From December 2003 to February 2004, Kanarinka created and performed artworks in public alley 818 in Boston, MA. She selected artworks to do from a pool of instruction works contributed by users from around the world.
Over 80 instruction works were submitted by participants around the world and are on view in the Gallery of Instructions. Kanarinka realized 12 of these projects, documented their performance/installation and presents the documentation online in the Gallery of Enactments
From kanarinka: "I am interested in how one proceeds from language to action and how even the most tiny instructions, actions and enactments can bring about radically new things in the world."
obstruct one point of access to the alley for the number of minutes equal to the width [in feet] of the alley
by Christina Ray, Brooklyn NY, 2003-12-03
Enactment: 2003-12-26 14:18:00 kanarinka: my sister, rodin, helped me with this piece. the entrance to the alley that we chose was 11 feet wide. to obstruct the alley we staged a "shoe crossing event" in which 11 pairs of shoes crossed the entrance to the alley in 11 minutes. Later, we returned to the site of the event to commemorate it for all of those who wished to remember it in the future.
turn a light on, turn a light off
by michael crane, St. Louis, 2003-12-14
Enactment: 2003-12-19 23:29:42 kanarinka: i wrote the morse code for "turn a light on, turn a light off" and performed it with a flashlight - ..- .-. -. / .- / .-.. .. --. .... - / --- -. --..-- / - ..- .-. -. / .- / .-.. .. --. .... - / --- ..-. ..-. [see quicktime movie]
tie one end of a ball of yarn to something hold the ball of yarn in your hands walk
by Cindy Rehm, 2003-12-05
Enactment: 2003-12-06 15:45:00 kanarinka: snowy unrolling [see quicktime movie]
take a chalk, start writing phrases that start with 'I hope' on the wall on one side of the street (if possible about 50 cm from the ground), continue till the end of the street.
by anniea, 2003-12-05
Enactment: 2003-12-05 14:00:00 kanarinka: my friend pirun collaborated with me on "chalk a hope line". we wrote on the ground because the walls in the alley are bricks which don't take chalk very well. we each chose one book (pirun - The Marx-Engels Reader, kanarinka - The Blackwell Companion to Continental Philosophy). each time we wrote "i hope" we opened our book to a random page and used the first sentence on the right-hand page to generate what we were hoping for (see texts). we came close to getting kicked out of the alley by a property owner.
label piece (homage to Yoko Ono)
label
by kanarinka , boston, ma, 2003-12-02
Enactment: 2003-12-01 11:00:00
public alley 818
public alley 818 is in Boston, MA, USA between Symphony Road and Westland Avenue. [mapquest] It is about 1 block (300 meters) long. It has four public entrances and exits.
Some things people do in public alley 818:
◦ Park their cars
◦ Put out their trash
◦ Collect cans
◦ Walk somewhere else
Things you might see in public alley 818:
◦ Grates on windows
◦ Cars, Construction Trucks, Dump Trucks
◦ Big rats
◦ Leftover trash
◦ Weeds
◦ Vents
◦ Fences
◦ Fire Escapes
statement
I am interested in invisible things - spaces, frameworks and contexts. This project is a series of performances and installations that intervene into the space of the alley behind my house.
For all intents and purposes, this alley is invisible to most of the people in my area. Unlike the street-facing side of our buildings, we do not decorate the alley, we do not clean it, we do not stroll down it. The alley fades from our collective consciousness, untended and insignificant. If seen or apprehended at all, it is not for itself, but only as a means to an end (say, to empty one's trash).
Invisible spaces are everywhere. They are not just alleys and abandoned buildings. They are assumptions, whole frameworks and contexts, the myriad perceptions discarded, the parts of our environment that we do not see because of expectation.
Invisible spaces are exciting. The rules that apply to the front of the building on my street do not apply in the alley because people cannot see it. They are spaces to be mined for dramatic potentiality and narrative possibility. How can these spaces become active, transformed, transported into a new realm of significance?
The point of these projects is not to make "the invisible visible" (as the oft-repeated theme goes) because it would be boring to thrust a dirty old alley into the forefront of people's attention. It is rather to use what is invisible as a space of radical potentiality and transformation; to bring something entirely new into the world through an unnoticed trapdoor as it were.
Upcoming project:1000(11) instruction works
Beginning in late September, kanarinka and iKatun will begin collecting instruction works from people over the internet for projects that can be realized at the 7a*11d International Performance Art Festival in Toronto. The project aims to collect a total of 1000 instruction works.
During the festival, which runs from October 20 - 31, 2004, iKatun will work in conjunction with the Toronto-based media center interaccess to perform-install-enact-realize one of the submitted instruction pieces each day. We anticipate that the performances and enactments will take place not only at the site of the performance festival but throughout the city of Toronto. Working with interaccess, iKatun will stream live images of the performances over the web and back to the performance festival's headquarters.
[visit the public alley 818 website]
[see all contributed instructions]
kanarinka works in software, performance, and installation. Currently she is investigating potentiality and play in the urban landscape.
very interesting, but I don't agree with you
Idetrorce
Posted by: Idetrorce | 15.12.2007 at 12:29 PM