InterMissions
The Pistils at the Adobe Parlor Project
The Pistils (tableau vivant by Mimi Moncier based on the painting About a Girl by Mamma Andersson, photo by Pamela Belknap)
During the Pistils residency at the Adobe Parlour Project (curated by Devon Bella) I was inspired by the complex and informal program of the Adobe Bookshop. I used the window display areas as a way of exploring the production of space and to challenge our notions of display, exhibition and social activity. The bookstore, in its old 16th St location, was multifaceted: part bookstore, part community center, part gallery space, part performance space, and part living space. Space is produced through activities interacting with materiality and existing hierarchical/geographical structures. Space is not limited to materiality or intent but instead evolves based on causes and conditions that interact with/within it. The Adobe Bookshop was emblematic of the enigmatic process of becoming by continually contesting definition. The window displays provided a compelling location for the exploration of space because of the already established relationship between viewer and viewed. Even when used as storage, there remains the open invitation to look.
During the six month tenure of our residency, I created six short, intermittent events within the window areas: traditional sculpture, interactive textual pieces, performances, and card games open to public participation. Click on the images below to see more about each InterMission.
The Pistils as pictured above L to R: Mimi Moncier, Cathy Fairbanks, Rashin Fa, Christina Corville, Laura Boles Faw, Devon Bella, Ruth Hodges, Nancy Elkus, Alexis Arnold, and Marya Krogstad.
InsideOut
I curated two nights of parallel performances in each window where the performers were asked to do something in public that they would normally do in private.
UnBound
Fascinated by the seemingly random and unending thoughts that arise in my mind, I used book pages from discarded books to create a form that seems to be truly unbound.
YouTopia
YouTopia was a meditation on the idea of utopia. Sir Thomas Moore’s book from 1516, Utopia, describes a hypothetical island in which equality is explored. I was curious what the idea of utopia elicited from people who were simply walking down the street. The interactive process resulted in the texts written on the glass display windows. But as the window spaces themselves revealed, utopia is but a shadow to remain in the minds of those who dream about it.
A Crimson Hexagon
I curated two nights of a dance performed and choreographed by Sam Stone. She based the spatially comprehensive piece on the Borges story by the same title. Sam and her dancers took over the bookstore and windows to express themselves through movement.
Play by the Rules
For an entire weekend, I sat at the card tables in the windows and invited folks from the street to come in and play a set of War. As the participants accumulated cards, they would make card-itecture which then took up more and more space on the card table making it difficult to use the surfaces. The game became a competition for real estate and space until the game could not be played anymore.