Consent is understood as when one person agrees to or gives permission to another person to do something. Consent means agreeing to an action based on your knowledge of what that action involves, its likely consequences and having the option of saying no. The absence of no does not mean yes. Consent is about clear and open communication.
Together with the participating audience, Exercising Consent mediates on the idea of consent, its significance and how it is acted out in any given situation. Through question and response, affirmation and negation, Exercising Consent explores the feelings and choices behind these answers in order to become more conscious. In her performance, Lodigiani, places herself in the position of the consent giver, exercising her freedom to say yes or no to the petitions the participants make, thereby displaying the possibilities that these requests might bring to the table.
The performance took place in a storefront on Calle Sabino in Santa María la Ribera in Mexico City. Within this interactive space, there was a seesaw in the centre which acts as the channel of communication for this one-to-one performance. Each person that wants to participate has previously placed their name on a list and has read and agreed with the rules: You may not do anything without the artists consent, If you get off the seesaw your participation ends, you must engage in eye contact. They approach me and select what they want me to wear if anything at all. They show me their choice and I can consent or not to wearing it. The participant is free to speak freely and ask liberally. After the choice of clothes has been made and consented upon, we mount the seesaw together. He/she can do whatever they want on the see saw but cannot get off, if they do, they must abandon the participation as stated in the rules. They participant can stay as long as they want within the six hour daily duration. The performance will last three days, six hours a day. Anyone is allowed to participate.
The seesaw becomes the channel of communication, the connection between two people. We are suspended in time and space, we will explore the feelings that arise and the questions that bubble to the surface. We are an oracle. What are their choices? Why did they make these choices? Costumes as archetypes. Familiarity with the archetypes. Cultural references. Female archetypes. Nudity. Sexuality. Power. Trust. Shame. The sculptural object of the seesaw itself and what it represents. Childhood. Movement. The ups and downs of any relationship. Balance. The fragile line between a yes and a no. Eye contact. The intimacy with a perfect stranger. The nonverbal communication. The link. What does this experience bring out in me? How does this person make me feel? Am I comfortable? Do I feel powerful? Do I feel ashamed? Am I curious? Why did I choose to dress her the way I did? How are the choices I made socially conditioned?Am I ok with a no? Does a yes empower me? Does a no relieve me? Was this an exercise in consent? What is consent?
