I agree with you Laura, Secular confessions was one of my favorite performance art pieces of the night. I was eager to let go of all my inhibitions and confess my deepest darkest secrets to this man behind a curtain. I'm guessing this is because of the atmosphere ... when we entered the old Gothic looking church it was dark and quiet, two women sat at a desk placed in front of us. It was designed as a waiting area while we sat and faced them on an old wooden bench. The confession booth was at the other end of the church ....because of the dim lighting and the serious mood of the artists watching us we waited quietly within this temple like setting. I didn't feel nervous to confess anything to them, because it felt private.Theses actions and the orientation of the room seemed to make the entire guest nervous and quiet. As you can probably recall Laura I was afraid to talk while I was within the church or temple. Because of the dark setting, candles and silence it felt Sacred. My actions felt controlled by the artificial settings put in place for this event. I was controlled by the surroundings the artist had created. Even though I knew this event was artificial I felt as if it was a religious setting because of the architecture and objects within the structure. While the confession booth was in private I felt free to confess anything to this stranger I was about to meet without the public looking down on me or judging me. I was thinking to myself after the event why did I feel so this way ....and I am sure you were wondering why I was so happy to see this event Laura. Well Perhaps it was because I felt free from being judged or being judged by a member of society that had a higher authority within our society such as a priest or counselor.Truthfully as a Roman Catholic I am usually afraid of confessing my sins to the priest in fear persecution or exclusion from the church. Also within my religion the priest usually knows the people within the church community very closely and gets to know his congregation on a personal level. Therefore meeting one of my priests in the church to confess my deepest sins would be a difficult process to overcome because of the relationship we have built in my churches community over the years. When I didn’t know the strange man behind the curtain I felt relieved. The lack of association to the church or government actually set me free from guilt also not only was me and this stranger disconnected in the sense authoritative power, relationship wise we were disconnected as well. He was free to tell me what he really thought of my "sins" without holding back so in stead of fearing the confession booth I was actually excited to confess my issues. Although Laura I did love your approach to the secular confession event, breaking the serious tension within the old church and making the artist laugh within the confession booth was pretty interesting I can’t wait to see the photos within the booth. As for me the man in the confession booth was very serious and tried to comfort me.

Adrian