The Creative Process

Buried Alive Audio Recording

Sydney Flora & Billy Knowles

TMA 112 Process Piece

Process Piece Artist Statement

Processes exist all around us, in every way, shape, and form. They are an essential component of the human condition and dictate every action done by humans. Thought processes, creative processes, and even life processes all share a simple coherent truth. They involve a clear beginning and end, something that is changing to a final result.  They can be as simple and mundane as writing your name on a piece of paper or they can be complex and last weeks, like painting a magnificent piece of art. In whatever form, the characteristics that make up a process are similar to that of the classic three-act structure of a play or film. There is beginning or an inciting incident, a middle where much of the leg work is done, and finally an end where, at least in most cases, there is a clear resolution. 
So with this in mind, creating a process piece actually leaves the artist open to an unmeasurable amount of options. There is a certain freedom that is allotted to the artist within the creative process. Our creative process dealt with the striking prospect of being buried alive. We felt this process was intriguing and would be a treat to explore. 
There is a clear beginning involved, with someone waking up to unfortunately find they are trapped inside a wooden coffin, with 6 feet of seemingly lifeless dirt between them and people, unlimited amounts of oxygen, and the rest of the world. The first thing someone would do is determine their surroundings and if possible ascertain numerous methods to escape. There is a serious catch involved in this process. The more they resist and fight the tremendous adversary that is their burial, the more precious and limited oxygen they use in their efforts. The daunting realization of this would be horrific, but I also imagine that an intelligent person would stop and begin to analyze the situation. This would lead to attempts to scratch or force their way out, but also more unconventional routes such as searching for a cellphone. Obviously, they were buried either by mistake or by malicious intent, both of which would leave a very viable option that the prisoner would still have their belongings. Thus, using the cellphone as a last resort of escape. 

This audio clip we did was entirely improvised and spontaneous. All we did was bury Billy inside a make-shift coffin and let the magic play out. This type of creative process is very similar to filming a cinema-verite documentary. Sydney was acting as a fly on the wall if you would, whilst Billy was buried underneath the mounds of blankets, pillows, and a large love sac. In the film, “The Queen of Versailles,” the filmmakers began by documenting a fantastical story of some extremely rich people building the biggest house in America. But halfway through this process, the 2008 financial crisis hit and the story completely evolves from a whimsical dream to a depressing trail of horrible events. So from this perspective, sometimes beautiful, moving art can created when things aren’t entirely planned or prepared by the artist. 
Specifically, in our process piece, without planning, a suspenseful crisis emerges: Billy finds himself trapped underneath a cardboard box, similar to a make-shift coffin if you will. Heavily breathing, he realizes that if he doesn’t escape this scenario, he will run out of oxygen. He says this with a long pause before and after, really helping to build suspense. This small line of dialogue really helped to raise the stakes and provide a much more satisfying resolution. The situation was discussed beforehand, but it is truly difficult to prep for such a grave scenario until one is underneath the pressure and the tight, confined space. With the heat index rising, the lack of oxygen really becoming a factor, and the pressure to live the role, one really gains a small, but significant, insight into the frightening reality of this possibility. The scenario was extremely fun to play out, but also left me wondering what that actually would be like. Would I have remained that calm, or simply suffocated from asphyxiation of trying to frantically escape anyway by any means necessary. Overall, this creative process was extremely pleasing, and allowed us to experience the wondrous beauty of creating art organically.