Photographs,
Performance
(excerpt from Every Day Counts: Reactions and Reflections on Linda Montano) ART LIFE People were very supportive of this project. Many stopped to talk and document the experience for me. Some people just wanted to take my picture. The following collaborators took photographs: Brittany Powell, Cecilia, Deborah Sprzeuzkouski, Ginny Kleker, David Huffman, Laurel Voss, Matt Gerring, Lauren Pace, Rob DiCristifaro, David Stein and Travis Kerkela. I explained that I was telling stories about my life, and that they could ask me anything they wanted to. I told them that I had to tell them the truth, no matter what they asked me. Interesting questions I was asked included: “I want to know about what you were like when you were an undergrad. Did you study art? What did you look like? What clothes did you wear?”. “What is your most painful memory about your mother?” “What is your biggest fear?” “What was it like growing up in South Africa and then moving to the United States? How did the shift in context to race effect you?” One woman became very afraid when I explained to her that I would answer anything she wanted to know, and tell her the truth. She said she was afraid of the truth, and refused to ask me anything. This was an interesting parallel to the people who were so involved in seeing how far they could push me. While it was uncomfortable to answer some of these questions, I felt it was important to be as truthful as possible, for the sake of the project, and also for the sake of my own integrity as an artist. I wrote to my aunt about this performance, and showed her some of the documentation through email. This was her reply: "I
once did something similar in that I had to find a stranger in a
public setting to tell my deepest, darkest secret to. It was fascinating
to see how people responded and how willing they were to share theirs.
Some of course weren't and it all depended on how they were approached.
I saw many people get a response of ‘you're with that fucking
i am* training, aren't you?’ I chose the guy who worked the
kiosk at the Zoo Lake. Had bought so many cups of sticky orange
juice and soft serve ice cream from him over the years, that he
seemed a perfect candidate. He told me that he had cheated in his
final high school exams! I told him that I'd had an abortion." I
feel that the conversations I had with people, including this one
with my aunt, are indicative of the intimacy and gift-exchange qualities
I am looking for in my work. |