“Red, blue or green?” is a work of socially engaged performance art from Schwenk’s body of work with the heavily ironic title, “Anything you can see in person, you can see better on TV”. This project is a fun take on the spectacle and seeks to counter the belief that a televised image is better than being there in person.
In “red, blue or green”, a group of everyday people come together to make geometric patterns with their bodies. The performance, directed by Schwenk, takes place in the middle of the road at Bondi beach during a busy part of the day. The participants in the work are invited to wear their choice of “red, blue or green”t-shirts, together with black pants and shoes.
The colors people choose to wear, will determine the geometric shapes made during this performance. Schwenk finalizes the patterns and choreography for the intervention once everyone arrives.
“At first she is aware of nothing beyond her own body, her self, and she watches other people, imitating the way they hold their arms. But she’s also aware that she’s doing a strange and unbelievable thing. It makes her feel entirely alive, in the roof of her mouth and fingertips. She understands all at once, with a small shock … being there is not the same as watching”.1
1 Kingsolver B, Pigs in Heaven, New York, Harper Collins Publishers Inc, 1993, p270.
There is adrenaline, excitement and importantly relationship building as the performers rely on each other to create these beautiful geometric shapes.