Eight Views of the Golden Gate Bridge

1997, Silk, dimensions variable. Collective Environment exhibition in the ex-church of San Francesco, Como, Italy.

SF, SF, SF

1998, Performance (documentation, 40 sec., camera, Charles Gute)

Projects realized for the CSAV – Artists Research Laboratory, ex Corso Superiore di Arti Visive in Como, Italy—a month-long workshop with Allan Kaprow sponsored by the Fondazione Antonio Ratti.

In 1997 I spent a month at a residency for young artists led by Allan Kaprow. Everyday we met for an all day session in the ex-church of San Francesco. For the first time, I realized that the city I was born in, San Francisco, was named for the monk St. Francis. For our show in the ex-church I constructed different views of the Golden Gate Bridge in soft forms out of silk fabric scraps given to us by the Fondazione Antonio Ratti. The views were based on images from postcards I had brought along, for some reason. When I returned to San Francisco I dressed as St. Francis, took him to tourist spots such as the Golden Gate Bridge and North Beach, and was kind to any animals I encountered. In the spirit of cultural exchange, stills from the video were sent back to an exhibition at a the Viafarini Gallery in Milan.