MOTLEY MENAGERIE
of little documented works

This motley collection of lightly documented or undocumented works are from different times and places– a catch all for projects that, in some cases, involved extensive effort, planning and multiple incarnations (as in the geodome) or spanned a long time horizon of interest (as in the miniature sculptures).

Geodeisic Dome, constructed Oakland, California 2005. In preparation for a journey to Burning Man in 2005, I built by hand and power tool a two frequency, approximately 15′ geodesic dome. I used 1″ electrical conduit and followed the construction techniques on desertdomes.com. In 2005, I covered the top with a small white parachute and then wrapped in a flowing wave 1.5 yard white fabric around the bottom. This had an elegant look but was not the best for keeping dust out. The dome was a hang out hub–I chose to sleep in a better dustproof tent. In 2006, I covered the tent with a white stretch fabric stitched by Amy Nelson, costume designer and seamstress extraordianaire who I met through the multimedia performance company Double Vision. This was beautiful and much better with dust. I brought this dome and cover to Mutant Fest and it was used several times in Double Vision productions as an interior performance and projection space. In 2008, I installed the dome under a massive fig tree on the property where lived. After much research and consternation, I created a shingled waterproof cover that withstood rains with great success though it was not mobile and aesthetically pleasing as I would like. This dome served, equipped with an old school vinyl record player, as a lounge event space during many house parties and gatherings, an outdoor healing arts space for bodywork sessions and a tea cafe. In 2010, upon leaving this location, I sold this dome and its various covers to arts adventurers heading towards Black Rock City.

Mini Sculptures, two galleries and dozens of gifts, Naples, Italy, California and NYC 2000 to the present. This small opportunistic project began on a walk in Naples, Italy in early 2000 when I found the black scuffed heel bottom of a high heeled shoe lying on the sidewalk. I intuitively recognized it as a miniature piano and mounted it on a tiny piece of scrap wood offering it as a gift to a great pianist in my most intimate circles. This began my attunement to these found miraculous treasures. I began accepting this found gifts as they appeared on my rambles. From this harvest, I created a first featured mini gallery in my apartment on Montross Street in Brooklyn with the inestimable Heather Jordan. When I moved west the end of 2000, I left these behind as if they belonged to that time and place. Most likely the renaissance man living there sold these at vast sums to afford his lavish lifestyle and later travels to Dubai, Turkey and Ukraine. Meanwhile, in the western realms, the treasures continued to find me in suggestive manners– spark plug towers and mystic bolt castles, hair tie animals and glass bauble fortune telling devices. Repairing a faucet leak, I discovered an entire mini world’s fair, perfectly weathered by water. A Second gallery show followed in December of 2008 on the eve of my first journey to India. 10 mini works auctioned off to the great sum of $27.23. With these riches, I embarked. The discoveries and creations continue…

LEO Pinata, with the tutelage of Derrick David aka Bunny, The Green Door Pre-Apocalypse LEO ZODIAC Event, July 1999. Stuffed with candies, prophecies, coins, strange dollar store assortments and glitter, the LEO Pinata was hung from the rafters of a Chelsea punk warehouse until it took center stage in a destruction ritual, eventually being destroyed by a 5’0″ gothic avatar in 6″ heels recklessly swinging a baseball bat while potentially under the influence. Fortunately, no injuries were reported. The cathartic disembowelment marked the onset of LEO season, deep NYC summer.

Big Heads/ LIttle Heads, Autumn 1999, Brooklyn & the NYC Halloween Parade, with Derrick David & a band of wild things.  These are two independent projects woven together in memory, sensibility and influence. BIG HEADS: A motley team of about 10 assembled in the Hope Street Loft to construct, under the tutelage of Derrick David, massive paper mache headdresses framed with chicken wire. These heads were the main costume feature for our Where The Wild Things Are avatar brigade to walk the famed NYC Halloween Parade. These heads later appeared as totems at various events. The headdress made by Mustache served as an agent mT costume piece for several destruction performances. LITTLE HEADS: Discarded 6′ dark wood bed posts instigated this series of playful sculptures. These posts were cut into 18″ stalks with holes drilled through points towards the top and bottom to allow wire limbs to thread through. Large foam heads, fabric hats and hair and further decoration turned these into muppet style archetypes outfitted with various tools and weapons from staffs to mini vacuum cleaners. Eventually installed along fencing in a seemingly abandoned lot 8 stops out on the L-line which, famously, became the art hub of Bushwick years later, I imagine these still lining the rafters of an artist’s warehouse somewhere out there.

The Great Black Void, Sidewalk Mural, Summit Country, Rocky Mountains, Colorado 2002 with The Peaceful Warrior Gymnast KM. A mirror of the depths of the cosmos, a reminder of the shadows we do not acknowledge, an inkblot rorschatz of a collective community mind, an homage to all beings lost in oil spills and addiction, a portal to the underworld– Black Paint on asphalt, irregular shape, 12′ by 6′.