Lunatic is a pillow exchange on the full moon. Twenty five old slumber ridden pillows will be exchanged for sparkling new ones.
My project is a pillow exchange on the next full moon. I want to give away brand new pillows in exchange for dirty old ones. My plan is to lay the pillows on the floor in a grid and as new participants bring in old pillows they will swap them with new ones. Over the course of the night, the pristine white square will fade into beautiful shades of sweat, dirty hair, and whatever else marks time and sleep.
This project is apart of the One Nighter Series, currently taking place in Minneapolis. The One Nighter Series is hosted by Art of This, an amazing Minneapolis-based arts org. The events give artists a chance to explore experiments that step outside of their current practice. Audience participation is pretty new territory for me and I am pleased to have the opportunity to test it out with the public.
The concept of the project stems from my interest in the history of personal objects, lunar effects on human behavior, and intimacy. The pillow is a particularily mysterious posession because of its role as a support to the mind as it dips into the subconscious. It is also an object that rarely leaves the bedroom. By bringing these objects out into the moonlight and laying them side by side, perhaps we will discover a new sleep pattern. The lucky 25 that receive new pillows will have the opportunity to experience a new kind of sleep.
All the pillows will have a sachet of mugwort enclosed inside the pillow case. Mugwort is said to encourage dreaming. Also, each pillow will have a hand sewn pillow case. The pillows themselves will be high quality queen-sized pillows, hence the need for help in purchasing them. All money will go directly into purchasing the pillows and the cotton fabric to make the cases.
If you live in the Minneapolis area, I would love for your to join me at the event:
October 12, 8 pm