LOGOCENTRIC PLAYGROUND (SUBJECT)
Warehouse Gallery; Washington, D.C.
Participatory installation: April 26-June 9, 2007
READING MIRROR /LOOKING GLASS
Meat Market Gallery; Washington, D.C.
Performance-installation: January 2007
Performer A (Katie Schuler) begins her text transcription on taped glass.
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Performer B (Reuben Breslar) begins; tape was removed from A's text and she is blindfolded.
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Exterior view: use of mirror and right-to-left transcription grants legilibity to audience outside.
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Interior view: B transcribes while A waits; text illegible to audience inside.
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A and B begin deciphering the other's text.
"The performers were good choices, they had the concentration of a violinist, which has a constant seriousness and playfulness even as the passages change in tone. I liked how the whole thing seemed lighthearted, but it isn't a game, it isn't a game, I kept telling myself."
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From exterior, as performers "complete" bisected words, text becomes readable.
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"I kept telling myself of the significance of the event, and then getting lost anticipating the next word...at times noticing hieroglyphics and at times words. I think it is funny to shift focus, and it is an efficient way to think when the answer isn't on a clear path. Because the installation is on glass and by a mirror it melts into the surroundings much more than the Katzen installation [LOGOCENTRIC PLAYGROUND]. Nonetheless, it isn't really a part of the scene, it doesn't function as a decorated window in a city."
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"As I watch the work progress, it reminded me of walking outside, thinking inside myself, then poof noticing a branch or something or nothing, then thinking too hard about the beauty, then stopping to think. . . The structure of the intermediate stage had the same finished and rhythmic quality of the other bisected works. When the words were completed I compared the varying tilt of the letters with the rules of English handwriting. It gained a charm and lost authority, free like Klee but within rules and structure."
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"These performers are wonderful poets. . . I have no idea how much work went into planning this, but it was a pleasure to see it work out, and I'm anxious to see the results online."
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All the above quotes are courtesy of Emily Chimiak from her thoughts about the performance.
Special thanks to Reuben and Katie for their intellectual, physical and spiritual contribution; and to Charlotte Andrew and Fabian Bernal at Meat Market.
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LOGOCENTRIC PLAYGROUND
American University's Museum at Katzen Arts Center; Washington, D.C.
Installation: November-December 2006
To learn more, read MCB's "Reflections on the Playground"
Logocentric Playground: The sign; Nov. 13, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The subject; Nov. 13, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The sign; Nov. 14, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The subject; Nov. 14, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The sign; Nov. 17, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The subject; Nov. 17, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The sign; Nov. 24, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The subject; Nov. 24, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The sign (First Revision); Nov. 27, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The subject (First Revision); Nov. 27, 2006
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Susan Spencer working on The sign; Nov. 24, 2006
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Sidney Lawrence working on The sign; Dec. 2, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The collection (First Revision); Dec. 11, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The sign; Dec. 4, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The collection; Dec. 13, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The sign; Dec. 13, 2006
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M. Cameron Boyd revising Logocentric Playground: The Collection
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Logocentric Playground: The sign; Dec. 15, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The collection (Final State); Dec. 17, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The sign (Final State); Dec. 17, 2006
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Logocentric Playground: The collection (Final State); (detail)
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Logocentric Playground: The sign (Final State); (detail)
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WHAT DOES THIS SAY?
District of Columbia Arts Center; Washington, D.C.
Installation: August 2006
As a "test run" for the participatory explorations between viewer and artwork, I submitted a single 24" sq. work to the 1460 Wall Mountables exhibition at DCAC. This work was rendered using my "bisection process" that "reduces visual recognition of the sentences." At the top of this "text board" I legibly wrote "What does this say?" and constructed a thin tray underneath the board to hold sticks of white chalk.
During the exhibition's opening, visitors quickly became curious about this work and began to "decipher sentences." Several visitors further engaged with the work, picking up chalk to "fill-in" missing word fragments to "complete" text. Additional symbols (hearts) and words ("you rude") were also added by visitors in their "play" with the artwork.
Twice during the run of the exhibit, I went to the site to re-tape my original text, then erased visitors' "contributions" to return the work to its "initial" stage as shown below.
What does this say? 2006
blackboard paint, chalk, Conté crayon, pencil on wood; H24"xW24"
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Shanthi Chandra-Sekar deciphering text at the opening.
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Ellen Haapala writing on the "text board."
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© Copyright 2006 by Mark Cameron Boyd.
All rights
reserved by the artist. Reproduction of artwork or any text without
express permission is prohibited.
Design Consultants: Jo Boyd and I Mei Chan. Web Design
by Mark Cameron Boyd, updated June 14, 2007.
