This project is both a continuation of and a departure from my usual style of performance art. Like most recent projects, Band Aids enables me to converse with real people in real time and real space. That is to say, no computers, no cell phones, no PDAs are involved in the interaction! However, Band Aids is unlike most of my previous performances in that I have an agenda: I want to remove the negative connotations of the term “band aid.”
I will proceed by asking a participant to talk about any memories — new or old –that involve the use of a band aid. After listening carefully and discussing the personal experiences described, I will move on to a discussion of the way in which the term band aid has been used to denigrate those who have not fully solved a problem, but have, instead, “merely applied a band aid.” I will point out that such commentary overlooks an important point: taking a small action is better than taking no action at all. Indeed, I would like to suggest that the world would be a better place if each of us tried to apply a band aid to a personal, social, political, or environmental problem.