Hug Piece (2013) is what I call "art that demonstrates." This collaboration piece, with artist Cassie Jones, was intended to have both a structured element and an organic free-form part. The plan was simple: during an opening at Des Lee gallery in St. Louis, Cassie and I would demonstrate a "hug" for as long as we could. We began hugging about an hour into the opening. Our performance then invited others to join and soon enough, a large circle of hugging people moved around the gallery the way a dot becomes a line on paper. This circle had off-shoots and engulfed most of the viewers. All were invited to participate.
Ultimately, I had been studying artists like Tino Sehgal, who would use an element of surprise within the gallery space by not identifying who was performing and who was a spectator. But I wanted to take this idea one step further and orchestrate not only an event but an emotion. Like Sehgal, I was not interested in documenting the work. It would live in the minds of the participants. Yet, once the piece started, many people took photographs. The images shown were taken by Kellie Spano.
Ultimately, I had been studying artists like Tino Sehgal, who would use an element of surprise within the gallery space by not identifying who was performing and who was a spectator. But I wanted to take this idea one step further and orchestrate not only an event but an emotion. Like Sehgal, I was not interested in documenting the work. It would live in the minds of the participants. Yet, once the piece started, many people took photographs. The images shown were taken by Kellie Spano.