six-minutes, CD Flash animation, 2000

A looped six-minute video projection of a text animation of words on colored backgrounds accompanied by a monologue of a person talking to himself about a game or “situation.” In the game, the player is required to choose four words that are the only words that he can use for the rest of his life. He begins by considering the most gut- and gutter-level words of want and desire. As he continues his ruminations he becomes more and more confused about what is important and what is necessary. He “wants to do the right thing” and he “wants to make the right choices.” His own importance in the world is in doubt. His awkward attempts to understand himself and his connections to others, including “The father, the Son and the Holy Ghost” leads him to consider whether “sorry” or “forgive me” should be included in his list; but “forgive me” would be half his words for the rest of his life. This seems a “sorry-ass” solution to him and he ultimately ends up choosing the sound of a bird chirping: “tweet” for all four words. This work grew out of a monologue appearing in the performance, Getalong Little Doggie, that was performed in Chicago at Links Hall, as a featured performance at the Cleveland Performance Festival 1999 at the Cleveland Public Theater and in 2000 at The Royal College of Art in London. A print version entitled Tweet, Tweet was published in White Walls journal, Winter 2000.