Projects

This participatory work was a hybrid of a corporation and a surreal spa, where intimacy was fused with bureaucracy. Upon arriving to the office visitors encountered a sign on the door communicating the rules: be silent, wear a mask, turn off phone, remove shoes, wash hands, and keep distanced from others. A host greeted visitors and opened a closet to reveal a makeshift "sink," assisted them with a hand-washing ritual, then gestured for them to take a seat in the waiting room. They were then given a form listing the offerings, and asked to choose if they preferred their experience to be guided or solitary. Prior to presenting to the public, I took 3 months to slowly inhabit the office. I began by paring down the infrastructure: removing wall dividers, so that just the framework of the cubicles and sliding doors remained. This created the possibility for distinct rooms and yet you could see through them. I covered the windows with translucent paper, obscuring the outside world, yet allowing the daylight to come in. Looking through the row of cubicles towards a mirror in the "Boss' office" there was an uncanny sense of mise-en-abime. Each room explored a particular theme or state of being, and proposed either participation or witnessing. For example in the Conference Room one encountered a round table where puppets were seated. Visitors were invited to animate the puppets, engaging with these paper beings, as well as with other visitors. A sorrowful song played on a loop. In the Soap Room the visitor was guided to lie beneath a table and gaze up at the underside of the soap collection. This sort of meditative state was echoed in the Solarium, where the visitor could sit and absorb the density of plants that filled the humid space. The Kitchen was a sort of laboratory where materials were transformed by staining (inspired by a stain I noticed on a ceiling panel). The Boss' Office was where I would meet visitors for private consultations, which usually consisted of gestural improvisations with magnetized objects. I imagined "The Boss" had sent everyone home during the pandemic and that over time she became more and more undone, following her creative and obsessive impulses. One could imagine that she had eschewed her usual administrative tasks in favour of planting a solarium, staining materials, or gathering yellow objects for a shrine. There was an overall sense of absurdity, yet also a genuine interest in taking care. It was as if for these 9 days she was inviting the outside world inside the office to play.

You can view an excerpt of one of the performances here: https://vimeo.com/916361994

Photos: Guy L'Heureux, Jack Stanley, Vida Simon

Mixed media