Moments #3

Moments #3 was created with the participation of gallery visitors, over five days of an exhibition.

Five silver wires, one for each day of the exhibition, are stretched across two wall representing a timeline that is segmented into four seasons across multiple years.

Participants pick a hand-made bead while thinking of a meaningful moment in their life. They write the date and story of that moment in my journal, together we place the bead on the timeline.

 All of the beads on the timeline become musical notes, the five wires representing a musical staff.

In performance, the monologue is inspired by the stories behind each bead and a musical element is composed of the notes the beads create on the musical staff.

Moments #3 is an artifact of the closing performance. I am accompanied by Marija Kovacevic on violin and Lisa Ingram as The Fabulous Assistant, aiding me in de-installing (transforming) the work during the performance.

Your Story at Ivy Brown Gallery

Work by Angelica Bergamini, Marie Christine Katz and Laura Mega                                                                                                    Ivy Brown Gallery · 675 Hudson Street 4th floor  

     Tuesday February 21^st 6pm to 8pm Performance by Marie Christine Katz @7pm

“Moments #3” is an installation created from conversations with gallery visitors to the exhibition marking meaningful moments in their life. From this I create wire layers symbolizing time, and events marked by a hand-made bead that the gallery visitor chooses. On closing night, I will perform a new work directly informed by these interactions.  

The  Moments #3 installation will be raffled off on closing night.                                                                                   (absented winner will be notified via e mail)                                                                                                                                                                

What bead would you pick to mark your Moment?

Your Story at Ivy Brown Gallery

Work by Angelica Bergamini, Marie Christine Katz and Laura Mega
Opening Reception Tuesday, February 7th, 6pm-8pm                                                                            

Open to the public with workshops on                                                                                                                                                     Saturday February 11^th & Sunday 12^th 2pm-5pm                                                                                                                                 Wednesday, February 15^th 6pm-8pm                                                                                                                                                       Saturday February 18^th & Sunday 19^th 2pm-5pm                                                                                                                                   Tuesday February 21^st 6pm to 8pm Performance by Marie Christine Katz @7pm

 Please note that we encourage you to bring to the gallery Items to be repaired (for my project) and photos (for Angelica’s project). 

Ivy Brown Gallery · 675 Hudson Street 4th floor · New York, NY 

Meatpacking District NYC- Three Artists, Angelica Bergamini, Marie Christine Katz and Laura Mega will take up residence in the Ivy Brown Gallery from February 7^th-21^st and create unique one of a kind works from your stories, memories and events in your life. The artist’s will create personalized works using your photographs, items and thoughts. In these uncertain times we need to support each other and express our needs and concerns. These three artists will build the bridge with art as we all venture into this unknown, irksome, and wearisome period.

Angelica Bergamini’s ‘The Universe is made of stories’, Marie Christine Kate’, ‘Work in Progress’ & ‘Moments’ and Laura Mega’s  ‘Say Something’ will combine into one cohesive exhibition.
 

Angelica Bergamini’s ‘The Universe is made of Stories’ Asks you to share any memories you want about yourself, your children, grandparents, ancestors, siblings, animals or events in your life. She will need 1 to 5 (300 DPI) photos that can be emailed, or you can bring the actual picture(s) to the gallery for her to scan and work from (if you bring your pictures to the gallery, Angelica will need a few days to work with the images.). “Relating to the current time we are living in the project will show and talk about diversity, community, sharing, communication and I would say trust ( to share your memories with a stranger requires trust).  I am not just an observer, I am part of the community, which is why my pictures will be in it too.” Additionally, Angelica would like to record your memories linked to the images, even just few words. It could be just the name of the person or people in the photograph, and where it comes from.

Marie Christine Katz ‘Works in Progress & ‘Moments’. For ‘Work in Progress’ Marie Christine asks you to bring a piece of clothing which is torn or unused, used or broken jewelry, or a decorative item which has fallen into disrepair or is no longer serving a purpose and it will be transformed and have a new life. “Moments” will come from conversations about events in your life, it consists of an installation featuring wire or thread encircling a room in your home or workplace, creating layers symbolizing a year, a season, or an event marked by a bead or small object. These items will create a timeline of meaningful moments in your life. “Moments” can also be staged on an object, a bag, a shirt or installed on a wall or corner. Her focus for this exhibition will be conversations with visitors about what we are experiencing at this point of time personally in our lives and collectively in terms of what is happening around us and in the world, sharing memories of trauma, memories of healing. In those combined projects Marie Christine will address a direct action to preserve resources and the effect our actions have on the environment. Her aim is to bring people together, to foster a shared moment,a conversation, togetherness, understanding and compassion, stepping toward peace. 
On closing night, Marie Christine will perform a new work directly informed by her interactions with the visitors of the exhibition. 

Laura Mega ‘Say Something’ Will create works with words (stamps), sentences, messages or phrases that have meaning to you with her drawings on paper, your clothing (seen and unseen), canvas bags and in capsules (Pills). She will create a conversation/communication with people through her artworks. Her obsession with words will give an opportunity to say something. 

"What’s my Worth?" Closing night performance and celebration.

The closing night performance of the "What's my Worth?" exhibition at Ivy Brown Gallery led the public to participate and take a short stroll trough the streets of the West Village.                                                                                                                                                                                               Thank you for your presence, encouragment and reactions.                                                                                       Click on links to view opening night performance What's my Worth?                                                                                              & the closing night performance What's my Worth? From the depth of my suitcase. 

The Final image I took of this exhibition while leading a walking performance and leaving clues for the participants. WmW? & LTAW merged for a short moment. Photo by Marie Christine Katz

What’s My Worth? by Marie Christine Katz

'What’s My Worth?' The solo exhibition features visual and performance materials of the artist’s intimate thoughts. An exploration of savings, earnings, splurges and the impact those actions have on one self’s, others and the environment, presented as a multimedia installation with performances on opening and closing nights. Following the 2008 financial meltdown Marie Christine kept a journal, noting aspects of her life that changed as the result of economic downturn. This process involved questioning her worth as a mother and an artist in a society that usually does not grant a monetary value to these roles. Cutting costs (fictional at times) and assessing the resulting savings was one method Marie Christine used to determine her financial contribution. In this process, her savings became earnings and a measure of her monetary worth. Her continued exploration led to the creation of performances and the resulting installations.

In addition Marie Christine will conduct participatory workshops, “Work in Progress”, in which she will assist participants in the repair and transformation of the damaged or incomplete item(s) they bring, turning them into new wearable art creations and rendering them usable again. 

Marie Christine Katz is an interdisciplinary performance artist. Her work addresses personal and current events encompassing environmental issues, community storytelling and social commentary. She is interested in bringing elements of art and theater together, encouraging public participation and collaboration with artists of various disciplines .   

All Photos on this page by Paul Katz unless otherwise noted

Photo by Hilary Kliros

 

 

 

 

Photo by Emma McCagg

Photo by Emma McCagg

Photo by Emma McCagg

Click here if you want to know more about  LTAW  

Images of Saturday's Dance and Workshop

On Saturday as part of "What's my Worth?" exhibition at Ivy Brown Gallery I conducted a workshop of "Work in Progress" and performed with Emily Faulkner a dance inspired by the "Domesticity" video that is included in the exhibition. In addition Emily presented her "Table" dance. Thank you so much to all the participants.

 

 

All the above photos are by Jorge Clar courtesy of mck, all photos below by Marie Christine Katz