"It Pains You"
pain =/= harm
Many performance art works have focused the violence of the public (Rhythm 0, Cut Piece) or watching the body (endurance works). However, outside of art practices, mystic and kink communities have been personalizing pain for centuries, playing with the nature of suffering, consent, and harm.
It's not always clear when our actions harm people. An offhand joke can be harmful. Accidentally stepping on someone's toe is painful. Purposefully smashing someone's toe as they object is harmful. Purposefully smashing someone's toe as they beg you to do it is painful.
"It Pains You" was a micro-immersive I developed for Bricolage Production that invited audience members to hurt a volunteer. Volunteers were all masochists who brought their own supplies and mapped out welcome and unwelcome parts of their body.
Audience members left with reflection questions like...
- Is this violence?
- What can we learn by separating pain and violence?
- Why did you want to hurt our volunteer? Why not?
- Have you ever enjoyed pain? In exercise? A scalding shower? A too-tight hug?
- Did you ever play games as a child where the point of the game was to deliberately hurt your friends?
