Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/110922
Sarasota News Leader February 22, 2013 Page 108 in performance art, so I decided to fuse it,��� and human equality enough, and that���s kind of she continued. ���And fusion is a big part of it. regressing as technology advances,��� she said. In my work, I always am trying to fuse ideas, Gressman���s character in the piece, she exmediums and bodies.��� plained, symbolizes this conflict. ���It���s a way Gressman pointed out that the process of fu- to poke fun at how much I feel people suffer sion often begins with an instrument. In the with their outer skin, because of the media case of Wall of Skin, that instrument was the or because of societal issues that are currentlight-sensitive oscillator she had constructed. ly happening,��� she said. ���I think technology In other pieces, she has used live drums ��� should be shown as just as imperfect, volatile which she has been playing since she was 10 or vulnerable as a human is and not shown as years old ��� or other instruments, sometimes this perfect, desirable, fetishized object.��� in conjunction with each other. In terms of conceptual influences, Gressman explained that her academic studies, including those at New College, have played a significant role. Feminism and sociological perspectives on the pervasiveness of technology in modern society are two major factors in Wall of Skin. BEYOND WALL OF SKIN Asked by an audience member after the performance what she plans for her art in the future, Gressman commented on the difficult tasks artists face in expressing themselves in modern society. ���It���s a strange road to go down as an artist here in the U.S.,��� she said. ���It���s a very lonely road at times,��� she contin���I guess I see myself as a cyborg or some ued. ���But what���s next for me is a big question kind of person that struggles with identity mark and that���s what I like the most about it.��� immersed in this land of technology and how Gressman said, in an email follow-up with the we value its perfection,��� Gressman said of her News Leader that she plans to do more colcharacter in the piece. ���Also, I think technollaborative work in the future, which includes ogy and female bodies ��� there���s something adapting Wall of Skin into a piece for two monstrous about it. It seems like technology performers. She has upcoming performances corrupts the female image,��� she continued. comprising different pieces, and she is look���So, I like attaching technology to my body in ing into artist residencies in Germany and Icesome way, or depending on it, or even domiland. nating it somehow as a female artist.��� However, Gressman explained, pursuing a caAn important part of Wall of Skin, Gressman reer as an artist is not always glorious and is added, is the idea of looking at technology often challenging. through a new perspective. ���We put so much emphasis on finding ways to make life easier ���So far,��� she said, ���it���s been enduring the rewith technology and we fetishize its perfec- cession and waiting tables and waiting for antion. I think we don���t value basic human needs other show.��� %