Another case that came to my mind when listening to this week’s lecture on the relationship with silent beings is London’s Guards outside of Buckingham Palace. Growing up in films and on TV, these guards in red uniforms with large black hats were always present. They would be standing guard outside of the palace with a serious facial expression and they were not allowed to speak. People would come up and try and make them laugh or respond in some way, but they would never break their stare. Although these guards are not part of an art performance, I began to wonder if perhaps they should be or if anyone had considered this as part of the art world before. While this is different, as the guards are doing this as part of a job and don’t ask or welcome tourists to annoy or mock them, artists such as Marina Abramovic are asking for people to come up and stare at them. Thus, I feel like the relationship between the guards and the tourists that re trying to get a reaction out of them is one-sided. If there was an artist here though, would it be the guard or the tourist, because while the guard is standing still, the tourist is the one having to do various actions to try to get a reaction out of the guard.
