weekend-long interactive performance with collected performance scores, bi-lingual take-away pamphlet, custom-designed fabric and props
Enacted during our Wearing Witness residency at CUADRO, a downtown El Paso, TX art space instigated by the Rubin Center at University of Texas, El Paso and Machine Project (LA). We observed everyday activity around the city of El Paso and then translated the actions, behaviors, social dynamics, and transgressions into an archive of scores. Participants were invited to perform the scores within a graphic, self-empathic set, at a drop-in afternoon open house, during a theatrical public spectacle, or one-on-one by appointment. Visitors who didn't want to perform could simply observe their fellow citizens participating in relational anthropology.
Our introduction to the El Paso community was exaggerated through our wardrobe, which consisted solely of ‘Selfempathy’ garments for the duration of our time in the city. Designed using selfie photos, the patterned dresses are both embarrassing ice breakers and documents of the collaborative process. Each member of the duo chose which dress to wear each day, resulting in a different combination of ‘her’ and ‘me’. As the selfie and, in particular, the ‘artselfie’ emerge as both the bane and the inspiration of contemporary visual culture, we emphasize ourselves by wearing them selves on their sleeves.
Documentation of a workshop to collectively make a giant 'trailing' out of fabric. Devised by Brazilian artist Lygia Clark, the simple exercise of cutting along a mobius strip is “scaled up” to propose collective embodiment and tactile synchronicity.
.jpg)
