unperformed events

chicago, illinois + seattle, washington
2006-present

Unperformed Events is a series of written vignettes. At present, I have created 46.

Each documents an un-performed experience, an act embodied with a specific intent, for a specific duration.

These events exist in the world. Printed on museum labels, they mark an experience. I attached 186 labels in public spaces throughout Chicago, Illinois and Seattle, Washington; the unperformed events exist in the experience of the viewer.


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Stand perfectly still on the sidewalk
just in front of your house.

for: an empty lot.
duration: 9 minutes

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Lower your face to a metal ventilation grate.
Hum: "ahhhhh."

for: The sparrow that lives just outside my bedroom window.
duration: 1 minute.






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Press your ear against a concrete support
beam, on a railway platform. Attentively remain
until the train enters and
comes to a complete stop.

for: Silence
duration: The length of your wait.

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Stand next to a (living) tree. Take deep breaths
into sections of the tree beginning at the
tips of the leading most branches
and moving all the way down to the trunk.
Extend into the roots.

for: My shoes.
duration: Until complete.





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contextualized language

st paul, minnesota
2004-2005

These are photographs document a few pieces from a series of over one thousand; each work consists of a short phrase inserted into in an intimate yet public environment that I commonly frequent.

I choose lines of text based on their ability to illuminate unnoticed details in each location. I used all of her text. When compiled together, the large body of phrases construct “Chapter 2: Seeing” from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by environmentalist author Annie Dillard.

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"Something broke and something opened."

     Located on an Eastern facing
                library window.

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"Risking sticking my face in"

     In a coffee shop renowned as a
             citywide study spot.

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"water turtles smooth as beans"

When it rains water beads on the banister where paint chips have broken away.

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"I return from the same walk a day later"

On a bathroom door handle.

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Annie Dillard's book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek illuminates the intricate details of land, near her home, that she knows intimately. I brought her awareness to my community. I photocopied Chapter 2, "On Seeing". Then, I cut her words apart into phrases and attached them to overlooked details all throughout my neighborhood. There were thousands of phrases. I kept them in a little plastic zip lock and always carried them with me. I did it on the sly, when no one was looking. Completing the project, a few to a dozen phrases a day, took nearly two years.