A cocktail party...

Last week Ali and I covered all the openings and holes in the walls of the cube with plexi, tissue paper, tape, balloons, insulation foam, photo gels and anything else we could find to prepare for our next performance. It was no small job - Michiko's interventions made an impressive constellation across two walls...

On Thursday we invited six other people to come to a "cocktail party" inside the cube, complete with music and a disco ball. While we enjoyed refreshments and conversation, people wandered by the cube, sometimes poking a curious finger through the tissue paper...their interventions were quickly covered up while we talked about the weather, our weekend and what we planned for the summer.

Another participant stayed in the passageway/crawlspace of the cube, protected by plexi, reading a book and eating a sandwich.

During the party each guest was invited to choose a spot on one of the walls to cut a hole. About 45 minutes in, everyone stuck an arm or a leg out of the cube - it quickly became an interactive performance as our audience gave us high-fives, lent us yo-yo's, stole flip flops, and various other communications with our disembodied limbs...some of which were a little less benign. At one point, several people tried to pull me through the dry wall entirely - I have a ring of black and blue around my leg to show for it...

Here are some images...












Big thanks to Lakshmi Luthra for documenting the night!

TABULA RASA extends another week

Originaly TABULA RASA project had planed to end today. Following the plan, I (Michiko) leave the project today, but Meghann and Ali continue working on it for another week. 

In this collaboration project, my approach was to create a series of holes that perforate the walls to transgress the boundary between inside and outside. Through the accumulation of these small but impactful gestures, I investigate the role of boundaries as persistent obstacles created by the binary relationships that divide art/life, masculinity/femininity, East/West and high/low. Through this process of erasure I strives to rejoin the divided and propose a monistic space.

It was very interesting experience for me to work with other students collaboratively. I lerned the reality of artist's life in the U.S.. It also gave me an opportunity to rethink of my own exhibition, Shojoholic and its relation to TABULA RASA. 

More images...

Here are some pictures from yesterday....

As the cube evolves, and we trespass each other's work, questions of authorship and territory begin to take shape... Can three very different people share a single space? What kinds of conflict might arise? Can we actually let go of our egos?

More holes keep appearing, and then being covered, and then uncovered again...an exercise in futility or a dialog through materials? Some discomfort on the part of the individuals involved signals a new era of the project...as we mark, erase and re-mark each other's work....

Performance Tonight

There will be a performance tonight starting at 8:30 and will end around 9:30.

Hope to see you there....

more...

Interventions

more interventions...

Performance 1

We had our first major performance last Thursday and I wanted to post some images of it here. I slowly dug a hole in the side of the cube to reveal Ali who emerged from the cube to exchange places with me.

The piece wasn't originally meant to be interactive, but our exuberant audience took up tools and helped to 'free' Ali. We were surprised but happy that the spirit moved some of our viewers to become participants and it brought up an interesting conversation about performance, audience and what conditions might create an expectation of interaction. We also talked about the role (or death?) of the author, architecture and access, and ideas of exchange.

There will be more performances tomorrow and Wednesday - I'll post times here so check back...


Spontaneous audience participation....
Ali emerges...
Meghann crawls in...
...and boards up the hole with translucent plexi, turns a light on....