Jon Sasaki

Here’s a local example of a great relational work that combines performance, endurance, music and participation. Toronto artist Jon Sasaki’s I Promise It Will Always Be This Way was staged at Lamport Stadium for the 2008 incarnation of Nuit Blanche.

From Sasaki’s website:

For I Promise It Will Always Be This Way, twenty-six costumed team mascots took the field at Lamport Stadium, attempting to whip the crowd into a fervent frenzy. Throughout the twelve-hour endurance piece, they pulled out all the stops with their mascot shenanigans, while “Jock Rock” played over the loudspeakers. As the night progressed and physical fatigue began to set in, the mascots required cigarettes, naps, snacks and bathroom breaks. Plush heads were removed and mascot illusions were broken, revealing the performers to be human after all…capable of feeling cold and weary. However, flying in the face of all expectations, the mascots’ morale never dwindled. An unbelievably supportive, ever-cheering, crowd reciprocated the enthusiasm, creating a touchingly symbiotic back-and-forth of support. What was intended to be a much darker comment on futility and pathos ended up being a very moving moment of social generosity.

Here’s a video of the event:

[Image by Sweet One; cropped from this original. Shared under Creative Commons.]

This entry was written by Marissa Neave, posted on October 26, 2009 at 8:08 PM, filed under Research and tagged endurance, jon sasaki, nuit blanche, performance. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.