A Selection of Things One Thinks About When Staring at a Wall
(Derived from the recent durational performance Taking Stands on Tuesday, November 8, 2011, 12:00pm-5:24pm)

-Masonry construction is really amazing.
-My left armpit ostensibly perspires much more than my right.
-Any action can be deemd profound if sustained for a long enough duration.
-Any action can be deemed inane if sustained for a long enough duration.
-Contagion effect is a powerful and enigmatic force.
-The smell of a woman's shampoo is absolutely delightful.
-Observers enjoy the processes related to confusion and obscurity.
-Eyes are weaker than legs.
-A gaggle of spiders and micro-insects live in mortar holes.
-People fear the unknown.
-Paintbrushes are so 14th century.
-People embrace figurative language.
-Chairs are unstable.
-Arbitrary and random acts may still contain meaning.
-Meaning can be derived from absolutely anything. And from nothing at all.
-Anything can be art.
-Performance is generally free and is therefore generally a poor man's art.
-Disobedience is cool and trendy, and oddly enough, this gives me hope.
-People are generally polite and timid when watching a person stare at a wall.
-Sanity and insanity are intertwined and perpetually fluid.
-Getting paid to stare at walls is better than working most jobs.
-I really enjoy standing on a chair, nose six inches away from brick and mortar.
-People take notice of small gestures.
-It feels like it's raining bliss and candy.
-People are not completely oblivious.
-Communication and language are very complex.
-I need to read more Chomsky, more Eagleton, more Bourdieu, more Lacan.
-What would Martin Creed do?
-People enjoy talking about other people.
-Anything can be a statement.
-People can be intrigued and engaged by the most basic of actions.
-People are able to completely ignore a person who is standing on a chair and staring at a wall.
-The act of "doing" is on par with the act of "doing nothing," and both can prove powerful.
-I (and others) are intrigued by and invested in voyeurism.
-Learning and discourse can happen anywhere.


© Peter T. Christenson, 2011