Finding The Moment

Michael David Jones is in the running to be part of Birmingham's FIERCE festival with The Moment Before We Kiss, where he offers strangers the chance to savour him, the very moment before their first kiss. He tells Arts Hub about his work and his practice as an artist.

It is early evening, snow is falling. I am running through the streets of London in just my underwear and a cardigan; the cold raises goose pimples on my skin as flushes of hot blood pump through my body and flood my cheeks. Exhausted, I desperately look for him and; thank god, see him leaving a bookshop. I try to explain, desperate not to lose him. He kisses me. It is the most passionate, deeply satisfying, earth-shaking kiss. Shocked to the core, I utter the words “Wait a minute? Nice boys don’t kiss like that” he envelopes me in his long black coat and looks deep into my eyes. His voice a low growl, he responds; “Oh yes they fucking do”.

Summer 2007, I began the process of applying for an MA Fine Art. Part of the application process was to consider the area of research and resulting work I would make during the course. I proposed to find out what it means to be ‘In the Moment’ with a focus on romance on the screen juxtaposed with my experience of romance; to explore small romantic gestures with complete strangers. I have found many moments along the way. I naïvely proclaimed that by the end of these explorations I would have a clearer idea of ‘Romance’, ‘The Moment‘, ‘Lust’ and ‘Love’. I wanted to know; can the moment be found with a stranger?

Live Art offers me space to explore moments of shared experience in a multitude of surprising ways. I meet people from all walks of life and can never know how an audience member will engage with me or my work. This means that every experience is as fresh for me as it is for them. I have to be open to all possibilities; which takes a certain kind of foolish bravery. This is both terrifying and electrifying.

In my latest work The Moment Before We Kiss (2008) I offer strangers the chance to savour with me the moment before the first kiss. In five-minute appointments, I meet with participants one-on-one; we introduce ourselves and discuss the moment. The culmination of this is the moment itself; we make eye contact and move our lips together to kiss. Before our lips touch, we both must stop and hold this moment, charged and full of potential.

Speaking on Channel Four documentary Artshock in 2006, artist Kira O’Reilly talks of the ‘real conversations’ that occur when participants in her work are considering cutting her skin. This type of spontaneous, real conversation is pivotal in building trust and intimacy in my work; there is something unpredictable and exciting about the meeting of minds that may occur. I try to create work that can be read bodily; physically, musically; guttural, instinctive. Building the trust required to find these intimate moments is an important part of the process.

Romance transcends the ideologies of ‘high’ culture. Romantic acts are as prevalent in classic literature as in Hollywood Cinema. Live Art Platform You and Your Work described my piece The Moment Before We Kiss (2008) as exploring “a fundamental human encounter (nearly every single person on this earth shares the first kiss experience)” The body is almost always written with experience; I see potential in the kiss. An instantaneous, bodily response; how can such a simple act be so monumental? Talking about the proposal for the piece at FIERCE, Terence McDermott from Birmingham’s art lounge speaks of kissing as “a globally accepted phenomenon (that) more or less means the same wherever you may go. There’s also the idea (that may or may not be true) that prostitutes might sell their bodies but kissing is off-limits, showing the depth of meaning in the act.”

In initiating this project I was unprepared for the extent of this depth, or how much a part of my everyday life the research would become. I am buzzing with possibilities, thoughts and ideas. Following my instincts is as much a part of the process as exploring theory. I want to know more about the moment and its connections with live art and performance; who is performing? I want to know about trust, intimacy and theatricality. I want to know about those pesky elephants; gender, sexuality.

I propose a toast; to finding the answers, to the beauty of finding the moment; to the meeting of minds and to fleeting moments of Romance. I raise my glass.

Editor's note: Jones is currently in the running to be part of Birmingham's FIERCE festival with The Moment Before We Kiss (2008) and is currently developing new work with Arnolfini Gallery Bristol. His work in progress Close To You (2008) will be shown as part of platform event ‘I am still your worst nightmare’ on April 26th/27th.

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