Lala Drona’s latest performance video titled “Willing” has just been released. The performance examines desire, choice, and notions of consent. Critic Leanne Richmond stirred up media response with her recent reading of Lala Drona’s video, stating that, for her, the video is about “the inability to resist self-destructive behaviour.” Based on a Fact caught up with Lala to learn more about the inspiration behind the video performance:
Lala Drona was inspired by ideas surrounding consent. “I was thinking about the complexities of sexuality and society, and how in order to receive consent, we must in some way, already trespass. In my video, this is demonstrated by how you cannot see the answer (yes or no) until the irreversible move is made by shaving. Unwanted advances, verbal and physical, are seen as harassment (regardless of gender). However, without them, we do not know how to begin advances towards what we want. In a similar vein, this notion of obtaining consent is not at all new to women. We have been systematically programmed to ask for consent to speak, consent to be part of to the team, consent to just be in the room. Women asking men to start including it in their sexual practices is really nothing in comparison.”
Lala Drona mentions that the title “Willing” is not meant to be understood at face value, and is meant to be taken as humour au second degré.
Nonetheless, art critic Leanne Richmond theorised that “since Lala Drona is the only individual in the piece, this is really a piece about identity and the psyche. The performer is asking and receiving consent from herself. This demonstrates the loving and destructive acts we commit on ourselves. In the video, although the performer’s psyche is saying “stop” (on the skin of her head), she is unable to resist the temptation to self-destructive behaviour, shown by the shaving of the rest of her hair.”
What do you think about Lala Drona’s newest art performance video?
Based On A Fact 
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