Haircuts by Children

Haircuts by Children. Omar cutting Nan Curtis’ hair.

In the future, every child will be given a pair of scissors and invited to shape our destinies. — Mammalian Diving Reflex on Haircuts by Children

Omar asks PNCA’s Nan Curtis, “Do you want it straight or bumpy?” And with that, this 5th grader from East Portland’s Glenfair Elementary school with four hours of training under his belt began to cut her hair yesterday afternoon at Rudy’s Barbershop in the Pearl District. This haircut was part of a performance called “Haircuts by Children” by Toronto’s Mammalian Diving Reflex for PICA’s TBA:07 Festival.

Haircuts by Children. this subject had said, “Go for it. I’m very adventurous with my hair.”

“Haircuts” would be great even without execution simply because it raises the important question of how we both regard and treat children. Do we listen to their opinions, how do we empower them to make decisions and how do we trust them as we ask them to trust us? Platitudes aside, children are holding the cards to our future.

The work succeeds because half of the participants come to it not as an “art project” but as an honest task. And the other half undertake a serious risk (this isn’t Mark Pauline here with flame throwers, but many would rather risk bodily injury than an injury to their vanity). The kids aren’t here to make art, they’re here to cut hair. And what many a performance sorely needs is that kind of honest commitment to the task at hand rather than a reliance on theater’s “suspension of disbelief” (or art’s “silence in the face of art”) handshake between performer and audience.

Another little girl, Yana, reported that she’d cut two heads, both women with long hair. “How did you cut them?” I asked. “Well, one I did in layers, and the other I did short,” she replied with a smile.

Omar, on the other hand, was terribly cautious with Curtis’ below-the-shoulders blond hair. He gave it a careful little trim and then painstakingly dressed the ends with vibrantly colored gel.

Today from 12-4 PM at Rudy’s Barbershop (212 NW 13th) Haircuts by Children continues.

POSTED: September 9th, 2007 | AUTHOR: lisa | FILED UNDER: art | TAGS: art | 1 Comment »

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