pink box
for 6TH ANNUAL PERFORM CHINATOWN: CHAOS REIGNS, LOS ANGELES, CA 2014
2 1/2 hr performance with Sylva Hattington
curated by Doug Harvey, Lee Lynch, Paige Wery
photos by Jaime Scholnick and Sally Coates
videos by Jaime Scholnick, Sally Coates and Aaron Sheppard
For 2 1/2 hours, Sheppard and Hattington were closed inside a transparent and metal box measuring 48” x 48” x 13” and attached 10-feet above the ground on the facade of The Arcade building at 936 1/2 Mei Ling Way (across from New Dragon Restaurant and down from Hop Louie’s Bar). The two performers repeatedly changed restricting positions within the box while caressing one another’s bodies in a public display of affection. A water hose was attached to the box which kept the couple’s entangled bodies wet, and transformed the box itself into a steamy sauna dripping with a constant pitter-patter of rain.
The light box was pre-existing signage that had at one time been used as advertising, left to sit vacant for years. For pink box Sheppard stripped the box of its electrical, replaced brittle and aged Plexiglas with new vibrant fluorescent panes, and painted the structure pink. The performance within then became something videoesque and surreal to the eye, contrasting with the environment and landscape.
pink box was video-taped from two different angles: from close-up inside, and; from street-level out-side the box.
(videography by Jaime Scholnick and Sally Coates).
-Western Project