A Q&A with performance artist Lori Baldwin

Lori Baldwin, a senior communications studies and international studies major, has been working on a solo performance art piece.

She calls it, “SPECTACULAR SPECTACKLE!” and it might be like a circus — maybe.

Canvas staff writer Jess Broadbent got up with Baldwin to discuss her inspiration, acting alone and her future.

Canvas: What is the performance about?

Lori Baldwin: It started as an independent study on systems of power and the body, how power is used as a tool to control the body, and how the body is actually controlled.

One thing led to another, and this is the piece that came from it.

I used the circus aesthetic combined with my research on (Michel) Foucault. He was a big help to me.

C: Is this the first piece of this kind you’ve been involved in?

LB: No, I have done several collaborative pieces before, but this by far the biggest solo project I have ever undertaken.

C: What’s the main idea behind the performance?

LB: The piece plays with ideas of the circus and what the circus is, using its form and characters, like the ringleader.

It’s primarily about the body, how it can be both controlled and complicit on its own.

C: Is there anything in particular, apart from your reading of (philosopher Michel) Foucault, that you took inspiration from when writing?

LB: There was a moment last semester, when I was sitting in a class called performing consumer culture, taught by Tony Perucci.

We did a performance in class about the Factory System in China, about how the workers are completely controlled by those in positions of power.

It was by far one of the most powerful performances I have ever been a part of and I knew when I went home that night that it was a topic I wanted to focus on.

I wanted to explore how different bodies are both controlled and given freedoms, in different ways.

C: What are the challenges of creating a solo show, in comparison to working as a part of a larger team?

LB: In some ways it’s easier. It’s a very personal piece.

It feels like it’s mine, which is nice, though its strange to have all the attention on me.

But on the other hand it’s difficult when you get stuck. It gets frustrating. I’m used to working in a collaboration and just sitting there alone, the act of doing it, was difficult.

I did have a creative team, though, who provided great outside eyes. Rob Hamilton, Emily Anderson, Victoria Facelli and my advising professor, Tony Perucci.

C: How about performing alone?

LB: I went through a rehearsal the other day, and acting in the piece is physically exhausting.

C: What do you want audiences to come away with from your piece?

LB: I hope they enjoy it. I guess the point is more to provoke people to think and start conversation about the ideas. I hope people can see the interesting perspective of the body in the piece as a continued exploration of how our bodies become part of the system of power.

C: As you’re a senior, what do you think will come next for you in life?

LB: I’m working on it! This piece has definitely developed my interest in performance art, but right now I’m unsure of my future.

See her performance WHEN WHERE SOMETIME.