Intent
I am creating this performance and installation to stimulate the viewer to remember his or her own experience playing sports or games in the past. I try with all my art to never place my interpretation of the art in the viewer's thoughts, other than with the content of the work. I do not title, or suggest to the viewer how he or she should perceive what I do or what I create. The question: "What is it?" is always answered with: "What is it to you? How does it make you feel? What do you think about when you see this?"
The media for this project is performance art: Washing Trophies, and found objects: Trophy Installation. The Washing Trophies was performed in the outside seating area of a Starbucks coffee shop, on Labor Day. This location provided a steady stream of traffic for an audience. The holiday was key to having a larger audience during the afternoon. The Trophy Installation portion of the project was arranged on a small table outside the Starbucks, with the trophies arranged in the sun so that they would sparkle and glisten.
Research
I decided on the performance and installation of the trophies, after presenting my ideas to my peer group in Conceptual Practices class. My three ideas included a short film installation where the viewer observed the film through an old window, a video of a gathering of musicians to play music, and the trophy installation in a slightly different form. I thought the idea of viewing a short video through the old window was the best idea with the most potential. During our peer review, none of my peers in the group chose the project that I liked best. Two of my three group members thought the trophy idea was the best, and the third member liked the idea also, but thought the music idea was best.
After peer review, I had to rethink my approach to this project. I decided to go with the trophy idea and try to develop the idea. I am familiar with Allan Kapro's work from the sixties and seventies--specifically Yard (1961). Kapro took Pollack's "process is the art" to a new level, in which the "process is the performance" with no consumable art piece. Kapro would evolve his works into "Happenings" during which, activities and components would appear and disappear and the viewer would exist within the installation.(Emerling)
The installation that I planned, was to be located in a cobblestone median at one of Hickory's busiest intersections. Literally thousands of people would drive past the installation and potentially see the trophies at this location. Less than twenty four hours before I planned to install the trophies, a teenager wrecked his car approximately a mile from the intersection, killing his seventeen year old passenger.
Satellite view of originally planned installation location.
I reconsidered the location of the trophies and decided not to install in the median for several reasons:
- The installation would be centered between two of the busiest roads in Hickory and potentially unsafe
- I would have no interaction with my audience
- The drivers and passengers would have only brief view of the trophies
- The Hickory police could potentially be a problem at the busy intersection (HPD makes Ferguson MO PD look like Amnesty International)
I chose Starbucks because:
- The site provided a steady flow of foot traffic
- The audience could walk up to the installation and touch it and interact
- I could interact with the audience while they viewed the trophies
- The managers at this particular Starbucks are pretty laid back and probably would not care
- I would not be trespassing on city or state property
Having decided on Starbucks, I began a rough plan for the installation. It was at this point that I decided to add the performance aspect of the project. It occurred to me that unpacking and cleaning the trophies could be as visually interesting as the finished presentation itself. I packed cleaning supplies and the trophies into the trunk of my car and went to Starbucks.
The Performance: Washing Trophies
I took the trophies from the trunk of my car in a box that prevented anyone from seeing the contents. I sat at one of the outside tables and positioned my iPad as a "hidden camera" to record video of the performance.
The performance was approximately forty minutes. During the performance, only one of the viewers spoke to me. Most of the viewers paused, or continued walking but did a "double take" to see exactly what I was doing.
The Installation: Trophy Installation
The Trophy Installation was completed within just a few minutes. All of the trophies, now clean, were arranged on a small round "patio" table in the bright sunlight. The table was in the direct line-of-site of every car that drove through the drive-thru, and was visible immediately in front of customers as they left the store and as they approached the store.
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