Documentation of “Letting Go” Performance.
What happens when communication breaks down to a point where a person’s life experience is not heard? How can one make their voice heard? In Letting Go, a temporary public art exhibit in Newark that addresses themes on catharsis, I addressed catharsis through the processes of communication and resolution. I engaged the public by giving them clues about my life experience through a series of videos, sound installations and performances placed around the entire block between Central Ave., Halsey St. and Broad between 3-6pm on Saturday 22nd.
The curators, Jeanne Brasille and Jade Lien, renewed the abandoned and desolate block between Broad and Central Avenue in Newark, NJ on Saturday during the 10th Annual Open Doors and Studio Tour. They brought together a collection of over 50 artists to take part in a public cleansing and healing. The metamorphosis began at 3pm and didn’t end until 9pm. What started as an opportunity for artists to purge their own emotions and engage with the public, became a spiritual catharsis for a blighted and neglected urban landscape. As performances and installations projected feelings of loss, fear and hope onto the space they, in turn, transformed the space into a rich coalescence of meaningful human experiences.