One year ago today, Brian Feldman hosted a series of five minute, in-person, one-on-one meetings in a small elevator inside the Orlando Shakespeare Center. He maneuvered two full length mirrors into the elevator creating a visual infinite loop. I sat in on a series of these short meetings with the egg timer reminding me of the swift passage of time. For the first time in his career, Brian will genuinely consider all pitched project ideas to him during this one-time-only event, without his standard “You should do it” response. Interested participants registered for one of the 36 available meeting times on May 6, 2016.
Over the course of his 13 year career as a performance artist, people would regularly approach him with ideas of their own for projects that he should do. His response has always remained steadfast: “You should do it.” … Until now. He genuinely considered all pitched project ideas during this
one-time-only event, without his standard “You should do it” response.
At the time of this performance, Brian was recovering from a horrible mugging in Washington DC which resulted in multiple broken bones. Among
the many things he struggled with at the time was an inability to devise any new project ideas. While friends and family members assured him that these ideas will return to him in due time, he was impatient for the muse to strike.
By
participating in “You Should Do,” participants acknowledged that Brian Feldman
only agreed to genuinely listen to and consider the proposed project
idea. It did not imply an agreement that any project would actually be
produced. Note that any projects sent through Twitter are public
and may be produced by anyone, at any time, worldwide and without your
permission.
I didn’t have any inspired ideas other that having an artist document each performance. The space got cramped once three people sat in the tiny elevator meeting room. Seth Kubersky had some wonderful ideas that would tie in with a certain local themes park’s anniversary. His suggestions seemed to hold the most weight. As of today, one year later, none of the projects have been produced but there is always a chance that they will surface and bloom, even years later. Case in point, this sketch sat tucked way in a sketchbook until today.