Misbehaving Canes


Spring 2020
Senior studio
- Performance/installation



This project is about the connections and consequences we cannot foresee because we are not walking alone. Unlike most canes designed and polished to assist, these canes are not supposed to serve. Instead of being held in hands, these canes are tied to my body joints. They are only waxed where it contacts my body. Therefore, I have less to no control over these canes. With every step I take, the canes reveal, enlarge, and react to my joints’ minor movements and start to act out of their own characters. My walk is a constant negotiation with these branches, adjusting my habitual gait to these branches’ performance to avoid choking. I walked with these canes over the campus back to where they’re collected. In the end, the canes broke down, and I was bruised.