"An Irrevocable Condition"

2015

charcoal on wall and floor

Panoply Performance Laboratory, Brooklyn, NY


During a three hour live durational performance in front of a dedicated audience, I wrote the James Baldwin quote "Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition" repeatedly with charcoal on the gallery wall and floor. I then smeared the words using my hands, feet and entire body, changing the meaning of the text over time. Afterwards, I added layers of bricks through drawing, rubbing, and "sculpting" with my body and hands, creating an inverted home installation. At the end of the event I verbally repeated/chanted the quote, washed my hands and feet with warm water, and poured the water on the installation. This performance speaks to my interest in obscuring text and the notion of home and belonging, in both a physical and imaginative sense.