Groundbreaking
Performance, 2003
This performance came directly out of a personal existential crisis, for which I felt a need for catharsis. I wanted to experience living under a constant threat of death.
On a different level, I was responding to the constant demand for ‘breaking new grounds’ in current art atmosphere. Through a self-mocking ritualistic process, I intentionally played with the loftiness of artistic aspiration and the self-importance of artists.
In the performance, I directed my assistants through a walkie-talkie to bury myself, with my head in the earth first. The two hour long process culminated in a seemingly perfect sculpture of my ass sticking out from the ground. Yet the whole time the viewer was experiencing vicariously the physical and psychological duress, presented with humor and irony.
Performance duration: 2 hours. 2003 Video duration: 6'34, with sound
Exhibition History
- 2003
- “INPORT: International Video-Performance Festival”, Tallinn, Estonia
- 2004
- “MAGMA”, Tenerife, Spain, 2004 (catalogue)
- "Monumental", curated by Anne Walsh, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
- “Murphy and Cadogan Fellowship Exhibition”, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- “21st National Juried Exhibition”, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
- 2005
- "Portland Museum of Art Biennial", Portland, Maine, (catalogue)
- "CREAM from the Top", Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA
- "55 Days of Chinese Art in Valencia", The Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno, Spain (catalogue)
Press Coverage:
The Portland
Phoenix, coverage on the 2005 Portland Museum of Art Biennial.
