Artist Alfredo Jaar once said that “place cannot be global.”
This Friday at 7 p.m., three performance artists will explore Jaar’s idea as part of the “Local Histories: The Ground We Walk On” exhibit at 523 E. Franklin St.
Curated by local artist and art professor elin o’Hara slavick, the exhibit consists of artwork from over 50 artists, using different forms of media to explore the meaning of “local.”
“It’s a show that includes artists across the country and the history of wherever they are,” slavick said.
Friday, performing artists Cathy McLaurin, Neill Prewitt and Lance Winn will present their own interpretation of local history.
The three performances are unique, differing in content and presentation, but all connecting to the overarching theme of local history and the notion that place is not global.
“The performances are wildly different from each other, which I think is great,” slavick said.
Cathy McLaurin — a performance artist and first year graduate student at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston — said that her piece revolves around a family tradition.
“It takes the point of inspiration from the bread my grandmother used to make,” McLaurin said.
McLaurin said the bread was made from a living culture that has to be fed continuously for the recipe to turn out well. She said she was intrigued at the notion that her grandmother was making something living, and created a project based on the memory of her.
For her performance, titled “Where the arms hook onto the body,” McLaurin shares the bread and memories of her grandmother, asking for the audience to tell their memories in exchange.
“It’s a very community-generated event,” McLaurin said. “I ask them to share a memory or story about something that doesn’t exist anymore. Other people’s stories often trigger memories for others.”
Neill Prewitt, a first year graduate student in the UNC MFA program will perform “Live Locally, Act Globally – Instantly! – iAlphabet ‘Communications Solutions’ presented by ‘Julian’ of New Media Ventures, LLC.”
Prewitt will explore his ongoing research into instant media, working with themes of popular international news.
“I am curious about what is popular online and what is the most popular news of the day,” Prewitt said.
Through his research, Prewitt has been using various techniques to construct a pictorial alphabet revolving around what is popular in the news.
“It’s created a storehouse of information I can go lots of directions from,” Prewitt said. “There are a couple of different modes of putting images together and words that come out of it.”
Prewitt said the idea for the project stems from an experience he has every morning of brushing his teeth while listening to NPR and a want for personal understanding.
“You hear these stories going on around the world, and it’s easy to feel a disconnect from that,” Prewitt said. “I’m trying in some ways to understand my place in the world.”
Lance Winn, a professor of art from the University of Delaware, will perform “Full Body Scan,” a piece he said was inspired by the debate about privacy over full-body scanners at airports.
“After the events of 9/11 and the terrorism, there was a desire for transparency,” Winn said. “That was sort of literalized at the airport with these full body scanners and there was no privacy. “
Winn said he took that idea literally and decided he wanted to see into walls.
“It’s kind of absurd and kind of metaphorical to want to see through things,” Winn said.
For his performance, Winn will be using a thermal camera to scan the kitchen wall at 523 E. Franklin St., and leave visual traces of what is hidden in the surface of the wall, making markings where the camera picks up something.
“It’s kind of creating the inside of the space on the outside of the space,” Winn said. “It’s the idea of history being held inside the building, and my projection of my own understanding.
Other performances and presentations by local artists and institutions tied to the performance will take place throughout April. For more information on these performances and the exhibit itself, visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/local.histories.show.
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