Dora García: Ways of Seeing

Eva Wittocx

In the autumn of 2000, the group exhibition Metro>Polis was held in the underground tramway system in Brussels. As a visitor, I viewed the various works of art displayed along the length of the track. Dora García's work was entitled "The Tunnel People", a title that refers to a number of people or actors who move from one location to the next in the metro system where they perform various activities, some of which are based on a script while others are not, and they enter into dialogue with their fellow travellers. The exhibition folder reports the specific times as well as the metro stops at which these performers may be observed "in action". In my quest to witness these acts –but also during later movements throughout Brussels- my attention was drawn to the unusual movements or pronouncements made by my fellow passengers. I am convinced that I am able to perceive an unfamiliar pattern behind every glance or movement. It is precisely as a result of this attitude that I perceive normal, everyday actions as staged and unnatural.
Dora García's work crosses both the boundary and connection between reality and fiction, between the so-called spontaneous and the imposed. There is no neutral reality in which every action is autonomous from others and thus pure. In actual fact, our behaviour does not originate from a sort of tabula rasa, but is instead considerably coloured and guided by social as well as personal factors. On the one hand, every action springs forth as a result of the country, culture or society in which we live. On the other hand, our behaviour is determined by previous experiences, memories and events. The issue of "steering" actions is, in fact, beside the point since it is omnipresent. Dora García's vision is to bring this to the surface, in order to question the degree of truth present in reality. There is not one "single reality"; there are only different possible hypotheses. That which we believe or accept as reality is therefore closely connected with the stories or realities with which we are already familiar. By postulating different scenarios, our perception of reality is influenced.

Therefore, Dora García's work does not exist autonomously; she does not produce objects of art that are destined solely for an existence within an institutional or commercial context. Her work is conceptual in nature, and consists of text, photographs, performances and installations restricted to a specific location. Becoming attached to objects hinders the capacity to convey ideas. To a certain extent, her work uses "people" as material and involves the interplay between the spontaneous and the imposed, between knowledge and ignorance, between awareness and the unconscious. In this way for example, García created a choreography involving people lying down, in which the exact poses correspond to the intuitive recumbent position people assume when they sleep (Choreography of Sleep, 1999).

In my quest for "The Tunnel People", I realise that it is unimportant whether I find these so-called "actors" or not. The fact that my senses are attuned to something "unusual" is an accomplishment in and of itself. At the same time, I realise that the coincidental audience is unwittingly participating by reacting. In the tram, the actors become part of the travellers' reality. As a result of their unusual behaviour, they elicit reactions. The impressions they leave behind may only be momentary yet a certain conversation or action may also easily remain in the tram passenger's memory for hours or even days after the fact. "The Tunnel People" infiltrate the "public's" consciousness. The interaction that arises as a result, and which may be consulted via the artist's website, offers a reflection on the statute of reality. I realise that I too might have been an "unknowing" witness of certain performances –such as "The Crowd (2001)" –in which certain actors perform assignments during the opening of an exhibit. When I try to envision previous situations, I realise that this is a hopeless task and that in attempting to do so, I am detracting from the individuality of my experiences.
In "The Glass Wall (2001)" Garcia takes this same concept and interprets it in a different manner. In this piece, she makes it evident that certain apparently everyday or spontaneous activities are steered. In this piece, two people are connected to one another via an earphone with a telephone connection. Each gives the other orders and directives and carries these out meticulously. One of the individuals is in a gallery in the presence of an informed audience. The other has gone out into the street, walks through the city and confronts random passers-by with his actions. This time there is a clear distinction between the oblivious bystander and the initiated exhibit visitors. Nonetheless, it is also unclear to the exhibit visitors whether the carrying out of certain actions by the performer is spontaneous or rehearsed. Unlike in "The Tunnel People", there is no script in this piece, but instead people who are acting on the basis of assignments imposed upon them. The total effect of "The Glass Wall" cannot be determined however. After all, the audience cannot estimate the degree to which certain behaviour has been predetermined. Nor do the performers know whether their assignments are being carried out faithfully by their correspondent, and what the impact of this will be on the bystanders or passers-by. The imperceptible aspect of the consequences of certain behaviour corresponds to situations in our daily lives. Here too it is impossible to determine what the consequences of a certain action will have or how this will play on certain sensibilities.
Dora García uses fiction as a tool to construct possible realities. In doing so, she infiltrates our perception of the daily reality. In her piece "heartbeat (1999)" she uses photographs, stories, videotape and quotes to describe a new trend in which a group of young people continually listen to their own heartbeat. By participating in this activity, they are confirming their own existence. In the corresponding photographs, we see a group of young people wearing headphones. The fictious given that such a group of young people actually exists is confirmed via pseudo-scientific information, photographs and reports. Armed with this information on this so-called new trend, in subsequent encounters with people wearing headphones, people subconsciously make the connection with the "heartbeat" generation as described by García. Because people are familiar with her work, people five different meaning to everyday encounters and tend to read different things into reality. It demonstrates that that which we believe to be or accept as reality is closely connected to the stories or realities that we already know.

The piece "golden Sentences (for successful living)" (2004) is more textually based. It arose out of García's fascination for one-liners, slogans, bits of conventional wisdom, sentences from success guides, calendars, proverbs and quotes. These are all ways to sum up the wisdom of the world in one simple line. The sentences are pretentious while also teaching us something about society, or the person who originally put them down on paper. Dora García has made a selection of several that stand out for their generality, such as "Minds much too open could have their brains fall out", " A good question should avoid at all costs an answer", or "A broken mirror reflects a thousand different world". In early 2004, Dora García presented these sayings, printed in gold, on small canvases. By virtue of their small size, they resemble pages from a valuable –biblical- book of wisdom. (…). As a rule, gold is used to impart extra value to an object (a golden wedding anniversary, a golden handshake, etc…). In the project "I Read It With Golden Fingers (1999)", she marked a novel with her own golden fingerprints, and in this way, gave the book a "unique" character. At the same time, the golden pigment was erased by the next readers.

Going back to "Golden Sentences", As a result of their general validity, the sentences may be applied to different people from a variety of cultures, with diverse backgrounds and interests. In a paradoxical way, they are – precisely as a result of their generalised nature- also empty, hollow and of practically no use for any concrete application. They employ the type of language that is often used in speeches given to large, anonymous masses. They operate lore on a mental level, and may be read as a sort of "slogan" that people can usually easily keep in the back of their minds. García's sentences are thus meant more as guidelines that are capable of exerting a positive influence of the reader's environment. Our perception is once again affected this time, only in a more open manner that was the case with "Heartbeat" or "The Tunnel People". Whereas she previously created a frame within which unexpected things were possible, in "Golden Sentences", anyone who is capable of following the instructions contained in the sentences or guidelines may be considered as a sort of performer who follows directions.

The piece "Yes or No {The Sphinx} (2004-2005)" was originally created for the Internet. A young woman's voice asks the site visitor a number of questions that may only be answered with "yes" or "no". The participant will not be asked the next question until he or she has first answers "yes" or "no" to the previous question. These questions are very general in nature – such as "Would you like to turn back time?" or "Can a man change his destiny?" or "Do you believe in paranormal phenomena?" –questions for which only a subjective answer may be given. A following question will only be asked if a correct answer has been given to the previous question.
Since every answer is personal, the respondent has no idea which criteria are used to evaluate his or her answers. The questions continue in sequence until an incorrect answer is given. The message "game over" appears on the screen. In order to determine the accuracy of every answer, these are compared with the answer that –truthful? – Had been provided by García herself.
Translated in a museological context, "Yes or No {The Sphinx}" takes on a number of other layers of meaning. A voice may be heard in the exhibition hall that continually repeats the same question until one of the visitors clicks the answer "yes" or "no" via a mouse button mounted on a pedestal. The visitor is afforded the opportunity here as well to then provide an answer based on his or her own judgement. It is only when visitors guess or try to put themselves in Dora García's place that they can continue providing solutions up until the end. It is only by participating and making choices that the visitor can activate and grasp the concept behind the work. Being able to evaluate truthfully is proportional to the amount of truth in our own ideas and the authenticity of our thoughts. Because the only "right" answers are those she has provided, García forces us, everyone else, to take her place.

Several of García's performances are based on the starting point of the impossibility of communication. Since every person experiences events within the framework of their previous experiences and memories, clear communication represents a utopia. For "The messenger (2002)" for example, a person learns a fragment of text in a foreign language by heart. The idea is that the individual, in his or her quest to find the meaning of this fragment, shares it with people with whom he or she comes in contact. After a while, he or she will find clues about the language in which the fragment has been written. This search will continue until people find someone who can decipher the message (the meaning of which will not be announced). If no one can be found who is capable of doing this, the messenger will carry the message along with him or her without knowing its true meaning. The demanding search for the meaning of the fragment will proceed through a number of intermediaries, each carrying a bit of information with them that could possibly lead to the solution. This is a metaphor for the conversations and communication that take place in our daily environment.

Garcia refers to several of her pieces –such as "The Messenger" or "The Glass Wall"- using the term "inserts in real time". She sheds light on the complex relationship between reality and the –individual- narrative. As an observer, one can never acquire a total picture of these pieces, however the one-sided personal experience that each of us undergoes, allows us to obtain possible clues. The on-line diaries for example, contain both the performer's considerations as well as reports written by the artist, photographs and video fragments. With regard to the generally accepted perception that art should provide us with original perspectives on reality, Dora García steers away from giving us a unique insight into reality. Instead, she questions what we consider to be neutral reality from inside. The protected environment in which people can come "look at" art is opened up. The boundary between the (active) performer and the (passive) audience is eliminated, every notion of theatricality is removed, and the line between art and life becomes blurred.