In this From the Vault post from 2006, Roberta interviews Martha McDonald about a site-specific performance at Bartram’s Garden. The artist has continued to perform in historically resonant spaces–this Sunday, June 11, McDonald will lead audience members through the 18th-century estate of Andalusia on the Delaware River as part of Headlong and the Philadelphia Contemporary’s The Quiet Circus: River Charette series (more info here: http://philadelphiacontemporary.org/river-charrettes-post/). She will explore the history of the site as a place of refuge during the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793, inviting the audience to tune into its historical resonance and contemporary reality. Artblog will be there!
Read MoreOtake commenced her performance slowly, trembling within herself and laying the foundation for the audience to allow themselves an intensely delicate and intuitive experience. At the first of several stations, she slowly unfurled a cloth she produced from within her garment, going to great pains to keep it just so–only reveling in her own motions long enough for interest to peak–before breaking and leading the group of roughly 70 through the small river path.
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