My first experience of Performance Art in Milano.

Friday 4th March, '2011

A massive crowd of people wait outside an art gallery in the back streets of Milano. We are anticipating the Performance duo DIEGO PERRONE & Christian Frosi. 

As we wait, lots of strange noises can be heard from inside the space, sounds of bashing and clashing...It echoes silently...The public wait for the doors to open, casually socializing and discussing the predictions of the performance. In the crowds I bump into some people from my school, they all leave briefly for a beer, but come back eventually. We are all still waiting.... After standing outside the venue for almost an hour, the public begin to stir and start chanting 'OUT! OUT! OUT!’.... There is no reply, but shapes of movements can be seen behind the see through plastic doors and then also camera flashes. It now becomes very evident that there is action happening within the venue and we as the audience are being diverted from it. The public at the front begin to bash on the doors very angrily. There is a little peephole in the door and they keep on shouting ‘LET US IN! LET US IN! The door does not open and again we wait and wait with no answer…

Then the door suddenly opens; a child stands at the door covered in dirt. The crowd goes completely silent, and people exclaim: “UN BAMIBINO!” ….

We slowly enter and follow the child into the space and into the darkness. As we walk in  we are faced with a big pile of broken coal… It crunched underneath my feet and makes very uneasy sounds.

Once we had all gathered in the venue we wandered about, investigating all the broken objects dotted about and trying to understand them in relation to the space…Still no sign of the performance artists, but there was a camera set up recording and speakers…I am wandering in my head; what exactly is happening- when will the performance begin?... Why are we in darkness? Then out of the crowd, the two performance artists finally appear with the young child standing between them…They enter the middle of the space and begin to applaud him. Then everyone joins in and applauds him. Then the lights come on and the performance finishes…

THE END…?