my ten foot pole

Just got a slot as a massage therapist for the WTA working at the US Open this year in August!! Now maybe I'll get to work on the ladies for my ten foot pole project, or at least have the potential to be in their presence!

Basically, I am visually playing with the phrase "I wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole"...investigating how that can look...having images of successful women whose fame and/or fortune has been discredited because of their sex and/or sexuality exist just above many a ten foot pole.

Last week I brought (4) ten foot dowels into my studio, and taped the images of women above them. Serena Williams, Martina, Martha Stewart, Louise Bourgeouis, Agnes Martin, Virignia Woolf, Edith Wharton, among others, Condelezza Rice were all up there to begin with.

The walk alone with these sticks under my arm and extending five feet in front of and behind me was an unexpected delight: walking from the male dominated hardware store (hilariously called Dykes Lumber) through the streets of Long Island City to my studio was the second best performance I ever did that no one saw (the first being my cleaning the studio stairs in Tuscany in '05; luckily a colleague witnessed that). The cat calls, whistles, slowed vehicles, and gawking stares of me carrying these poles made me consider "performing" again with the same sticks.

So, why female athletes? Thinking about my own history with sports, and the double standards women have when it comes to being successful. I have an interest in the female athlete stemming from Greek mythology (Athena, Daphne, and other strong women forced to transform themselves to get away from pesky persistent men) and being a gymnast for 11 years, competing for 6 years.

A suggestion was made to make my studio a mackette (spelling?) for a larger installation, and I may do just that. The idea of an illuminated image, media based, just far enough away from the top of the ten foot pole, reminds me of torches mobs used to carry on witch hunts and lynchings. I'll see where that leads me and post accordingly when I can.