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Performance journal #1
PJ #2
PJ #3
PJ #4
PJ #5
PJ #6
PJ #7
My partner at the time, Sky Christoph, and my to-be collaborator, Emerson Granillo, surprising me for my first dinner. They helped me work out a lot of kinks in our five-hour long conversation.
Art scene locals, Casey and Zeb, stopping in for my second dinner. We talked about the artist as the object, the rituals of dining, and piercing culture in the '90s.
Sweethearts from the area, Tobias and Mary, sharing dinner #3 with me, in which we talked about performance-as-framework, bureaucracy, and arboretums.
First ghosting! Sat on the curb drinking sparkling water for 20 minutes before I called it a dud. Allyn and I went swimming instead.
My first solo diner, artist Joel Henry-Fisher. We talked about relationships, the art market, and Ann Arbor in the '80s.
#6 were Bethany and Ellie, who were filling in for their friend/local artist Jo Tek due to last-minute scheduling complications. Our conversation was full of laughter and insight.
Artist and friend Gray Snyder was my next guest! We'd been wanting to connect for some time, so this dinner was such a lovely surprise.
Hanna Hasselschwert, host of Ypsilanti Death Cafe, was my 8th attendee. By this dinner, I'd become quite exhausted being in performance mode for about a month, but this conversation was so vulnerable and deep that it reignited my energy for the rest of the piece.
Artist buddy Stella Moore and two of her friends were my guests for dinner #3! New film (color graded a tad bit red), new setting - I moved the dinners to my living room instead of my dining table, as one of my chairs broke - and, for the first and only time in this performance, we went outside after our meal.
Artist Bert Cook and their lovely sibling Scott dined with me for the penultimate performance! Bert was about to begin their MFA journey at Stamps, from which I am an alum. We talked about performance art, cats, and working at Target.
Three of my dearest friends managed to snag the final spot on the booking list.... probably had something to do with the fact that Allyn was in charge of scheduling ;). I made a cake commemorating this special time in my life: a yellow cake with swiss meringue buttercream frosting and lemon curd, "7/17-8/21" written in blackberries for the topping. I love you all.
Decided halfway that it was only fair my attendees took a picture of me as well.
With Gray. We ate stew and tortillas.
For #8, I went all out and even made dessert: lemon olive oil cake, served with ice cream and tea.
We finished up the cake on dinner #9. Required a cigarette walk afterwards to digest.
Presenting a plate of tomatoes from my friend's garden, served with braised chicken and rice for dinner #10.
Slicing the cake! Thank you all!
