The Order of the Joke



The performance, at Parsons' Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, NYC, 2010, began with an acapella solo of "Soldier Boy," sourced from the 1960's all girl's band The Shirelles. This time around its lyrics shifted to "Soldier Girl" and the second time it was sung within the performance, it was sung without consonants.

Then together the audience and the performer sung through English lessons that appear to operate as jokes. The audience had no context. Most did not know what they were singing until the end of the performance.

Initially these 'lessons' were conducted by some US soldiers to children in currently occupied territories. These English phrases, range from the expression of simple desires, like the need for chocolate and water to a sort of ventriloquism where children voice the soldiers' disgust for the country they are stationed in ("Fuck Iraq") or the soldiers' desire for sex ("I miss pussy"). These interactions were found on videos authored by US soldiers and posted online. The hand drawn fliers were passed out mid-performance.