Art > Gathering Dispersal
Presented on Governor’s Island as part of the Figment Art Festival June 2009
Preparation
In order to gather the necessary large quantities of yarn for Gathering/Dispersal, I reached out to friends and acquaintances for advice on where to find discarded and discounted yarn. Many of them responded with valuable suggestions and others even donated some of their own spools of yarn for the project.
Installation
During the three days of the interactive performance/installation, I sought participation from the visitors at Governor’s Island in the creation of the work by asking them “where are you coming from?” and “where will you be going once you leave the island?” The participants wrote their place of origin on a metal grommet and selected a spool of yarn, which they attached to the grommet and then anchored to one of the three gathering stones. When walking away, they unrolled the spool to create a web-like structure of yarn, leaving behind them a trace, an indication, of the paths of their destinations.
By gathering people that passed through this particular site, my goal was to create a moment of exchange between the participants, bringing awareness to their differences and connections as well as the rich complexity and uniqueness of our lives before we are pulled apart once again into the many different directions of our urban reality.
As part of this work, a thank you gathering took place in September 2009. We shared an afternoon of a small buffet of food and drinks prepared by the artist, to thank everyone who helped make the Gathering/Dispersal exhibition possible.
I am currently working on editing the sound elements of the interviews recorded among the participants. It is my hope to recreate this work in the near future with the addition of a performance.
