Performing the Moment

I feel as if as long as I have been attending classes here, that the concept of recording performances in terms of photography or video have always been under fire as whether or not this ruins the relationship between the viewer and the performance. I have come to my own conclusion that while the records do not do justice to actually attending one of these happenings they provide for somewhat of an invitation for an individual to further explore something they had missed. Now pardon me if you disagree but I don't feel as if I should not be allowed to experience Chris Burdens "shoot" partially for the fact that I was not alive in 1971. Now while I look through these documentations of the event I do actually keep in mind that I am missing out on a few important pieces of the performance (ie. the sound of the gun, Burden's initial reaction to the piercing)

As far as old pieces being altered to accommodate for new technology, I see the importance of holding on to original recordings, however I feel that using new knowledge to enhance old documentation is not necessarily a bad thing. The first thing that came to mind as I read this article (and reviewed some of the other blogs) was music. Constantly you will see new cd's come out that are listed as being "enhanced" or "remastered" frankly I find as a listener that I enjoy these new issues a little better however I understand that just like a "remix" some parts of the original are left out destroying the validity of being an original. What this all leaves me with is viewer choice because the bottom line is these performances have a purpose. Whether it is to challenge issues or to entertain these changes or recordings might achieve their goal or they might not, it is up to the viewer to explore all of these options and find out if they can reach the relationship that the author is trying to establish.

http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/shoot/