Papaw Passing Time II
Durational Performance
Duration: 2 hours, 8 Days
August & September, 2014
Performances funded by a grant from The Mayor’s Office of Arts + Culture and the Boston Art Commission. Part of the “Pop Up! Dudley Connections,” a selection of temporary public and performance art projects in Roxbury’s Dudley Square neighborhood.
Exploring ideas of memory and childhood, family traditions, the passing of a loved one, and the act of passing time, I became interested in the measure of openness one could have with these issues during fellowship with complete strangers, and the similarities that existed between individuals’ personal and geographic histories.
Through the use of a hand-built farmhouse table and bench, hand-engraved pencils, and word-search books, I began a series of performances where I invited the community to join me in passing time. For seven days I spent two hours at my table, offering quiet fellowship and a word-search to anyone who wanted to join me.
Arriving for my final performance I found my table and bench had disappeared. It was a poignant reminder of the unexpectedness of loss and death.