M&A_Sublime Environments
It all started on August 5th, 2010, when Glen Phillips (organizer of the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time’s Performance and Public Art Festival) and I exchanged correspondences about having Materials & Applications (M&A) submit a proposal to the Getty for a grant to perform Judy Chicago, Lloyd Hemrol, and Eric Orr’s 1968 dry-ice installation “Disappearing Environments”. On January 19th, 2012, after 3 planning sesions, M&A, 40+ participants, Judy Chicago, and Donald Woodman collaborated to create “Sublime Environments” at Barkar Hanger at the Santa Monica Airport.
The day started with some bagels from Brooklyn Bagels in Historic Filipino Town.
Then we started getting prepped up for the big performance. This included white jump suits, white spray-painted hair, and work gloves.
The dry-ice came in 12”x12” blocks, and delivered in big bins. We were building 9 ziggurats, with 91 blocks each.
The participants were divided into 4 groups, each group building one ziggurat at a time. Tthe first half of the day consisted of building 4 ziggurats. After lunch, the 4 groups proceeded to do another 4 ziggurats. Then, all the participants helped to build the final ziggurat.
Judy Chicago.
Marya Villarin
Nick Rodrigues.
Charlie Peel.
The sublimation of the dry-ice blocks changed throughout the day. As the day got warmer, and the air more moist from the ocean, the fog got thicker. Notice the photos as the day progressed.
The final piece being placed by Judy Chicago and Donald Woodman.
At 5:30PM (sunset), participants lit 30-minute road flares, 10 to each ziggurat, to create a red, glowing, emanating environment.
And to think, I had no idea who Judy Chicago was when I first spoke with her on the phone back in August, 2010. She had fans who dressed up like her at the opening. No big deal.
As the night wore on, the ziggurats slowly began to crumble as the blocks sublimated and shrank. And much like the products and monumental things in our lives we treasure, the block will also disappear, without a trace.
