project image
Jenée Childers
UNTITLED

first performed on December 31, 2017
Historic Stone Cellar, Fayetteville, AR
performed once in 2017

JENÉE CHILDERS

Fayetteville, AR

UNTITLED
JENÉE CHILDERS

I walked around a space surrounded by strung up pillows and sporadically belted out an unrestrained primal scream of frustration. My goal was to feel some release and to allow others to do the same. Occasionally I would offer a hanging pillow to an onlooker to scream into as well.

For me, verbal expression of emotion was a concept I lost this year. Voice holds power. This performance was a therapeutic purge of emotions to release the fear, anger, and sadness in my own heart. The noose I wore around my neck represented the individual, me, as an antagonizing force.

At some points of my performance, I was sobbing. The difference between my screams and crying became almost indistinguishable to me. A cathartic outburst of emotions is just what I needed and wanted everyone else to experience. To let go is to grow. 2018 is a new year and will bring many new experiences we can all scream into a pillow about later.