Selected WorksBioCV

Chew on It

2023
Participatory performance, ceramic, compost, gum, spit, microphones, stereo system
Variable sizes, duration 1 hour

Collaborative piece with Liza StoutIn "Chew on It," a community of artists and visitors gather around a ceramic composting vessel encircled by four microphones. At the beginning of the performance, the audience is invited to join with prompt cards that read:

"Pick up a gum./ Chew on it at the microphone. /When saliva builds up, spit excess saliva on the compost./ Do it until you're done/. Keep your gum (a) or spit on the compost(b):'

Participants engaged in chewing gum and spitting on the collective pile, providing digestive enzymes to the soil. The performance is stretched in a synchronous, sometimes syncopated melody. Sound materializes. Spit accumulates-a wet pile of saliva on a hot pile of compost. The performance highlights the metabolic process of chewing as the symbolic process of composting. It challenges the extractive nature of human-soil relationships, where soil is often commodified for its services. Instead, "Chew on It" invites the audience to consider their role as active contributors to soil regeneration.