PERFORMANCE-EVENTS 2010 - 2012
NIGHTCAP
“Presence and absence converge when four people spend one night together, in a one-time piece about being here and translating experience.”
A performance experiment for the Live Art Series at SummerWorks Performance Festival
Sunday August 12th-Monday August 13th, 2012
I invited three strangers to begin a festival evening in three separate locations. After midnight we came together, and tried to share everything that happened apart. We sat talking at a table from 12-6am, when we decided we were finished. We went outside together and parted ways.
MEMBERS’ BRUNCH
Sunday January 15th, 2012 marked the one year anniversary of my homecoming to Toronto. On this day, I invited friends and acquaintances, old and new, all members of my community here, to a 'members brunch'. Sixteen of these people participated and, following some loosely, but carefully choreographed instructions, prepared and ate a meal together. The brunch took place in Communication Gallery: an intimate exhibition space, visible from the street through a large window that spans the length of the gallery. We packed the room with set tables, chairs, cooking, eating and conversation.
Throughout the gathering, I photographed participants as members of clubs, political parties, professional associations, unions, rock bands, families, libraries and more.
* * *
There was a place setting for each member and an envelope on each plate. The envelope contained a different set of instructions for each person.
For example:
John,
Thanks for being here!
1. Put your portrait props somewhere along the long wall of the room where you can find them.
2. Give your orange(s) to Phillipa
3. If you brought a crépes topping/filling, place it on a table. If you’re not sure where to put it, ask Jane.
4. Give your lemons to Hannah.
5. Coffee: You are on the french press. Nuan (age 6) may go around and ask people who wants coffee, if she isn’t feeling too shy.
IS THAT ALL THERE IS?
Throughout SummerWorks 2011, I approached people, mostly strangers, in a number of ways. I asked them to spend some time talking or walking with me before and after performances. Sometimes the encounters were more brief and spontaneous... At the end of each meeting I gave people the following invitation in a small envelope:
I’d like to invite you to meet at the SummerWorks Art Bar
952 Queen Street West (MOCCA Courtyard)
Sunday August 14th, 4:30pm
I’ll pour you a drink, we’ll roll up our sleeves, and
spend some time together as strangers who share a city.
'...Imagine a future for creative buildings, called theatres, which are at the heart of civic life... They would be the kind of buildings that were either designed to last or fall down, depending on the needs of the people...'**
With this in mind, please bring an object to contribute to our gathering.
It should be something significant, but that you are are willing to part with.
We’ll raise a glass and wish that whatever we make together will both last and fall down.
We made an exhibition of our objects and talked with each other about them.
I told some stories about some of the other people I had met throughout the festival and performed a script with Alison, one of the people who accepted my invitation.
I gave reasons for us to learn a dance together. The last reason was this:
"And when I was 12 years old, my father took me to the circus, the greatest show on earth. There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears; and a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads. And as I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle I had the feeling that something was missing. I don't know what, but when it was over, I said to myself, 'Is that all there is to a circus?' Is that all there is, is that all there is? If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing. Let's break out the booze and have a ball. If that's all there is…"
We learned a dance together to Peggy Lee's Is That All There Is?
We did the dance in our exhibition and knocked much of it down.
We made some toasts.
View Images Here
**Quote adapted from BAC vision document and a 1960s Leonard Cohen CBC interview
With inspiration from Peter McMaster’s House.
B E S T E B U U R
For three months in 2010, I gave invitations to people in Amsterdam.
Beste buur,
Hierbij nodig ik je uit, om mij uit te nodigen, om je te vergezellen tijdens een van je dagelijkse openbare bezigheden.
Ik ben geïnteresseerd naar het openbare leven in Amsterdam. Wellicht kunnen we samen er iets over uitvinden terwijl we wat tijd met elkaar door brengen, als stadsgenoten, als onbekenden die een stad delen.
Dear Neighbour,
I would like to invite you, to invite me, to join you, in an act of your everyday public life.
I am interested in finding out what public life is made of. I’m hoping we can learn something about it, while spending a little bit of time together as strangers who share a city.
To give these invitiations, I made a list of colours to follow in a random order:
Red
Yellow
Blue
Orange
Black
White
At the exit from the courtyard of the building where I lived, I waited with my bicycle. Some days only for a few moments and other days for several long minutes. The first person I saw cycling in any direction on a non-rental bicycle, and wearing the colour red, I followed.
When that person stopped and got off her/his bike, I approached her/him with an invitation letter in a small envelope. From that geographic point, the spot where I gave the invitation, I waited for the first cyclist I saw wearing yellow.
And so on through the list of colours...
So, beginning from my own place of residence, I followed a "neighbour" who led me somewhere. I followed and approached the next "neighbour" based on where the previous "neighbour" had lead me. I surrendered control over my traveling; each invited person determined the subsequent invitation. This chance procedure forced me out of the zone of my own taste, in people and place, and led me to locations unknown to me.
Here are the places I was led to; the spots where I gave an invitation:
View Map
For twelve days, I made from five to thirteen invitations each day until forty-five invitations had been given in this way...
B O R R E L
Following these invitations, I hosted a one-time performance-event with Marloes van der Hoek called Borrel. Part lecture-performance, part social gathering, guests made food together, toasted the occasion, and shared stories of what happened.