Conceptual Art
CONCEPTUAL ARTActions speaks louder than words.
Fiscally Sponsored by New York Foundation for the Arts
A remedy for the lust for stuff (2003-2017), Swap-O-Rama-Rama is a community based model for textile repurposing. It has been adopted by over one hundred and fifty cities worldwide, from Istanbul to Jerusalem. The project is a Creative Commons non-profit.
A political action asking George W Bush to hear public outcry regarding the Unites States’ decision to go to war with Iraq (2003). No Bush took place at New York City’s Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. It was staged for Reuters and Associated Press. A worldwide response was shared through international media channels. Over 50 countries replied with photographs using human bodies to spell messages of resistance.
VOMITORIUM 2004 MAKE ROOM FOR MORE!
A theatrical performance and political action in collaboration with Dawn Ladd, Marina Potok, and a volunteer cast and crew of 60+ others. Performed at St Mark’s Church for the opening night of the HOWL East Village art and music festival and an opening day of the Republican National Convention in NYC.
These works explored the human capacity for projection. Both projects were public space works in which Marina Potok and myself set up an unexpected event, maintained a vow of silence, and gathered the projections of the public.
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PHONIX RISING
Shortly after 9-11 residents of NYC were grieving. With a group of artists at Brooklyn metal shop The Madagaskar Institute, a volunteer group was gathered from the public. At The Madagaskar Institute we taught regular folks to cut and weld metal for the creation of dozens of decorative burn barrels that were to be placed around the city so that residents could gather over a fire, grieve, and process what they’d been through.
For this work we were granted permission by the NYC police and fire departments to place the decorative burn barrels along the west side highway and for one night New Yorkers gathered around a fire.
Cities are defined by the fact that everything needed to live is delivered. Realizing that living in NYC limited my ability to fully explore a decommodified life, I created Holy Scrap, a project in which I pledged to make everything that I needed to live: fuel, power, building materials, domestic goods, medicine, and food. For this work I purchased a decrepit acre of land in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. I transformed a gravel acre into an oasis with buildings that I designed using sustainable building techniques (paper Crete), I made bio diesel, grew my food, and foraged plants that I made into medicine. This project was documented on The Good Life Lab blog and resulted in my writing the book titled The Good Life Lab: Radical Experiments in Hands-On Living, published by Storey/Workman 2013. The book won the Nautilus Major Book award for sustainability/lifestyle the year that it was published and received accolades by the press.
LETS DANCE
During the Covid Lockdown: Lets Dance is a work in which I took long driving trips stopping at gas stations, groceries, and parks where I invited people to dance with me. A reminder that although our ability to connect was hampered we could still share a level of intimacy.
