With this performance I wanted to explore and portray the feeling of being trapped. Stress and anxiety can build up to an overwhelming amount, and I wanted to show that through this. Even outside of the performance, I have been building up this plaster shell that I eventually encased myself in for weeks, eventually culminating in this performance where I had to address this fact. In some ways, this is a self imposed struggle. I am encased in plaster that I myself built, but I cannot get out with the tools I have at hand. I even left myself freedom of movement for most of my body, but still could not escape with the brittle plaster chisels. Although I have freedom I am ultimately still trapped.

I wanted to experiment with the conflict between the form of the chisels and the material they were made of. It initially looks like I would be able to easily escape my confinement, but as I keep trying it becomes evident that I do not have the solution to do so. My tools to escape are made from the same thing that got me stuck in the first place. While the plaster may be heavy and strong, it is also brittle and weak at the same time. I am fascinated by this paradox. There is this tension that comes with the uncertainty of whether the shell or chisel will break first. 

I used this tension and the slow build up of frustration during the performance to portray how overwhelming that trapped anxiety can be. I repeatedly used the pulley to get myself another plaster chisel and try to escape, just to fail again. I wanted this to be a struggle in the same way Sisyphus is eternally pushing the boulder up the hill. I wanted the viewer to question whether I was really trapped in there or if it was purely performance, and if it was even possible to escape. The frustration of failure combined with the stress of running out of chisels ended with me not having any energy left to keep trying.