MARINA'S RESTAURANT
April 24-28, 2017
Gallery E260, 2nd floor of the Visual Arts Building
Iowa City, IA
Marina's Restaurant is a five-day interactive performance in the theme of a restaurant where gallery participants are the guests and Marina is the server/hostess/bartender/cook/manager/owner.
Based on my decade's worth of experience working in the hospitality industry, I am investigating the performative aspect of being a server. As a woman, serving and caring for others is often natural and expected as women are supposed to bear and take care of others, especially their families. Serving food is especially relevant to child-bearing as women's bodies are literal producers of food and most often, makers of food.Additionally, serving as well as child-bearing and child-rearing require rigorous physical activity--both requiring the woman to stand and walk for long periods of time without finding time for a break. The server in today's world is often surveilled by cameras and managers, often unaware that they are being watched which promotes the performative aspect of serving, as being watched changes behavior. All of this is intertwined and complicated by my identity as an artist--wondering how to find stable and meaningful work (more than a serving position), as well as have a family while still continuing my art practice. Through improv interactive performance, hand-made props, costume, art objects, and video recording, I'm thinking about female identity, labor, social interaction, and surveillance.
Marina's Restaurant Hours:
Monday 4/24 10:30-12:30pm
Tuesday 4/25 1:00-3:00pm
Wednesday 4/26 4:00-6:00pm
Thursday 4/27 1:00-3:00pm
Friday 4/28 6:00-8:00pm
Gallery E260, 2nd floor of the Visual Arts Building
Iowa City, IA
Marina's Restaurant is a five-day interactive performance in the theme of a restaurant where gallery participants are the guests and Marina is the server/hostess/bartender/cook/manager/owner.
Based on my decade's worth of experience working in the hospitality industry, I am investigating the performative aspect of being a server. As a woman, serving and caring for others is often natural and expected as women are supposed to bear and take care of others, especially their families. Serving food is especially relevant to child-bearing as women's bodies are literal producers of food and most often, makers of food.Additionally, serving as well as child-bearing and child-rearing require rigorous physical activity--both requiring the woman to stand and walk for long periods of time without finding time for a break. The server in today's world is often surveilled by cameras and managers, often unaware that they are being watched which promotes the performative aspect of serving, as being watched changes behavior. All of this is intertwined and complicated by my identity as an artist--wondering how to find stable and meaningful work (more than a serving position), as well as have a family while still continuing my art practice. Through improv interactive performance, hand-made props, costume, art objects, and video recording, I'm thinking about female identity, labor, social interaction, and surveillance.
Marina's Restaurant Hours:
Monday 4/24 10:30-12:30pm
Tuesday 4/25 1:00-3:00pm
Wednesday 4/26 4:00-6:00pm
Thursday 4/27 1:00-3:00pm
Friday 4/28 6:00-8:00pm
