to see a video clip of the first performance in the series
https://vimeo.com/58051417
There is poetry in the way people communicate; how interpretations of language—verbal and non-verbal—generate meaning, or lack thereof. Intention is interpreted and our own inner dialog rests like stones on our tongues. The residue of language is held between us as it is held, falls, slips, or is thrown. The problems addressed in the work range from a psychology of the individual, to the social science’s study of relationship, and contemporary artistic notions of conversation as art. This series by Thomas and Rae explores the psychology and poetry of communication between two people.
The second work in the series was a 3 1/2 hour performance at defibrillator gallery in Chicago, tidal. This work took place inside two opposing windows in the front of the gallery space with a looped video of surf crashing projected onto a scrim behind the audience. Thomas chose one stone at a time to trace on the wall, with his back to Rae. In response Rae drew into booklets either tracing a small stone, drawing a blind contour of one of Thomas' tracings or matching Thomas' movements with her own in drawing. She tore each page out of the booklet, filling the gallery with the sound of ripping and the floor with discarded interpretations. When Thomas' drawings reached the end of his ability to extend he stopped. They stared at one another, walked to the window openings and simutaneously read two poems by Rilke, remarking on stones, evening and pushing through mountains. Thomas then entered Rae's space and Rae entered Thomas' then they erased one another's drawings.
The first performance was a forty-minute piece was set as a tableau, and occurred inside of a traditional gallery. Rae entered the space first, symbolically wearing a bridal gown; she poured the cream from pitchers into two stacked bowls making sure there was no spillage. The table was placed near a window, and with a downward gaze, Rae stood and poured, recalling Vermeer’s painting “The Milkmaid.” Rae waited for her groom for five minutes. Thomas entered the space and sat down harshly after much stomping. With hands on the dark wood table, the two performers stared at one another and seemed to say nothing—and everything—across the distance. Separated by bowls that had been filled carefully to the brim with heavy cream, they began the dance of conversation. Using imagery from Mark Strand’s poem “To Begin,” their mouths were filled with dark grey stones. They took turns removing one stone at a time at two-minute intervals. The rocks, or intentions, were dropped or slid into the cream. As the stones disappeared from sight below the surface, the cream overflowed onto the table, and onto grey fabric that spilled over onto the floor. The entire slippage of language—from stone, to cream, to table, to fabric, to floor—functioning metaphorically as a waterfall.
The third in the series was performed at Dimanche Rouge, Experimental Performances #22, @ La Villette Enchantee, May 19, 2013.
The fourth in the series was offered at Amos Eno Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, June 28, 2013.
The fifth will be offered at the Brooklyn International Performance Art Festival, Goodby Blue Monday Gallery, July 15, 2013.
The second work in the series was a 3 1/2 hour performance at defibrillator gallery in Chicago, tidal. This work took place inside two opposing windows in the front of the gallery space with a looped video of surf crashing projected onto a scrim behind the audience. Thomas chose one stone at a time to trace on the wall, with his back to Rae. In response Rae drew into booklets either tracing a small stone, drawing a blind contour of one of Thomas' tracings or matching Thomas' movements with her own in drawing. She tore each page out of the booklet, filling the gallery with the sound of ripping and the floor with discarded interpretations. When Thomas' drawings reached the end of his ability to extend he stopped. They stared at one another, walked to the window openings and simutaneously read two poems by Rilke, remarking on stones, evening and pushing through mountains. Thomas then entered Rae's space and Rae entered Thomas' then they erased one another's drawings.
The first performance was a forty-minute piece was set as a tableau, and occurred inside of a traditional gallery. Rae entered the space first, symbolically wearing a bridal gown; she poured the cream from pitchers into two stacked bowls making sure there was no spillage. The table was placed near a window, and with a downward gaze, Rae stood and poured, recalling Vermeer’s painting “The Milkmaid.” Rae waited for her groom for five minutes. Thomas entered the space and sat down harshly after much stomping. With hands on the dark wood table, the two performers stared at one another and seemed to say nothing—and everything—across the distance. Separated by bowls that had been filled carefully to the brim with heavy cream, they began the dance of conversation. Using imagery from Mark Strand’s poem “To Begin,” their mouths were filled with dark grey stones. They took turns removing one stone at a time at two-minute intervals. The rocks, or intentions, were dropped or slid into the cream. As the stones disappeared from sight below the surface, the cream overflowed onto the table, and onto grey fabric that spilled over onto the floor. The entire slippage of language—from stone, to cream, to table, to fabric, to floor—functioning metaphorically as a waterfall.
The third in the series was performed at Dimanche Rouge, Experimental Performances #22, @ La Villette Enchantee, May 19, 2013.
The fourth in the series was offered at Amos Eno Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, June 28, 2013.
The fifth will be offered at the Brooklyn International Performance Art Festival, Goodby Blue Monday Gallery, July 15, 2013.
