Perimeter Walk
Excerpt of Perimeter Walk documentation, 2019. 0:26. Gopro video of walk around edge of perimeter of Chautauqua projected between columns in Chautauqua School of Art quadrangle as a thread the length of the perimeter of Chautauqua is wound and unwound.
In this performance, I walked the entire distance of the perimeter of Chautauqua Institution (3.1 miles) between two columns in the art quad at Chautauqua School of Art while an artist in residence in summer 2019. Chautauqua is a gated community, and during the summer you need a pass to get in or out. Not being used to being in a space with such a defined boundary, I would go on walks throughout the summer trying to get as close to the edge, but it was often quite difficult to do so, and had been obstructed or concealed. I found out while doing research in the Chautauqua archives that until the 1990s, there was a weaving program at the School of Art, and that my studio that summer was located where the weaving room used to be. I wanted to reconnect the space to its history of being a place for making things with thread while also exposing the hidden perimeter.