Performance Objects

Unto Each Their Own Safe + More, 2013

This was the first performance in the Uptown Trilogy interactive performance series that was performed at the Bridgeview Bank. This performance was inspired by Duchamp and thinking about his life long obsession with chess and the game. Inspired by his ready-mades and chess I constructed a sequence of games that the public could play in order to meet with me at the bank.

I then sat down and calculated what people should be earning in their lifetime using a mathematical equation based on the racial/gender pay gaps. The statisitcs of this performance were collated and this is an ongoing performance that collects data and distributes checks calculating wage inquity. To order a copy of the publication with a foreward by the curator please email Carron.

Gie Ben Ilka Gill | To Give In Each Measure, 2011

This was a live stream public engagement performance in Luddington, Michigan commissioned by West Shore Community College. These objects were inspired by the poem I wrote in auld Scots for the performance and researching ritualistic objects at Pompei. The patterns created on the surfaces employed a mathematical system in the poem and the score of the performance.

To watch the performance and see how these objects were used please click here.

vita activa, 2019

This interactive sculpture was part of the exhibition called Truth as a Contested Concept curated by Indira Johnson at Woman Made Gallery in November 2019. To read the wall text please click here. The work invites the public into the meditative act of unwinding a scroll to read the poetry and rewinding the scroll when finished. I wanted to create a work that would leave a trace of the performance I was invited to produce as part of the exhibition. The performance was called If my body were you?

Spare Rib Revisited, 2016 - 2018

This sculpture is entitled Turning Metal Into Gold and is inspired by the drawing and print for Abilasa Leuenberger. This was part of a solo exhibition at the Gallery A&D in Highland Park that opened on February 8, 2017. This is a mixed media sculpture with jewels embedded into the paint.

Dream Minds, 2012 - 2013

Four of these poetry sculptures have been made at different scales for exhibitions and are in private collections. The concept for these pieces was thinking about three-dimensional paintings and layering the poetry with the paintings. Each sculpture was created from a Dream Minds poem and inviting the person to share an important line from the poem. This became one layer in the piece.

vita activa II, 2022

This interactive sculpture is part of a series of works that exchange poetic excerpts from the people poetry archive I have written over the years. This new embroidery that is handprinted and hand stitched was inspired by the concept of the exhibition prompt by Industry of the Ordinary for a group exhibition at the Design Museum of Chicago on April 15/16, 2022.

The poetry excerpt was taken from the poem I wrote during the U.S. election 2020 that was created into a live stream performance with Field Chicago. The performance is called In Eight Acts.

LOVE over MONEY
Public Dream Sculpture: Devotion, July 18, 2015

This was a last of three performances for the Uptown neighborhood in Chicago, USA, curated by Eden Unluata-Foley that is part of the Uptown Trilogy. Twenty-two sculptures were created and exchanged with the public during this performance. The sculptures were made out of public dreams the year previously and engaged the local people in a conversation about the value of art and culture in their lives. One family from Bosnia happened to be there sitting out in the park and the kids were excited to engage in the performance. Each child got a sculpture and then the father who was affected by the war came and participated. There was a rain storm and we all sheltered together under the canopy and he asked me why are you doing this? It makes me happy to think this family will have a group of queen of luxuria sculptures in their home.

LOVE over MONEY
Public Dream Sculptures, 2014 - 2015

This is a selection of Public Dream Sculptures that started to be constructed in 2014 after collecting public dreams in Buttercup Park on performers bodies. These sculptures were constructed over a year and it was special to see the mountain of Public Dream sculptures standing on the table in Buttercup Park on July 18, 2015. The public brought checks they had received at the Bridgeview Bank and other members of the public received a new check at this performance. After receiving a check calculating the money they should have received in their lifetime due to racial/ gender pay inquity they could then come to the table with Public Dream Sculptures and purchase one. I used research about the art market to engage the public in a conversation about value and the presence of art and culture in their lives.

To read more about the Uptown Trilogy please click here.