The Spiral 2024, 11:35
Materials: dirt, 40lb Rice Bag
"The Spiral" is a piece that simulates the process of recognition as a productive contributor to the US, examined through physicality and physical endurance. By placing into metaphors the fundamental aspects of "productive" life-- food, neighborhood, and direction-- I trudged in a downward spiral toward my collapse at the bottom. The Spiral is an ongoing performance series in which the artist carries a 40-lb bag of rice while slowly traversing a spiral path, entering and exiting at the same point so that exhaustion, rather than progress, is the only outcome of the labor. By utilizing embodied strain, time, and repetition, my piece critiques capitalist notions of productivity, success, and progress by foregrounding exhaustion and empathy as meaningful forms of labor. Across different sites and iterations, the piece reframes productivity as relational and reflective, positioning empathy and bodily awareness as central to community and social understanding.
Here is my view of the street when I was at the bottom of the spiral. This piece was site-specific to Logan Square, as it is one of the most gentrified and exclusive neighborhoods in Chicago. As this spiral puts you at eye level with the ground, I ask audiences to take on a necessary perspective in considering their home's history and to study the grounds they claim to be home.
THE SPIRAL: PAPER