A stream of consciousness is a narrative device used in literature to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind. We were asked to create a stream of subconsciousness after watching our class partner repeatedly stand up, to then sit back down. When your consciousness is written it often lacks “correct” punctuation or syntax, favoring a looser, more incomplete style of writing.

 

After studying this form of written expression, as a group, we decided that we would like to use our stream of consciousness to form our script for the final performance. Wanting to create a dysfunctional story we picked five words:

Fire

Isolation

Drunk

Funeral

Party

 

We chose one word each and wrote down what our consciousness created when we assessed our particular word. For example, the word fire created this piece of fiction;

“Flickering silently in the darkness. You can feel the heat getting nearer and nearer to your face. It’s burning. Orange, red, yellow, white. Orange, red, yellow, white. The flames are getting higher and further into the sky, soon it will be a sky of fire scorching all that lies beneath. We are vulnerable to fire, the power it holds is more than we can imagine. It can start anywhere with the right temperature and condition. Spontaneously erupting and demolishing everything in its path… houses, fields, trees and people. If you don’t get engulfed in flames then you will collapse from inhalation of the smoke. You are suffocating, helpless and alone. You’re trapped in your body, it won’t move, you can’t find any oxygen but your mind is still thinking… still knowing. You know what is to come, the heat is getting closer and you are trapped in a house knowing the fire will take you as one of its victims. The wait would be unbearable…being aware of what your fate is and being completely isolated in this confined space with only your thoughts for company. You proceed to shouting for help but nobody can here you, they believe you’re already dead. That sickening feeling as the realisation finally hits you. Nobody knows you’re here, nobody can stop the fire you are going to die right here in this very spot. Do you think anyone will notice?”

By having five different sets of fiction we will create our script by choosing suitable lines from each piece and creating a dysfunctional story for our audience member in the box.

Jonathan Harris who created the website ‘we feel fine,’ appropriately informs in his lecture, ‘The web as art’, that if you provide a human with a partial glimpse of a story they will let their own mind fill in the rest. This is what we aim to achieve throughout our dysfunctional narrative:

 

 

Works Cited

Harris, Jonathan (2007) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5lZ9wciZQM (accessed 8th November 2012)