Tommy Coleman
The Mirror Exercise
2015-2019
dimensions variable
2x4s, Mylar, sheetrock, joint compound, black felt, paint, screws, corner moulding, performer
STATEMENT:
As an interdisciplinary artist my ideal art material is a feeling—it’s that intangible uneasiness nested in the moment when we bear witness to a shared experience that is so startling it deconstructs our cognitive senses, rupturing language and our understanding of physical space and material. Through masterfully crafted objects and staunchly sincere, albeit witty, images and performances, I investigate honesty, intimacy, and the perceptual breakdowns which accompany contemporary social economies.
The Mirror Exercise is a performance exertion originally created in 2015. It is conducted by one ‘mirror operator’ and can only be directly viewed by one participant at a time. All accompanying audiences must stand adjacently several feet away from the direct line of sight between operator and viewer. This exercise is a tool to navigate the formation and exchange of identity by performing the self as an affective vehicle of and for a viewer. A mirror operator is to perform standing behind a mirror-like Mylar screen partitioning the operator’s body behind a barrier opposite of that of the viewer. The operator begins to create an empathic and psychological bond with a viewer, established through eye contact from behind cut holes in the mirror for the operator’s eyes, nose, and mouth to protrude.
This exchange is a timed meditation: for one hour operators are to only focus on three mantras while maintaining bold and direct eye contact with their viewer. Operators are to focus on their language while thinking of themselves as a mirror imbued with the physical likeness of their viewer. This durational exchange can be witnessed by an audience of bystanders for as long as they wish. All participating viewers can participate for as long as they desire or until the operational time frame has been completed.
BIO:
Tommy Coleman is a Jupiter Farms, Florida native and Brooklyn-based artist and educator. Since graduating from Yale’s MFA sculpture program in 2016 Coleman has had the privilege of exhibiting and teaching internationally while maintaining a multidisciplinary studio practice based in Brooklyn, New Haven, and South Florida.