Name
Hungry Man, or an Attempt to Fill My Dad’s Shoes on a Holiday
(Made with Gracie Moon)
(Scene on American Loneliness #9)

Year
2024

Performance
Thinking about the act of doomscrolling as a modern outlet for loneliness and boredom, a comparison can be drawn to the earlier act of channel-surfing. Constantly flicking through TV channels every few seconds for long periods of time results in both time passing and little to no entertainment or information being absorbed. As a kid I would sit with my dad (who identifies as a workaholic) on his days off at home while he channel-surfed. I once asked him why he did that for hours on end, and he responded by saying to me “what else am I going to do?”.

Replicating the setting where my father spends his time when he’s unable to go to work, I dressed up in his daily at-home attire and trapped myself in a space with nothing but my dad’s favorite food, a microwave, and a television which was set to change channels every 10 seconds. In this space, I was not allowed to communicate with anybody or leave the room, and my only choices for activities were to sit, eat, and watch TV. I did this for roughly 5 and a half hours before getting bored and leaving the room.

March 11th, 2024

Relic
Wife beater & slacks