Youtube video- The Paint Ball project Day 18

Day 18
The first a two part blog post begins with Bilal explaining his post was taking place at the end of the day, near midnight. He describes the day as quiet. A paintball shot rings out at this point. He continues, saying the day had "no particular dramas". Bilal mentions that he has brought a new tree to decorate the room. The video then cuts to earlier footage.

We see Bilal walking through the gallery space, carrying the video camera in his hand and recording himself. He says he hopes people will "respect the tree" rather than shooting it. He then turns the camera onto the tree, a small one and picks it up. The footage then cuts to inside the actually performance space. He considers how he will get past the  paintball gun. The footage is quite jerky . He decides to forego the shield in favour of dragging the tree.

He comments on how nice the tree smells. He then waits to see if anyone will shoot the tree. The  paintball gun is almost spasmodically moving. Bilal says this is due to multiple users trying to control the gun simultaneously.He remarks it would be sad if someone deliberately tried to shoot the tree. the video then returns to the day's introductory scene.

He said it didn't take long for someone to shoot the tree. It was "about 11 or so in the mornig" and the video cuts off abruptly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmrhucSu9Zk


The second part resumes a second both the break. I suspect this is due to the ten minute limit Youtube places on video. Bilal he says he feels a little bit sorry, and it  As the tree animates the room. Bilal expresses bewilderment that anyone would want to shoot the tree, although he shows the extensive damge to the wall due to the increased volume of fire aimed at the tree. The dripping paint is thicker near the tree, and many gouges are visible in the drywall.

Bilal goes on to talk about an interview he had done earlier with someone active in the performance's chat room. He suggests we might know them on that basis. This porousness of the performance is such that at this point we can begin to question where the performance begin s an ends- is the video part of the performance, or documentation? Is there a spacial component that differentiates the two? how does this work when both performance and documentation are experienced primarily through the internet, with most interaction by chat room?

"Hey every it's day 18. I'am here with a visitor" Says Bilal. He has her introduce herself. "Hi I'm Laura(Lara CK) Some of you may know me as 149." She goes onto explain she came to know Wafaa through the chatroom of the performance and since she lives in Chicago she brought muffins to him when she visited the performance space(And again, I ask myself, what is the performance space here?) She also brought him socks at his request. She unpacks  the bag of gifts and . Bilal thanks Laura and says how much the support of the community makes the performance more bearable for him. He then signs off from the interview.

He again cuts back to the opening setting. He agains thanks Laura and says that this is a "heart warming example of a community that is being built". He goes on to say this complements the ongoing discussion that he repeatedly says is the goal of his performance. As he often does he returns with a post script. He shows again the extension damage to the wall. He says he will cover the wall to protect so the shots do not "burn a hole" through it. He then signs off



 Bilal notes how good the muffins smell(a vary embodied sense) . Is the visual some how de-spatialised?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh4U6pujjC4