Drawing the City (Day One, Day Two), 2004 Limited edition DVD, 11 minutes, color, sound.
2-day performance, canvas, paint, crayons, umbrellas, tree trunks, artist's body, pedestrians, video, sound. Collection of Livia and Mark Straus, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, New York.
Drawing the City (Day One, Day Two), 2004 Sound is composed of
Hudson River bouncing against the shores, voices of children playing outdoors, and altered fragments of Hildegard von Bingen's
"O virga ac diadema," Kathy Theil (soprano).
As the artist continues drawing around her silhouette, she crawls on a large-scale canvas covering the pavement
of a street. A video camera suspended from the rooftop of a near by building becomes the source of images. Day One is a memory of 5-hour solitary action
where the artist crawls and moves within the canvas while several blue umbrellas are set in motion by the wind and rain. Day Two presents the next-day
performance in the sun with a group of pedestrians that join the drawing. During both days the canvas becomes gradually covered by blue paint.
"I lie curled up on my side. With my eyes closed I draw around my body. The resulting lines accumulate and the canvas around my figure becomes darker.
There are crayons, brushes, and feathers scattered on the ground. My silent, and focused performative action seems to mirror the movement of the near by
river. The shapes I draw continue to change, impossible to predict. A group of blue umbrellas moves around me triggered by the wind, at times covering my body.
Several freshly cut tree trunks are places around the edges of canvas guarding it against the wind. I immerse my hands in the water and paint containers;
the splashes of water resemble the dew on leaves in the hush of the early dawn, merging with the rain that accompany my action throughout the first day.
The following morning the sun comes out. Strong wind moves the canvas up and down like a surface of ocean. Pedestrians gradually join me inside the blue
drawing. Like a living organism, the drawing is contingent and dependent on the flux of our energies. The light changes during the day, becoming more intense
as the sun goes down." (Monika Weiss)
