PANGS OF: This one-hour seated performance is a repetitive offering from the performer to audience. The performance is an act of holding 300 quarts of raspberries on (and spilled over) her lap. A small group of 5-6 raspberries is placed in her mouth, masticated, and then offered to the person sitting across from her, then repeated. The participants can choose to eat the fruit offered or reject it. Should no one be sitting there, the performer will still masticate the fruit and offer it to the empty space. The rejected/unaccepted fruit is disposed of onto the floor.

This offering is an act of kindness. Kindness, an act thought to be of the heart, is historically represented in art history by the raspberry. The heart is known to pump 2000 quarts of blood per day or 300 quarts in one hour. The length of the performance is determined by the amount of fruit offered. The fruit, however, is also considered fragile and therefore this offering and all of its implications can be thought of as a fragile exchange.

The performer will be wearing a white garment while holding the fruit. It is expected that the fruit and its juices will stain the garment, indicating the lasting effects, both good and bad, of intimacy. At the end of the hour, the performer will gather the rejected fruit in her arms, hold it against her body, and leave the performance area. Again, it is implied that the rejection is carried within us and has lasting effects.

Performed at Mudlark Theater as part of the Vanishing PAF, New Orleans; Alive at Satellite during Miami Art Week;

Duration: 1 hour
Date: 2018

DECEMBER 1, 2018: Vanishing Performance Art Festival; Mudlark Theater; New Orleans; duration: 1 hour