Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow Work | Artist Statement & CV | Return to Artist List
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Artist Statement
My recollections come from a childhood reared in the Caribbean, at the edges of standardized Western culture, where daily struggle causes those standards to drift in odd ways. In some ways my idyllic Jamaica no longer exists. An immigrant’s memory of their country can remain frozen in time. My work is a struggle to pinpoint that fleeting image of a place with raw nature, and wondrous paradox. It is this desire for the idealistic landscape I once saw so much of that intrigues and invites me to interact with it.
Jamaican discourse is obsessed with distancing itself from the so called “third world”. The accumulation of Western goods carries a political and social intent. Ones own obsession of consumption has informed my artistic process, as commodities are so readily available in today’s Capitalist society. Arriving from a past where objects such as household tools and clothes are hand made rather than store bought or ready made I question their function and purpose. My versions of these things are replicas of forms found in nature or commodities that accessorize the real environment of which is my backdrop.
Humankind’s interaction with nature is an issue I can’t ignore. The peace and serenity is no longer a vast subliminal and pure space. The landscape changes as manufacturers and places of commerce embark upon untouched land. One may consider this as convenience and progress, but sometimes its not. Instead, it is a form of exploitation and destruction of peoples’ tradition and their land’s natural resources. The environment is altered. This intervention is the starting point for my process. I am captivated by the natural environment outdoors and want to personally interact with it. The landscape and the desire for an ideal world is the inspiration for my performances and sculptural interventions. I am interested in the transcendence of the physical object and how it may or may not become tangible at any given moment. I use my body to intervene within a space by performing as mediator between society and place or circumstance.
There are scenarios of the ever-changing moment due to globalization and acculturation, and how these exchanges alter a place, society, consequentially giving it a history, a new order or decorum, the past is a frozen moment in time. By inserting my re-fabricated sculptural objects that may be intrinsic to an environment, I question its meaning and its placement. The manmade and the natural are juxtaposed amongst each other. Objects both pre-fabricated and re-fabricated are introduced and re-interpreted in the same place. Witnessing both an old-fashioned lifestyle and the more sophisticated ‘Western’ customs has made me observe an array of things that were once simple yet practical and things sophisticated and new. There are versions of things that are both symbolic and mysterious in as much as the real against the artifice co-existing in a space that was once pure.
Most of my videos and narratives combine performance, with either ready-made objects or my sculptures or both. The sets are in confined spaces as well as the outdoors. These environments contain fragments from the natural world whether in rural to city, suburban to urban. The objects and their associated functions are blurred and re-interpreted by the character’s un-natural and improvised actions of which I perform. These scenarios stem from my personal history with the perspective of a naïve girl at play. Ultimately resulting as idiosyncratic and romanticized views I investigate the subject, the object, their placement and the interplay between them.
My recollections come from a childhood reared in the Caribbean, at the edges of standardized Western culture, where daily struggle causes those standards to drift in odd ways. In some ways my idyllic Jamaica no longer exists. An immigrant’s memory of their country can remain frozen in time. My work is a struggle to pinpoint that fleeting image of a place with raw nature, and wondrous paradox. It is this desire for the idealistic landscape I once saw so much of that intrigues and invites me to interact with it.
Jamaican discourse is obsessed with distancing itself from the so called “third world”. The accumulation of Western goods carries a political and social intent. Ones own obsession of consumption has informed my artistic process, as commodities are so readily available in today’s Capitalist society. Arriving from a past where objects such as household tools and clothes are hand made rather than store bought or ready made I question their function and purpose. My versions of these things are replicas of forms found in nature or commodities that accessorize the real environment of which is my backdrop.
Humankind’s interaction with nature is an issue I can’t ignore. The peace and serenity is no longer a vast subliminal and pure space. The landscape changes as manufacturers and places of commerce embark upon untouched land. One may consider this as convenience and progress, but sometimes its not. Instead, it is a form of exploitation and destruction of peoples’ tradition and their land’s natural resources. The environment is altered. This intervention is the starting point for my process. I am captivated by the natural environment outdoors and want to personally interact with it. The landscape and the desire for an ideal world is the inspiration for my performances and sculptural interventions. I am interested in the transcendence of the physical object and how it may or may not become tangible at any given moment. I use my body to intervene within a space by performing as mediator between society and place or circumstance.
There are scenarios of the ever-changing moment due to globalization and acculturation, and how these exchanges alter a place, society, consequentially giving it a history, a new order or decorum, the past is a frozen moment in time. By inserting my re-fabricated sculptural objects that may be intrinsic to an environment, I question its meaning and its placement. The manmade and the natural are juxtaposed amongst each other. Objects both pre-fabricated and re-fabricated are introduced and re-interpreted in the same place. Witnessing both an old-fashioned lifestyle and the more sophisticated ‘Western’ customs has made me observe an array of things that were once simple yet practical and things sophisticated and new. There are versions of things that are both symbolic and mysterious in as much as the real against the artifice co-existing in a space that was once pure.
Most of my videos and narratives combine performance, with either ready-made objects or my sculptures or both. The sets are in confined spaces as well as the outdoors. These environments contain fragments from the natural world whether in rural to city, suburban to urban. The objects and their associated functions are blurred and re-interpreted by the character’s un-natural and improvised actions of which I perform. These scenarios stem from my personal history with the perspective of a naïve girl at play. Ultimately resulting as idiosyncratic and romanticized views I investigate the subject, the object, their placement and the interplay between them.
CV
Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow
Born 1975 Manchester, Jamaica, W.I.
EDUCATION
Hunter College, New York, N.Y. (M.F.A. in Combined Media 2005 )
University of Florida / New World School of the Arts, Miami ,FL. (B.F.A. with honors in Painting 1996)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008
Rush Arts Gallery, ‘’Mildendranthema Grandeflorum’’ , New York, N.Y.
PERFORMANCES
2009
English Kills Gallery, ‘’ Maximum Perception Performance Festival’’, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Fountain Art Fair, Grace Exhibition Space (Brooklyn) , Miami, FL.
Exit Art, ‘’Performance in Crisis’’, New York, NY.
798 Zone, Open Contemporary Art Center, ‘’10th Open Performance Art Festival’’, Beijing, China
2008
‘’Madre Silva :Three Portraits’’, New Media Projections by Juan Sanchez, Lehigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem, P.A.
2007
Exit Art, ‘’Renegades : Serious Games’’, New York, N.Y.
2006
Ingalls & Associates presented by Rush Arts Gallery,’’Kick it One Time’’, Miami, F.L.
Exit Art, ‘’Wild Girls : Wild Nights’’, New York,N.Y.
Exit Art, ‘’The Drop :Water Project’’, New York, N.Y.
2005
D.U.M.B.O. Arts Center, ‘’The Ninth Annual Dumbo Art Under the Bridge Festival ; Live Art ‘’, Brooklyn, N.Y.
2004
Hunter College Times Square , ‘’ Yolk of the Hoke’’, Performance & Video Art, New York, N.Y.
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2010
The Roger Smith Hotel Gallery, ‘’Model Home’’, New York, N.Y.
Governors Island, Noland Galleries, FIGMENT, ‘’Women on the Island’’ by tART, New York, N.Y.
2009
Fountain Art Fair, Grace Exhibition Space (Brooklyn) , Miami, FL.
A.I.R Gallery, ‘’tART@ A.I.R Summer Salon’’ , Brooklyn, N.Y.
125 Skillman Ave. ‘’SQUAT’’, Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Queens Museum of Art, ‘’Queens International 4’’, Queens, N.Y.
Blank Projects, ‘’Freeze Frame’’, Cape Town, South Africa
2008
Scope Fair, ‘’Satellite’’, presented by Rush Arts Gallery , Miami, F.L.
The Moore Space, ‘’Freeze Frame’’, presented by Rush Arts Gallery for Miami Art Basel, Miami, F.L..
White Columns, ‘’Momenta Art Benefit ‘’ presented by Momenta Art, Brooklyn, N.Y.
2007
The Buena Vista Building, “Video Show” presented by Rush Arts Gallery for Miami Art Basel, Miami, F.L.
Bronx River Arts Center, ‘’Freaks of Nature’’, Bronx, N.Y.
Exit Art, ‘’Renegades’’, New York, N.Y.
2006
Soul Gallery, ’’Beautyshop’’ presented by Rush Arts Gallery for Miami Art Basel, Miami, F.L..
Photo Miami Art Fair, Curated Projects : ‘’stillmovingmiami’’ by Nina Arias for Miami Art Basel, Miami, F.L.
SUNY College at Old Westbury, ‘’ Entrapment ‘’, Old Westbury, N.Y.
2005
Hunter College Times Square Gallery. Hunter MFA Thesis Show (Dec.14,2005-Jan.14, 2006), New York, N.Y.
The Yard@CasaLin, ‘’The Yard @CasaLin 2005’’-Miami Art Basel, Winwood Galleries, Miami, F.L.
Rush Arts Gallery,’’ Utopian Conquest: Ideal Domination’’, New York, NY.
2003
Rectangle Art Space,’’ Rectangle One’’,Miami Art Basel, Winwood Galleries, Miami, FL.
Galerie Lelong, ‘’ Postcards from the Edge Benefit/Visual Aids’’, New York, NY.
The World Arts Building, Group Show, Miami, FL.
1999
Art Center South Florida :’’ Director’s Cut’’, Miami Beach, FL.
1998
Art 1035 Gallery :’’ Here & Now’’, Miami Beach, FL.
Bakehouse Art Complex :’’ E.C.A..0397’’, Miami, FL.
Museum of Art :’’ Chairitability’’, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Art 1035 Gallery : ‘’ Fresh Blood ‘’, Miami Beach, FL.
1997
Art 1035 Gallery : ‘’ Here & Now’’, Miami Beach, FL.
1996
New World School of the Arts Gallery : ‘’ B.F.A. Show ‘’, Miami, FL.
New World School of the Arts Gallery : ‘’ Annual Student Show ‘’, Miami, FL.
Gallery North ; ‘’ League for Innovation ‘’, Miami, FL.
Art Collectors Gallery : Group Show , Miami,FL.
New World School of the Arts Gallery : ‘’ Influences of Vermont’’, Miami ,FL.
1995
Vermont Studio Center : (July) Studio Exhibit, Johnson, VT.
Wolfson Gallery : Student Show, Miami, FL.
Clayspace : ‘’ New South Florida Clay ‘’, Miami Beach, FL.
City Bank Bayfront : (Two person exhibit), Miami, FL.
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2010
The Rema Hort Mann Foundation, Award Nominee, New York, NY.
2009
The Rema Hort Mann Foundation, Award Nominee, New York, NY.
2005
Hunter College Scholarship Award,New York, NY.
1995
NWSA Scholarship Award, Miami,FL.
Vermont Studio Center Scholarship Award, multi-media artist residency, Johnson, VT.
League for Innovation Competition (National Cmpetition-Finalist)
1992
Francis Wolfson Scholarship Award, Miami, FL.
REVIEWS/ PUBLICATIONS
2009 http://hyperallergic.com/1640/maximum-perception-2/ @English Kills Gallery, Brooklyn, NY Reflecting on “Maximum Perception” & Tons of Photos by Hrag Vartanian on December 13, 2009
2009 Queens International 4-Jan 24-Apr 26,2009 (Catalog)
2007 Exit Art and Trickster Theater , ‘’Serious Games’’, DVD (a part of Exit Art archives and publication)
2007 The New York Times, Weekend Arts : Spare Times, Friday, January 26, pg. E34, ‘’Serious Games’’by Melena Ryzek
2007 Perge Modo:’’Serious Games’’ at Exit Art, Tuesday, Jan.23,2007 http://farmboyz.blogspot.com/2007/01/serious- games-at –exit-art.html
2006 Exit Art and Tricster Theater , ‘’Water Project’’, DVD (a part of Exit Art archives and publication)
2006 Exit Art and Tricster Theater , ‘’Willd Nights’’, DVD (a part of Exit Arts archives and publication)
2006 Newsday, Section G, Sunday,Oct.15, ‘’Asian women unbound’’
2006 Artinfo.com,News & Features,Aug.19,Performance Trumps Art at ‘’Wild Nights’’
2005 Hunter MFA Catalog ,XXV Fall
2005 The New York Art World.com, (November) -Art Reviews,-‘’ Utopian Conquest’’
2004 Biscayne Times- Art Reviews-“Rectangle Art Space”
1998 The Miami Herald (Living /Arts)-“Here and Now Festival”
1998 May, The Miami Herald (Art)-Art Reviews-Tenth Anniversary, “Playing Games”
1997 The Miami Herald (Living/Arts)-Here and Now Festival
1997 August Caribbean Today-“Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow (Sculptor explores feminine issues through art)” pgs.16-17
1996 League for Innovation Award of Merit Catalog
TALKS/ WORKSHOPS
2009 The Queens Museum of Art, ‘’Queens International 4’’, Queens, N.Y.
2005 Rush Arts Gallery,’’ Utopian Conquest: Ideal Domination’’, New York, NY.
Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow
Born 1975 Manchester, Jamaica, W.I.
EDUCATION
Hunter College, New York, N.Y. (M.F.A. in Combined Media 2005 )
University of Florida / New World School of the Arts, Miami ,FL. (B.F.A. with honors in Painting 1996)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008
Rush Arts Gallery, ‘’Mildendranthema Grandeflorum’’ , New York, N.Y.
PERFORMANCES
2009
English Kills Gallery, ‘’ Maximum Perception Performance Festival’’, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Fountain Art Fair, Grace Exhibition Space (Brooklyn) , Miami, FL.
Exit Art, ‘’Performance in Crisis’’, New York, NY.
798 Zone, Open Contemporary Art Center, ‘’10th Open Performance Art Festival’’, Beijing, China
2008
‘’Madre Silva :Three Portraits’’, New Media Projections by Juan Sanchez, Lehigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem, P.A.
2007
Exit Art, ‘’Renegades : Serious Games’’, New York, N.Y.
2006
Ingalls & Associates presented by Rush Arts Gallery,’’Kick it One Time’’, Miami, F.L.
Exit Art, ‘’Wild Girls : Wild Nights’’, New York,N.Y.
Exit Art, ‘’The Drop :Water Project’’, New York, N.Y.
2005
D.U.M.B.O. Arts Center, ‘’The Ninth Annual Dumbo Art Under the Bridge Festival ; Live Art ‘’, Brooklyn, N.Y.
2004
Hunter College Times Square , ‘’ Yolk of the Hoke’’, Performance & Video Art, New York, N.Y.
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2010
The Roger Smith Hotel Gallery, ‘’Model Home’’, New York, N.Y.
Governors Island, Noland Galleries, FIGMENT, ‘’Women on the Island’’ by tART, New York, N.Y.
2009
Fountain Art Fair, Grace Exhibition Space (Brooklyn) , Miami, FL.
A.I.R Gallery, ‘’tART@ A.I.R Summer Salon’’ , Brooklyn, N.Y.
125 Skillman Ave. ‘’SQUAT’’, Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Queens Museum of Art, ‘’Queens International 4’’, Queens, N.Y.
Blank Projects, ‘’Freeze Frame’’, Cape Town, South Africa
2008
Scope Fair, ‘’Satellite’’, presented by Rush Arts Gallery , Miami, F.L.
The Moore Space, ‘’Freeze Frame’’, presented by Rush Arts Gallery for Miami Art Basel, Miami, F.L..
White Columns, ‘’Momenta Art Benefit ‘’ presented by Momenta Art, Brooklyn, N.Y.
2007
The Buena Vista Building, “Video Show” presented by Rush Arts Gallery for Miami Art Basel, Miami, F.L.
Bronx River Arts Center, ‘’Freaks of Nature’’, Bronx, N.Y.
Exit Art, ‘’Renegades’’, New York, N.Y.
2006
Soul Gallery, ’’Beautyshop’’ presented by Rush Arts Gallery for Miami Art Basel, Miami, F.L..
Photo Miami Art Fair, Curated Projects : ‘’stillmovingmiami’’ by Nina Arias for Miami Art Basel, Miami, F.L.
SUNY College at Old Westbury, ‘’ Entrapment ‘’, Old Westbury, N.Y.
2005
Hunter College Times Square Gallery. Hunter MFA Thesis Show (Dec.14,2005-Jan.14, 2006), New York, N.Y.
The Yard@CasaLin, ‘’The Yard @CasaLin 2005’’-Miami Art Basel, Winwood Galleries, Miami, F.L.
Rush Arts Gallery,’’ Utopian Conquest: Ideal Domination’’, New York, NY.
2003
Rectangle Art Space,’’ Rectangle One’’,Miami Art Basel, Winwood Galleries, Miami, FL.
Galerie Lelong, ‘’ Postcards from the Edge Benefit/Visual Aids’’, New York, NY.
The World Arts Building, Group Show, Miami, FL.
1999
Art Center South Florida :’’ Director’s Cut’’, Miami Beach, FL.
1998
Art 1035 Gallery :’’ Here & Now’’, Miami Beach, FL.
Bakehouse Art Complex :’’ E.C.A..0397’’, Miami, FL.
Museum of Art :’’ Chairitability’’, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Art 1035 Gallery : ‘’ Fresh Blood ‘’, Miami Beach, FL.
1997
Art 1035 Gallery : ‘’ Here & Now’’, Miami Beach, FL.
1996
New World School of the Arts Gallery : ‘’ B.F.A. Show ‘’, Miami, FL.
New World School of the Arts Gallery : ‘’ Annual Student Show ‘’, Miami, FL.
Gallery North ; ‘’ League for Innovation ‘’, Miami, FL.
Art Collectors Gallery : Group Show , Miami,FL.
New World School of the Arts Gallery : ‘’ Influences of Vermont’’, Miami ,FL.
1995
Vermont Studio Center : (July) Studio Exhibit, Johnson, VT.
Wolfson Gallery : Student Show, Miami, FL.
Clayspace : ‘’ New South Florida Clay ‘’, Miami Beach, FL.
City Bank Bayfront : (Two person exhibit), Miami, FL.
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2010
The Rema Hort Mann Foundation, Award Nominee, New York, NY.
2009
The Rema Hort Mann Foundation, Award Nominee, New York, NY.
2005
Hunter College Scholarship Award,New York, NY.
1995
NWSA Scholarship Award, Miami,FL.
Vermont Studio Center Scholarship Award, multi-media artist residency, Johnson, VT.
League for Innovation Competition (National Cmpetition-Finalist)
1992
Francis Wolfson Scholarship Award, Miami, FL.
REVIEWS/ PUBLICATIONS
2009 http://hyperallergic.com/1640/maximum-perception-2/ @English Kills Gallery, Brooklyn, NY Reflecting on “Maximum Perception” & Tons of Photos by Hrag Vartanian on December 13, 2009
2009 Queens International 4-Jan 24-Apr 26,2009 (Catalog)
2007 Exit Art and Trickster Theater , ‘’Serious Games’’, DVD (a part of Exit Art archives and publication)
2007 The New York Times, Weekend Arts : Spare Times, Friday, January 26, pg. E34, ‘’Serious Games’’by Melena Ryzek
2007 Perge Modo:’’Serious Games’’ at Exit Art, Tuesday, Jan.23,2007 http://farmboyz.blogspot.com/2007/01/serious- games-at –exit-art.html
2006 Exit Art and Tricster Theater , ‘’Water Project’’, DVD (a part of Exit Art archives and publication)
2006 Exit Art and Tricster Theater , ‘’Willd Nights’’, DVD (a part of Exit Arts archives and publication)
2006 Newsday, Section G, Sunday,Oct.15, ‘’Asian women unbound’’
2006 Artinfo.com,News & Features,Aug.19,Performance Trumps Art at ‘’Wild Nights’’
2005 Hunter MFA Catalog ,XXV Fall
2005 The New York Art World.com, (November) -Art Reviews,-‘’ Utopian Conquest’’
2004 Biscayne Times- Art Reviews-“Rectangle Art Space”
1998 The Miami Herald (Living /Arts)-“Here and Now Festival”
1998 May, The Miami Herald (Art)-Art Reviews-Tenth Anniversary, “Playing Games”
1997 The Miami Herald (Living/Arts)-Here and Now Festival
1997 August Caribbean Today-“Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow (Sculptor explores feminine issues through art)” pgs.16-17
1996 League for Innovation Award of Merit Catalog
TALKS/ WORKSHOPS
2009 The Queens Museum of Art, ‘’Queens International 4’’, Queens, N.Y.
2005 Rush Arts Gallery,’’ Utopian Conquest: Ideal Domination’’, New York, NY.
“Piece of the Pie”2010
Vinyl tablecloths
60” diameter.
Part of a series of collage picnic works, Lyn-Kee-Chow’s tablecloth works are made from numerous tablecloths that have been reconfigured into quilted collages. She intends for them to be used interactively by inviting people to gather as they convene, discuss and nourish their bodies as well as thoughts.
“Piece of the Pie”2010
Vinyl tablecloths(Interactive Installation view)
60” diameter
“Starmageddon”, 2009. (Installation view). Mixed-media installation, performance. Running time approx. 35 minutes. In “Starmageddon”, a large star shaped structure composed of fishnet lays on the floor. Using puppetry the artist animates the structure and disposes waste from the form- such as plastic made industrial and domestic items amongst the natural elements.
In this work the artist hopes to raise awareness on the issue of the Ocean’s destruction and Global warming.
“Starmageddon”, 2009. (Performance view). Mixed-media installation, performance. Running time approx. 35 minutes.
“1st Strike, Last Dance” 2006-9. Production still. DVD. 7:11.The organic pod structure depicted in this video shows a typical backyard picket fence where there spawns vine-like tubular forms reminiscent of a wild jungle plant growing out of control. The documented performance frames the artist as protagonist as she victoriously escapes from the plant’s over sized pod resembling the form of a yellow newborn flower. As a hunter’s trap well hidden in its own camouflage, First Strike, Last Dance mirrors the innate strategies of survival necessary during military and ecological warfare.
“1st Strike, Last Dance” 2006-9. Installation View. Wood, fabric. Dimensions vary.
“1st Strike, Last Dance” 2006-9. Detail. Installation View. Dimensions vary.
Untitled, 2008.Digital C-Print.
18” x12”
The mystery flower, Mildendranthema Grandeflorum in the forest.
“Mildendranthema Grandeflorum”, 2008. Video Still. DVD. 13:09.
“A main feature in the plot of this fairy tale and others like it is an innocent child who roams a deep and dark forest alone, and who is eventually attacked by a predator. But in Lyn-Kee-Chow’s version, the main character herself is the predator whose life is threatened because of her own insatiable yearning for beautiful flowers.” –Samantha Noel, Rush Arts Guest Writer
“Beyond the White Picket Fence”,2008.
Wood,soil,metal, fabric, artificial grass.
Dimensions Vary.
“Beyond the White Picket Fence”.Detail.2008
Wood,soil,metal, fabric, artificial grass.
“Wash Day”,2009.
Performance, Installation
Dimensions Vary
“Wash Day”, 2009.
“Wash Day” is a hand wash and hang dry laundromat installed in an old abandoned building. Using clothing found in an abandoned space, viewers are invited to participate by squatting and looking through the pile of clothes for an article of clothing of their choice. Once a selection is made they give it to the Wash girl (performed by the artist) to hand wash. The Wash girl will then hang it on the clothes line to dry. At the end of the evening, when the people are ready to pick up their clothes the Wash girl will take it off the clothes line and if it’s not dry she may iron it and bag it for them to take home.
“Wash Day”,2009.
Performance, Installation
Dimensions Vary
“Wash Day”,2009.
Performance, Installation with screen printed tote bags.
“Touch and Go”, 2007. Mixed Media Installation, Performance. 2 hours. Performed with Monica Carrier.In “Touch and Go” (2007) Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow takes on the role of an athletic swimmer in training. Competing with no one else but herself, the artist depends on the viewers to dictate a swimming technique to the coach, which she then sets out to perform from one end of the swimming platform to the other.
“Touch and Go”, 2007. Vinyl, wood. Installation View. Dimensions Vary.
"Parasite X" 2005. Installation.
Vynil,foam,metal parts,rubber.
345 ' long
“Parasite X” is a body of work ranging from installation, performance and video exploring the human versus nature theme. What seems to be an untouched landscape is disturbed by a mischievous character- unable to escape imminent danger. The woman (played by the artist) is suddenly attacked and defeated by the water hose, which appears from the lake. Perhaps a sign that this seemingly empty land is already occupied.
In the installation of Parasite X, the garden hose—distributor of water, mediator of fantasy and reality—appears as intestine-like tubing, enlarged at one end to accept a human body, thereby evoking the organ of fertility as well as of digestion.
For the performance, the hose is stretched out from the inside of the gallery space to the outside garden and leads the viewer around the corner on a voyeuristic quest to see what awaits them. At the very end of the hose the scale is drastically enlarged to fit a body inside of it. It is here that the artist is entrapped and entangled with the rest of the hose and its immediate surroundings, emitting water and saliva in the garden and onto whoever dares to come close.
"Parasite X" 2005. Performance still. 30 mins.