The Office Assistant - Do you miss me yet?
It was a little weird and lonely coming in to the space tonight, with just the security guard for company. Al had waited for me around 5, but I was delayed due to circumstances well beyond my control. Thanks for waiting though Al. Someone called the rug a snow drift when it was laying on the floor, all bundled up upon itself. I kept thinking of an image from a morning commute early in the project - when Portland was fog bound.
While I was wrapping and tieing the rug into a secure bundle, I started to think through the process of judgement. There was a distinct correlation to when people started calling the rug 'beautiful' and when it was hung up high on the wall. Prior to that moment, there certainly was a lot of consternation and judgement!
Thankfully, this didn't stop a group of students from interacting with it though. 
Another favorite image is of baby Charley, who came to visit. It is so remarkable having a baby in your arms. Especially when you have just crocheted one honking big baby rug!
What always surprises me though is how people will readily judge a static object, but won't say directly what is on their mind if they are addressing a person. For this installation, I am the artwork - the rug is a product of my performance. You have to judge me! Like I am an object. It is interesting to note how many of you 'judged' the rug and when. It is as if you didn't know how to identify art in a new format, but once you saw something that you could equate as 'art', i.e. something hanging on the wall, then you couuld judge!
The last Friday was more emotional than I thought it would be. Being the tough old chook that I am of course.
Chris came by and jived for a bit, both with his yellow glasses on and off. 
Eastern Oregon University sent another ground force along to check out what this project was all about. Lyle, Doug (who have an unknown political affiliations), Chris and Tim (who are both proud Independants); but I think that Jolynn might have been edging towards Republican......hmm, Jolynn, I think we need to 'talk'.....
Ned came down for a chat, after watching this for 4 weeks. He is an Office Assistant, and in the unusual position of holding the same education qualifications as the managers that he supports. Having applied for more than 400 jobs in the last year, he absolutely understands the premise of this installation, rather well! 
Dan and Bean are both artists and had come to the space to see if they would submit an application for the next cycle. Our discussion very quickly centered on how you must invent a choice for yourself, otherwise it all slips away, rather quickly at times. 
Benjamin is a recent grad of Marylhurst so we talked art of course.
Joy was checking out the listings on Portland Travel, and came to visit the project. Michala is originally from Czech, so of course we talked about all things Czech, including their craft traditions. 
Todd is another employee who had surreptitiously avoided the project for the entire month, chosing to interact literally in the last half an hour. His philosophy is "why watch the entire season when you can catch it all in the last episode!". OK. Todd is a Directors Executive Assistant who also likes to snorkel. I think he is trying to snorkel under the rug, given the color of his face in there!! 
David has quietly helped out the installation from his desk across the way. More than once he as acted as Messenger, which is appreciated and shared the secrets of levitation. 
The last image captured before the batteries went out is Mike. We were able to spend quite some time chatting late in the afternoon. He knew all about security, having worked in politics in Hawaii for many years. It was simple - if the Democrats lost an election, he was out of a job. After some years when his children had grown and left home, and his wife had sadly passed away, Mike decided that it was time for him to 'do what he really wants to do', so he joined a seminary. There he met his current wife, an ordained Minister.
Mary from RACC shouted me a bus ticket so that I could ride home and be dry, rather than walk those 4 famous miles one last time. Numerous participants in the project stopped by, and said farewell to the rug and to myself. Now we continue through the blog, until the rug comes back on the 1st of December.
Thanks to everyone that has been filling out the Performance Reviews too. All feedback is appreciated.
zen@ovoo.com
While I was wrapping and tieing the rug into a secure bundle, I started to think through the process of judgement. There was a distinct correlation to when people started calling the rug 'beautiful' and when it was hung up high on the wall. Prior to that moment, there certainly was a lot of consternation and judgement!
Thankfully, this didn't stop a group of students from interacting with it though. 
Another favorite image is of baby Charley, who came to visit. It is so remarkable having a baby in your arms. Especially when you have just crocheted one honking big baby rug! What always surprises me though is how people will readily judge a static object, but won't say directly what is on their mind if they are addressing a person. For this installation, I am the artwork - the rug is a product of my performance. You have to judge me! Like I am an object. It is interesting to note how many of you 'judged' the rug and when. It is as if you didn't know how to identify art in a new format, but once you saw something that you could equate as 'art', i.e. something hanging on the wall, then you couuld judge!
The last Friday was more emotional than I thought it would be. Being the tough old chook that I am of course.
Chris came by and jived for a bit, both with his yellow glasses on and off. 
Eastern Oregon University sent another ground force along to check out what this project was all about. Lyle, Doug (who have an unknown political affiliations), Chris and Tim (who are both proud Independants); but I think that Jolynn might have been edging towards Republican......hmm, Jolynn, I think we need to 'talk'.....
Ned came down for a chat, after watching this for 4 weeks. He is an Office Assistant, and in the unusual position of holding the same education qualifications as the managers that he supports. Having applied for more than 400 jobs in the last year, he absolutely understands the premise of this installation, rather well! 
Dan and Bean are both artists and had come to the space to see if they would submit an application for the next cycle. Our discussion very quickly centered on how you must invent a choice for yourself, otherwise it all slips away, rather quickly at times. 
Benjamin is a recent grad of Marylhurst so we talked art of course.
Joy was checking out the listings on Portland Travel, and came to visit the project. Michala is originally from Czech, so of course we talked about all things Czech, including their craft traditions. 
Todd is another employee who had surreptitiously avoided the project for the entire month, chosing to interact literally in the last half an hour. His philosophy is "why watch the entire season when you can catch it all in the last episode!". OK. Todd is a Directors Executive Assistant who also likes to snorkel. I think he is trying to snorkel under the rug, given the color of his face in there!! 
David has quietly helped out the installation from his desk across the way. More than once he as acted as Messenger, which is appreciated and shared the secrets of levitation. 
The last image captured before the batteries went out is Mike. We were able to spend quite some time chatting late in the afternoon. He knew all about security, having worked in politics in Hawaii for many years. It was simple - if the Democrats lost an election, he was out of a job. After some years when his children had grown and left home, and his wife had sadly passed away, Mike decided that it was time for him to 'do what he really wants to do', so he joined a seminary. There he met his current wife, an ordained Minister. Mary from RACC shouted me a bus ticket so that I could ride home and be dry, rather than walk those 4 famous miles one last time. Numerous participants in the project stopped by, and said farewell to the rug and to myself. Now we continue through the blog, until the rug comes back on the 1st of December.
Thanks to everyone that has been filling out the Performance Reviews too. All feedback is appreciated.
zen@ovoo.com
4 Comments:
I'm Doug, one of the EOU students who came to visit (the tall one with the halo above his head ;) ). Anyway, I will love to see your finished work; hopefully there will be some pics of it on here. Judging by the blog pictures and what I saw in person: I think when it's hanging up, the size of it is apparent and it seems so...majestic. That's the difference between hanging up and on the floor in a heap.
I never even thought of it as "performance" art. That makes me one of the people guilty of judging! It brings a new twist to the interpretation. Well, it was a pleasure to be able to see this work, even if it was at the end without much crocheting going on. As someone who is far from an art major, I enjoyed checking it out. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Good luck with your future endeavors!
Hi Doug,
Thanks for writing. I just checked out your blog - so you slipped and covered your arse in mud huh! Portland can do that to a stranger!
I am glad that this encounter with art made you think differently too. That is the point - even if the art sucks, and some of it does, there is always something there to make you think. That is what art does to people. At least you can now 'judge' but from a different and more interesting perspective.
So, stay tuned - the images will start appearing through next week.
ciao
zen@ovoo.com
I think it was easier for those of us who passed through the lobby day after day to appreciate the performance aspect.
The absence of Zen when the show was over was perhaps more noticeable than her presence was at first.
I got that she was art and thus felt permitted to comment about her more than I would have had I not thought of her as art.
Normally I express my snarky opinions behind people's back, not to their face. But Zen's invitation to comment on her work led me to express my not quite positive impressions of what she was saying. That led to a couple of great conversations and a better understanding of another person. Maybe being direct and honest is better than always trying to be "nice."
Zen, all this is one hand clapping. Get a job, you lazy bum!
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