Foe
2008
Foe represents video footage of me receiving lessons from an acting coach hired to teach me the "accents" of my cultural backgrounds. I am not interested in the authenticity of these accents but in the idea of being taught to speak in these voices. The text that I have learned is taken from a book with the same titled as my piece. This book, a sequel to "Robinson Crusoe" was written by J. M. Coetzee. In this book, Friday (the savage) has been mutilated; his tongue has been removed and he cannot speak. For this work I have memorized the specific passage where Crusoe explains this to another.