Friday, July 15, 2011

Self-Referential Many Mini Post

by Robert Boyd

I'm sitting at Skydive right now for my Many Mini residency (Friday, July 15. I'll be here until 11:30 am. Feel free to stop by for a visit). The photo below was taken as I wrote the previous words.

The author in the act of writing this post (photo by Ryan Thayer)

I wasn't sure what I'd write during my Many Mini residency, but one of the requirements of the residency is this:
We request at least one digital photo and a short statement but can also accept video, links or other supporting material posted onliine. Please send one image immediately following your residency to be updated the same day.
So I am fulfilling my obligation with this post.

A series of small personal emergencies kept me from coming out to Skydive early this week until last night. When I showed up, Britt Ragsdale was just starting her residency.

Britt Ragsdale at the Many Mini (photo by Robert Boyd)

She was using the space to film people pretending to get shot. I was one of the "victims." The group that was following her residency was Sketchy Neighbors, so she recruited a bunch of them to die for the camera.

Shooting a shooting (photo by Robert Boyd)

Double Homicide at Skydive (photo by Robert Boyd)

Meanwhile, on the porch, Matt Gorgol was hand-shaving ice to make snow-cones. They were delish and very refreshing on a hot night. He's a sculpture major at UH, so I guess you could call this a social sculpture or a relational artwork.

Matt Gorgol and his ice (photo by Robert Boyd)

The Sketchy Neighbors did a performance piece called The worst thing you can do to people is forget them.  This is apparently the group's first performance piece. The performance required that viewers enter a room one at a time. So they had people line up.

Folks lined up for The worst thing you can do to people is forget them (photo by Robert Boyd)

A doorman controlled access to the performance, letting people enter for arbitrary reasons of style.

The doorman The worst thing you can do to people is forget them (photo by Robert Boyd)

When you walked into the main room (where I am currently typing these words), the Sketchy Neighbors began cheering wildly. And it was all for you. The viewer would hear cries of "You're number one!" and "You! You! You!"

Me getting well-deserved cheers The worst thing you can do to people is forget them (photo by Robert Boyd)

But they didn't stop until you left. So the longer the viewer stood there, the more uncomfortable it became. Eventually it was obvious what the strategy was, and viewers moved on (to the porch, where they could get a snow cone).

The Many Mini residency is going on for today and tomorrow--and there are lots of public hours. Feel free to stop by--even if there is no performance or event happening, you might find yourself roped into helping someone with their artwork, or at least having some interesting conversation. But also check out the events--this evening, there are two. The Chapel, a meditation period by Rachel Hecker, featuring her portrait of Dave Gilmour as Jesus. Come out and get comfortably numb. Then following that is Death Star, about which I don't know what to expect. Jonatan Lopez seems to be the prime mover here, but a bunch of people are involved.


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