Courage

May 4, 2010

Participants arrive and are directed up a ramp. At the top of the ramp is an extraordinary string quartet dressed in tuxedoes. Formally dressed waiters pass exquisite hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. Doors to all the studios are closed. Slowly the music becomes more modern, until it is pure cacophony, barely noticed. At precisely 8pm, a large door is slammed open. Participants enter the adjacent room, where they find a large pedestal of hammers and safety goggles. One wall has a very large mirror on it. Loud drumming can be heard coming from an adjacent room. Eventually someone tries breaking the wall between the hammer room and the room where the music seems to be coming from. Others follow suit. The entire wall is broken down, revealing its materials: styrofoam, stunt mirror. In the adjacent room is a pedestal with 16 legs of lamb on it, plus knives to carve it. Long, uncovered tables are set with other family-style makings of a meal. As participants exit, they encounter a room with a pedestal of balloons, then several pedestals each containing a single pincushion filled with pushpins. Upon breaking the balloons, a dessert is found inside.

Photos by Kevin Tachman