Sarah maple Classic

"One of my favourite of Maple’s works is a film entitled 'Freedom of Speech'. 

Maple sits, head and shoulders, before a white wall. ‘I’m going to talk about some of the themes in my work,’ she says. She’s dressed only as Maple. Plain white shirt, grey cardigan, eyeliner, nothing more. 

‘The process of the work and how I start is I do a lot of reading and research and then come up with ideas of how I can kind of expel my ideas in an accessible way so I can speak to the audience on a wider level and for me that connection with the audience is the most important thing...’

She looks anxious, watchful. A minute and a half into the dialogue a hand comes from nowhere and slaps her. We don’t see who the hand belongs to. It comes from behind the camera. Clearly thrown by this shocking if not unexpected treatment, she does not retaliate but struggles to get back to her train of thought and carry on with what she’s been
asked to do. 

Before long the hand repeats its abusive gesture. There’s no sense, no coherence in it, just wordless violence. Every time she’s hit Maple’s confidence takes a knock. It’s increasingly difficult for her to present her thoughts with erudition. She’s visibly battling to hold it together.

Here’s the thing. If you don’t watch the whole film, if you only catch snippets of it between doing other things, you might not notice the hand at all. Its appearances are fleeting. You might just wonder: why is this woman speaking so incoherently about something that purports to be so important to her? Why can’t she string a sentence together? Why has she no confidence in herself?

After that, you might dismiss her altogether as not quite up to the job. Towards the end of the five minute film, involuntarily, Maple sobs. For another minute she continues to speak through her tears. Then, she thanks her audience and leaves the stage. 

So, what did you see? 
Did you see a person abused into silence? Or did you see a weak, confused, overly emotional woman with little or no idea what she’s talking about. That depends on how closely you were watching. And did you notice who was doing the slapping?

Watch again. Because it was you."

- Beverley Knowles is a freelance curator and writer on the arts.