SEWING WELL lumen

SEWING WELL — Lumen Festival version

A needle and thread is passed between the person inside and the visitors on the outside of the fabric barrier. The process of sewing through the linen serves to represent a personal barrier, while inviting a public interaction.

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For this version, Sewing Well was designed to take place at the Lumen Festival on Staten Island, NY. Shipping containers were arranged in a circular orientation with open ends facing into the center. Lights were installed in the back of each shipping container. Muslin barriers separated the performer in each container from the festival participants. The task of passing a needle and thread back and forth through the barrier without speaking took place for 6 hours. As night fell, the silhouette of each performer was revealed by the light in the containers. The sewn thread drawing is an artifact of the encounters.

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