Check out the dirt we gathered and rubbed all over these papers.

Please come check out the installation of Physical Audit, now up at Flux Factory.  The opening is tomorrow from 6-9pm, with special events and performances following.  Details about our performance is below.

Come see us perform our first PUBLICLY PHYSICAL AUDIT!  This Saturday we will converge at TD BANK at the corner of 50th Street and Broadway in Manhattan.  Come bring one of these deposit slips, or fill it out at the bank!  The performance begins promptly at noon and ends at 1pm.  Please follow the instructions listed here:

How to view the performance:

1. Get Tickets: Please fill in a deposit slip with this account number: 4821576703. You can download the deposit slip here and print it or accept one from an usher at the theater (bank).
2. Come to TD BANK at the corner of Broadway & 50th Street in Manhattan on Saturday September 8 at noon.
3. Get in line to see a teller. Be a good audience member—everything that happens in the bank is a part of the performance. Remain quiet, observant, and respectful. As long as you are in line to have a transaction, your presence in the bank will be welcomed.
4. Make a deposit of any size into the account on the deposit slip. When you arrive at the teller, politely hand in your deposit slip with a small donation to support the performance. Feel free to engage with the teller, informing them of the performance that is taking place.
5. Get back in line. The performance will last between 45 minutes and 1 hour. Please feel free to make several deposits (any size, 1 penny and up!) so that you can remain in line for the duration of the event.

In this dance, the broken connection between financial environment and being a human, (being a human includes non-utilitarian movement, difficult feelings, and shared experience) are examined– pushing what is possible while in a bank. The performance will be barely visible at moments, as we are watching dancers attempt to break the social and physical limitations associated with the bank—breaking themselves of normative behaviors that are boring and generic.

Please be patient and observant while in line so you don’t miss any important moments of difficult touching!

Collective Transaction

During our first workshop, we visited three ATMs where we performed three scores.  In CitiBank, we performed a score with Truman the Dog.  We began with Truman in the center of the ATM. He is being petted vigorously by Aliya.  9 other dancers in the room are blending in, keeping busy.  One at a time they all join Aliya in petting Truman, until 10 people are petting Truman.  Dancers are using Truman as a way to learn how to touch— what feels good to him, what feels good to their hand.  Then, once everyone is petting Truman, one at a time, the dancers walk away from Truman to pet the bank with the same attention and skill they gave to Truman.  When all 10 dancers are petting the bank, they all, one by one, go back to petting Truman.  This cycle is repeated 3 times.

As a part of Public Trust, an exhibition hosted by Flux Factory opening on September 7, 2012, curators Doug Paulson and Christina Vassallo invited me to propose a piece that interrogates what institutions do for the people of NYC.  I proposed a series of performances as research in banks.  The performances will take place in 20 banks in Manhattan, where a team of 3-5 dancers will go to open Family Savings Accounts. Dancers will use the opportunity of the meeting to enter beyond the lobby, and to touch as much of the bank as possible— getting their hands dirty.  This action is called the ‘physical audit’.  When the dance is done, the performers will make rubbings of their hands, showing the dirt that they found in the bank.  Performances and public actions surrounding the project will happen throughout August, culminating in a large action on September 7.  Please stay tuned here for more info or check out fluxfactory.org!

When a place is invisible to us, it loses its details, or we lose our ability to see them.  We might assume that what we don’t notice isn’t there.  A wild lack of detail might be mistaken for cleanliness.  We know banks aren’t clean.