Thursday, February 22, 2007

Come participate in Playing Telephone with Ghosts. I will be hosting several collective investigations relating to the themes of the project. Contact me by sending an email to playingtelephonewithghosts (at) philalandmarks.org to get on the mailing list to particpate.

These activities will take place in private collections and libraries and are inspired by the activities of the Society for Collective Investiation. Participants will spend 3-4 hours with the artist collecting and reading from materials on a theme relating to the project of Playing Telephone with Ghosts.

Hope you would like to participate.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Marginalia, mischief and hugger muggers

I recently participated in an event with the Society for Creative Investigation, through the Locally Localized Gravity show, at the Institute for Contemporary Art. This society creates a structure to do a group exploration of a library or book collection with the intention that participants can take the method and repeat it in other collections. It is based on Duchamp's random acts.

It works by a group of people (maximum of 10) going to a library and collecting material, gathering back together, further exploring the texts and culminating in a informal performance/presentation. It is a wonderful method for exploring the energies of texts. My intention is to use the method of creative investigation at the Powel House library and others in the coming months to gather more raw material for Playing Telephone with Ghosts.

The theme of these investigations will be "secrets" books contain. This may be finding texts relating to secrets, or the chance serendipitous occurrences, when the reader uncovers those small bits of marginalia, notes, inscriptions and general mischief left in books by the hands of the past. These can serve as clues to the provenance or path the book has led to its current place.

My hope is that the investigations will turn into more formal performances. All texts, pictures notes etc. will be documented for the project and the participants will each get a copy of the materials as well.

Please contact me through the comments if you are interested in participating, or email playingtelephonewithghosts (at)philalandmarks.org to get on the mailing list to participate in upcoming investigations.

Warm wishes, Caitlin

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Secret Cafe for Playing Telephone with Ghosts

On Sunday evening a festive crowd gathered on 4th Street at the Powel House for the first Secret Cafe...a perfect crowd of 36 joined us for soup and supper in the first formal dining room in Philadelphia. This evening was a dinner and literary journey in four acts inspired by the 18th Century.

Bill of Play
Act One 1st Course: Because the Revolution has upset the eating habits of this city.

This included: Mincemeat Pie, Pigeons Transmogriphied, Pickled Red Cabbage, Vermicelli and Cheese, Meagre Soup, and Water Crackers.

Act Two 2nd Course: Because in its baldest terms, food is a barometer of social change.

The Second Course included: Indian Pound Cake, Artichoke Hearts in Cream Sauce, Stewed Pippins, Mrs. Powel's Famous Muffins, Hysterical Water and Carrot Pudding.

Act Three A Toast: In order to feel a suffusion of a finer kind.

Act Four The Journey: What a large volume of adventures may be grasped within this little span of life.

The participants enjoyed a feast and an evening of readings after we retired to the ballroom. This was the first public performance of Playing Telephone with Ghosts and I considered it a sketch for things to come. I was inspired by Thomas Paine's Common Sense of 1776, the secret society known as the Junto and thinking about generosity.

"Instead of gazing at each other with suspicious or doubtful curiosity; let each of us, hold out to his neighbor the hearty hand of friendship, and unite in drawing a line, which like an act of oblivion shall bury in forgetfulness every former dissension."

The Junto was formed by Benjamin Franklin and his drinking co-horts. They gathered weekly on 4th Street in Philadelphia, to read and socialize. They shared a library of books, which became the foundation of the first library, known as The Library Company of Philadelphia. In addition, they started the first fire company and police force.

They shared food, drink and good times. Their generosity and intellectual stimulation mobilized social change and fanned the flames of a revolution.

In content, the readings selected for the evening were selections about beginnings of journies from four texts, including Don Quixote, a Phyllis Wheatley poem, A Sentimental Journey and Some Memoirs of the Life of Job. The context of the Powel House, where Benjamin Franklin once ate supper, gave us a special opportunity to enjoy the simple act of reading aloud. Because as Lawrence Sterne, who inspired many secret societies, said in A Sentimental Journey:

"What a large volume of adventures may be grasped within this little span of life by him who interests his heart in every thing, and who, having eyes to see, what time and chance are perpetually holding out to him as he journeyeth on his way, misses nothing he can fairly lay his hands on."

Thanks to the fantastic crew of conspirators helping my collaborators, Katie Baldwin, Curt Sauer and I, the evening was a smashing success. I will be posting photos and more memorabilia from the evening over the next few weeks.

Yours, truly

Caitlin

Friday, February 2, 2007

ignore the crash, keep breathing

In preparations for an upcoming event as part of Playing Telephone with Ghosts, I and my collaborators on a "secret cafe event," including fellow artist, Katie Baldwin were visiting the Powel House. We were in the process of going over logistics and poking around in the catering kitchen in the basement. There were 4 of us walking through the house last night, and might I point out what a cavernous basement it is. We were looking at some serving dishes in a strange little room, and then went on to the next room. As soon as all four of us entered the next chamber there was a crash in the first chamber. Now, none of us actually touched much of anything in there, and somehow there was a crash. Was there someone else with us? There are rumors that the house is haunted by both a cat and a one of the Powel women (she appears in a beige and purple dress). My bet is on the devious cat causing the crash.