosijević, being directed towards a passive figure on screen, representing, among other things, isolation, alienation. Ritual acting out is as old history itself. Ritual used to have only participants; the crucial difference today, is that there are also observers. A group of men singing "To be a farmer’s boy" in a pub. VO of one of their number describing (VO) how they’ll have a couple of drinks, sing a few traditional songs, and move on to another venue. Men in the street. Song continues over. Watchers of the Hood game lining up in muddy field. Man’s VO gives date as January 6: the ancient game of Haxey Hood. Field, players. Commentary describes the Haxey Hood, saying that the original Hood was likely to have been the head of a sacrificed bull. Game continues; commentary reads excerpts from an earlier description of the game, and offers contemporary analysis. Darkness.