Thank god for the one who pushes. / "I hope I wait for the hug." 2011
Thank god for the one who pushes.
"I hope I wait for the hug."
January 15, 2011
English Kills Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (Bushwick)
Performance by Holly Faurot & Sarah H. Paulson
Created for the Maximum Perception Performance Festival
(Curated by Peter Dobill and Phoenix Lights)
Performers: Faurot, Katurah Hutcheson, Paulson
Video Appearances (2-channel video component):
Faurot and Paulson
Thank god for the one who pushes. "I hope I wait for the hug." refers to the idea of having a certain capacity and respect for a force that is greater - a force that pushes one beyond a place of comfort or familiarity. It references a sense of relief in being led over a threshold over and over again. It is someone's role to push. It is someone's role to receive. Consistent with an underlying theme in all Faurot & Paulson performances, these roles may reverse.
"Thank god for the one who pushes." This statement reflects gratitude for that which makes one uncomfortable. The growth process happens here, as does the life of the student. Both artists are students of the relationship between copying and following through their work and lives.
Faurot and Paulson sit back-to-back in reclining chairs with branches and brush in the laps of their nude bodies. Behind each of the artists is a video of herself: Paulson is seen sitting in a wooden antique wheelchair de-needling branches of a pine tree, which lay across her lap, while Faurot alternates between rocking back and forth on a piece of the wheelchair or draping her body over a sawhorse. In both videos, the artists work privately. The videos and the real-time tableaux reference the possible dilemma of being held back from their centers. They wait, however, as a third performer, Katurah Hutcheson, periodically drapes her body across their centers, disregarding the brush that separates their bodies. Faurot & Paulson wait for her hug. The problem is solved, and the question becomes, "Must one be ready for the hug to receive it?" Thank god for the one who pushes.
