Review- Two Truths Focus Group

Event: Two Truths Focus Group, 19 April 2018

In preparation for Two Truths: Galway Theatre Festival, we hosted a Focus Group at which participants made art out of politics.

They reviewed over 70 statements made by sitting Irish politicians or political parties, attempting to identify the affective responses of their bodies. Each picked two statements toward which they responded positively (we called these Truths) and one to which they responded negatively (we called these Lies). After a bit more meditation, the participants used oil pastels, wax crayons, ink markers and acrylic paints to create a Body Map. These Body Maps materialise participants’ embodied reactions, and will serve as the jumping-off point for Two Truths.

As Brian Massumi notes, affect is autonomous. It is the deeply-felt resonance of the body’s nervous system. It works on levels we sometimes lose track of, and it is hard to articulate. Affect as Gilles Deleuze expresses it is the virtual on the point of becoming actual; a virtual that is real, that has effect in the world. This project aims to explore the affects sensed by participants in relation to politics. In the focus group, affect was made into art.

This is a real challenge, as participants were asked to react not to objects, or images, or actual people in the room (all of which carry affective resonances without the linguistic separation between originator and receiver), but to statements designed and coded for specific results. They translated the linguistic objects of politicians and political parties into resonances felt by the body. And some participants felt them very clearly.

Some were surprised at which statements provoked a response. Some said that the experience of making art out of these strong feelings was cathartic, or validating in some way. Some statements evoked memory, or hope, or longing, or other mixes of feeling that are a hallmark of affective response – things we can’t describe.

Of course, these Body Maps are not a direct translation. They are art, made in response to the statements. They are images; they have an existence independent of the artist’s body and of the politician whose statement evoked that body’s reaction. But in this they reflect the ephemeral nature of affect as well as that of performance.

Come along to Two Truths on 5, 6, or 7 May at 2pm to see all of these works of art and use them to pick the Five Truths that will govern Ireland for the next ten years.

Tickets: €14 / €12 / €8 at www.galwaytheatrefestival.com.

Review – Two Truths, Chicago Scratch

Though I will be writing a more in-depth review of the event and the excellent commentary and advice given by participants at the April 11, 2017 Chicago Scratch run of Two Truths, I want to immediately post a couple of things:

Acknowledgements:

First, a tremendous THANK YOU to Michael Tomczak for hosting and producing the event. His knowledge of the community created a diverse, experienced, and engaged group which gave the project an excellent scratch run, and the space he provided allowed for an intimate and intense set of encounters.

Second, THANK YOU to all the participants whose thoughtful engagement will improve the piece no end.

Here’s how it worked:

TRUTHS AND LIES:

I researched Chicago and Illinois politicians to develop 45 short statements of policy or ‘fact’ from their own words. The rubric by which a statement was selected included length, topic, and an attempt at balancing Republican and Democrat, local and state political spheres. Only currently sitting representatives’ statements were included. Statements by aldermen, state legislators, federal legislators, the Governor of Illinois and the Mayor of Chicago were all included. The statements participants saw did not include attributions. These statements were presented to participants as potential ‘truths’ (statements to which one has a positive affective reaction) and ‘lies’ (statements to which one has a negative affective reaction). As is the nature of policy statements, many did not carry content designed to provoke strong reaction; many were also very specific.

THE WORKSHOP:

After some initial grounding and centering, participants chose two truths and a lie from the statements. Again, the status of ‘truth’ or ‘lie’ refers to a positive or negative reaction to the statement.

A workshop encouraged participants to become aware of their own affective, embodied reactions to the statements, then to work in pairs to practice demonstrating positive and negative reactions (agreements and disagreements). This workshop was designed to increase awareness of affective reactions to each other and to the statements, and to begin unpacking how reactions to each other affect our reactions to the statements.

THE GAME:

During the hour-long game, five Chicago Truths needed to be decided on by the group. They were told that these represent the Most Important Truths, and would be published on the FB page and the website. One truth was determined every 15 minutes, with the last decision selecting two for a total of five over the hour. A number of character goals were scattered through the space, designed to replicate reasons people might agree or disagree with the political statements. These included affective response to statement or to a person, methods of making political decisions, and meta-game motivations. These were available to be picked up and followed, and put down again at any time so that participants could experiment with attempting different goals – or none.

– FIVE CHICAGO TRUTHS –

• The State must be fiscally responsible, and must fund essential needs, such as education, healthcare, and human services, without raising taxes on the working families.
• We should break our oil habit and save our auto industry in the bargain by ushering in a Hybrid Economy that can cut America’s gasoline consumption in half over the next decade.
• 20% of TIF funds int he city of Chicago should be set aside for affordable housing.
• The biometric, demographic, and background check information DACA (Dream Act) recipients provided should not be used to police immigration.
• While some may view the use of private prisons as a cost-cutting measure, in practice, private prisons often cost taxpayers exorbitant amounts of money while at the same time failing to provide safe, sanitary, and humane conditions. 

The attributions for these statements, along with the others with which participants worked, are here: Two Truths Chicago – attributions.