Video trailer for Soft Interruption
Soft Interruption
October 4, 2022
Arlie Sommer, Megan White, & CL Young
Action and Video, 6 min 31 sec
Soft Interruption is a performance intervention exploring the possibility of ease, interconnection, and vulnerability within the consumption-driven space of a mall. We invited individuals to participate in prompts at the mall with the objective of finding and maintaining comfort and connection. Six participants gathered in a shady corner outside H&M at 4 pm on Saturday, October 4, 2022, at Boise Towne Square Mall. The action took place in a third space, a public location where people gather to see and be seen. Each participant dressed completely in one color to draw attention to the action.
Participants were led through guided breathing and visualization before entering the mall in pairs, with the objective of maintaining connection with their partner and a state of ease in the body as they slowly walked through the space. Arriving in the Food Court, participants were given small slips of paper that prompted them to stare into each other’s eyes for three minutes. The performers then continued walking until being given another prompt at the base of the escalators in front of Macy’s, instructing them to mirror their partner’s movements for another three-minute span. Their walk concluded at the indoor entrance to H&M and the performance ended with participants seated in a circle, sharing closing breath. After the intervention concluded, participants shared their responses to the experience. These responses included surprise at the calmness felt within a space that is normally anxiety-inducing, a higher level of conscious thought while taking in stimuli such as advertisements, and feelings of separation from other people in the mall.
These improvisations nurtured connection and comfort within a space overrun with stimulation meant to grab consumers’ attention to influence their spending. In addition to creating an experience for those participating in the intervention, the performance of these scores was noticed by mall patrons and brought them to question their own engagement with the space. The tension between the action and the location were evident throughout the duration of the performance. In the documentation video footage of this event, the participants’ embodied, intentional movement is in stark contrast to the movement of the shoppers, yet also mimics some of the connection shared between people at the mall, holding hands, gazing, occupying a public space.
