Performance and PDF (2022).
A performance with two kinds of circles, centered around the idea of (awkward) silence.
In 2018, Jeff Bezos banned PowerPoint at Amazon and ordered a return to Six-Page Narratives, memos read collectively in silence. I used this as the basis for this performance.
Everyone was asked to browse Temporary and Unnamed to collect content for a personalized PDF that each participant would read during the reading-circle portion of the meeting. The reading bit made up the 'introverted circle' of the meeting.
The reading was timed by a kettle. As soon as the water began to boil, we stopped reading and flipped the chairs facing inwards. Everyone was given a coffee bean, which we then chewed together as we transitioned into the circle-time portion of the meeting, that is the 'extroverted circle'. I'm describing this and some more aspects of meeting culture in this blog post.
The group discussion was led by Mindy Seu and Gordon Hall for Mindy's class On Gathering.
In 2018, Jeff Bezos implemented a ban on PowerPoint at Amazon, emphasizing Six-Page Narratives as the preferred mode of communication, where memos were collectively read in silence. Inspired by this approach, I designed a performance structured around it.
Participants were given personalized PDFs, which were then read during the meeting's 'introverted circle' session. We timed the reading with a boiling kettle, concluding it when the kettle stopped and chairs were turned inward. To transition into the 'extroverted circle' or circle-time, everyone was given a coffee bean to chew on together.