Video

I Will Tell You Exactly What I Think of You: The Power Plant, Toronto

Zeesy Powers

2013, colour, English

TAPECODE 1030.20

Zeesy Powers has been telling people what she thinks of them since 2005. At the 2013 Powerball, participants were required to sign a release form reading:

I understand that I am participating in this performance for entertainment purposes only, and that the artist (Zeesy Powers) will broadcast my image without any accompanying audio.

They were given the choice of using their full name on the YouTube video (youtube.com/IWTYEWITOY), or of being attached to a randomized number. During each session, participants (for the most part complete strangers) sat on a stool on a stage with a box of tissues close by. The artist was seated in a large chair, facing the participant but with her back to the audience. A portrait style video of the participant was projected onto a large screen facing the participant. These are the videos of each participant listening as the performer tells them exactly what she thinks of them. The audio has been removed to focus the viewer’s attention on to the participant’s experience, not the opinions being expressed by the artist.

These 31 videos are recommended for installation as a loop, either as full-wall projections in a dark room, or screened on a flat-screen monitor, to be viewed as a painting on the wall would be.

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