Field Report #1

Well, I wish this could have been an actual field report because going to New Orleans is something I always wanted to do especially after Katrina. Paul Chan's invention in different areas of the world has some very interesting creative insight. He reported on the Iraqi culture in "Baghdad In No Particular Order" and payed special attention to the works of art within that culture. "Waiting for Godot in New Orleans" inserts art in to a place which some of the nation's richest art was produced. After Katrina that art did take a downfall, but it was still made and gave the people of New Orleans hope and something to live for. I found Chan's project and website very appropriate.
The term "waiting" is obviously a verb but shows much more than the action. Patience or lack thereof is the trait of waiting. This had been the action and traits of the people of New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina hit. Waiting for Godot was in a prime location and interpreted the act of the people of New Orleans the setting in which that waiting was occurring. But in terms of art and the purpose of the class, "waiting" is the act of what we do every lecture. Waiting for the purpose of every film we watch. Waiting for that spectacular image or sound. Waiting for meaning. All films and especially experimental films seem to require the trait of patience. Patience is needed when watching the film and more importantly finding meaning to the film.
Second person cinema is also shown within Waiting For Godot In New Orleans. Although the play itself is not technically "cinema", it still shows the same concept. As I mentioned before, I believe that Paul Chan's act of putting on Waiting For Godot in New Orleans was very appropriate. The audience of the play was pulled into the performance in a few different ways. First, entering there was a Gumbo buffet and that was followed by a marching band that played music and marched the audience two blocks to where the performance was being held. That was the Interactive part of performance. Second, the play's setting was on a New Orleans street, nothing more. The natural landscape was the play's set. In terms of second-person cinema, the setting gave a personal connection to the audience. In that way it pulled the viewer into more personal meaning of the play. An example is the term "waiting" I discussed earlier.
The word "waiting" and second-person cinema go hand-and-hand with each other. Outside of Waiting for Godot in New Orleans, waiting in an act we need to interpret and second-person cinema aspect of the film. We need patience to find the meaning of a film, and in second-person cinema that meaning in mainly left to us, the viewer. The film is how we interpret it through relation and personal connections and memories.