2004 / Selected work

The Art of Sexual Home Improvement

7a*11d International Performance Art Festival, Toronto, 2004
Five hours

Matthew striking the plywood house with a long board.

We are investigating the modern phenomenon of home improvement as spiritual quest.

By approaching suburban shelter with the outdated languages of sexual freedom and self-improvement “religions,” we hope to find the historical continuity among all three and find what our culture is really seeking in slate floors and chromed bath taps.

By turning the act of home improvement into an orgiastic performance ritual, we will simultaneously manifest the touching absurdity of consumer life and create a shamanistic/religious spectacle from the base materials of bathroom and kitchen remodeling.

Matthew and Tamara walking along a street in blue and pink pajamas.

Matthew holding a cassette recorder behind storefront glass.

Tamara speaking into a microphone behind storefront glass, with the plywood house behind her.

A view through a peephole of Matthew wearing glasses and headphones.

Tamara on her hands and knees over home magazines, with bubble wrap around her knees.

Tamara drinking from a bottle above a white painted floor.

Matthew wrapping a large form and branches in bubble wrap.