Writing As Performance Art
The Queens art gallery Flux Factory has made the writing process a living art exhibition - NOVEL - by "imprisoning" three writers (who applied for the privilege) each in their own architectually designed living/work space for 30 days at the end of which they must have written a novel or 75,000 words. "We're exploring what it is to be a writer," exhibit curator Morgan Meis, told the New York Post.
The only contact with outside world the writers have is with the gallery visitors who arrive to watch them at work, and during the readings of their ongoing work every Saturday night until their June 4 release. "On the one hand it's an intense, solitary and personal experience," said Meis. "On the other, it's always a public expression in which the writers reveal more about themselves than they intend."
The writers will dine together every night and enjoy the cuisine of "a revolving cast of chefs," says the Flux Factory website. Each writer collaborated on the design of his or her space, but the exhibit "takes the isolation of the writer to a rather extreme conclusion in order to investigate what will be produced under those conditions."