Boston

ON August 22, the Green Artists League participated in Acteon’s Wake, A Bike Ride and Site-Specific Performance Event across Boston, curated by Andrew Barco and Ion Colon. Participating Artists included Maria Molteni, Siri Gossman, Allison Vanouse, Patrick Wallace, Green Artists League, Ben Smart

The Green Artists League performance was a perverse revision of the children’s fairy tale the Frog Prince. The audience became an integral part of the performance as they were entreated to help save the cursed and malformed Frog Prince by kissing him. A “Fairy Godmother” rewarded the audience’s act of compassion by attaching grotesque, plastic prostheses to those who took pity on the wretched Frog Prince. The hope of salvation via the frog’s embrace turned into contamination as a graphic representation of how our poisoned waterways are now affecting water flora and fauna, but human infants as well.

As a postscript to the performance, The Frog Prince removes her frog head and talks about the endocrine inhibitors caused by BPA’s in plastics, hormones in the waters human medications that travel through urine, agricultural run off that are flooding our water wrecking havoc with fish, amphibians, and now humans.

I vow to unplug my outlets when I am done using my appliances.
- Kyle Weeks
I will take shorter showers using hot water and when brushing my teeth turn off the water. – Lori Daniels
I vow to unplug my outlets at night.
-Nicole Crescimanno
I will try to use my towels more than once.
-Gena
I own too many ICE’S (Internal Combustion Engines) Ride bicycle
-Jim Hawsgate
I’m going to try to unplug my appliances more, turn the lights off and filter my water more! -Maggie Seaver
My government employer wastes too much paper on forms that a lot of people don’t really understand and can’t follow. Simplify it to a letter and make a personal visit.
- L. Rivers
I want to quit smoking on Christmas Eve!
- John Martin
I will try and fix all leaky faucets.
- Eric Sarra
I will not leave the TV on when I’m not watching it.
- Noah
I will try to not to use disposable food containers. Instead, I will use a Tupperware container from now on.
-Jessica Jarrard
I will design and work with sustainability in mind and encourage my clients to do the same.
- Jon H.
I will pay more attention to where my clothes come from and avoid the unsustainable.
- Cassie
I will make a more conscience effort to not waste energy. I will turn off lights and other elements when I am not using them.
-Ethan Penny
I will buy a reusable thermos that I’ll use every day and will try to unplug my electronics.
-Emi
I will clean up the pieces of trash in the parking lot.
- Jim
Sometime I don’t recycle my water bottles.
-Frankie
I throw too much paper away.
- Devin
I leave my lights on and leave my room.
-Josh
I will lower my heat below 74 degrees.
-Alan Kafka
I will work on not using Styrofoam cups at work. I will buy glass cups for my co-workers!
-Pam K.

Savage Rituals

Erin Stack
Stephenie Strogney

Erin Stack and Stephenie Strogney collaborate annually on an interactive performance called a “Savage Ritual.”

“Savage Rituals”, Earth Day, 2008, Newburyport, MA

This roaming interventionist performance, addressed Americans’ ambivalent, veiled as romanticized, relationship to Nature. Our “friendly” polar bear offered gifts of cards to people on the street and in commercial establishments. These cards were inscribed with one of twenty-six “Savage Rituals”. These rituals, when performed, would press for a more intimate relationship with Nature and were often humorous and always challenging.

Selected Savage Rituals

1. For the duration of one month from this day, place a cup outdoors every time there is precipitation. Allow the cup to fill for as long as the rain or snow lasts. When the weather changes, drink the contents of the glass.
2. In your mind, determine a length of time: a specific number of hours, days, weeks, or years. Next, pick up a rock. Any size that you can carry is fine. Keep the rock with you at all times: in bed, in
   the shower, at work… Always have the rock within arm’s length of you. At the end of the specified time, return the rock to the exact location where you found it.
3. Assign a name and one character trait to every item you throw away or recycle today based either on a another piece of property, the item, or a feeling you were experiencing when you discarded it. Write all of these names and character traits down. At the end of the day, write a fictional story that uses all of these characteristics.
4. Locate sources of food. Find a produce, a dairy, and a meat farm nearest to the place where you slept last night. Walk to each of these food source locations some time this month.
5. Do not flush a toilet today.  If the toilet that you typically use seems to be in danger of exceeding its capacity, find another toilet.
6. Waste feed
   Take the remains of your dinner today. Place it outside as food for wild animals. Visit the remains morning, noon, and night, until all traces are gone.
7. Wind Turn
   Close your eyes and stand. Note the sensation of the wind on your skin. Turn to face the direction from which the wind is blowing. Open your eyes and walk in that direction until you can no longer feel the breeze on your face.
8. Conversation piece
   Place cheese on a decorative tray and place the tray in the center of the dinner table. Leave the tray for 8 weeks.
9. Think of an animal that frightens you. Dress up as this animal and stand in front of a mirror. Have a conversation with this animal about your hopes and fears.
10. Go to a forest. Learn to identify 12 plant and tree species by touch.
11. Remove all electronic media from you home. Open a window and listen to the ambient sounds of Nature instead of the nightly news.
12. Follow piece.
    Follow the next ant you see to its nest. Sit down and wait until your particular ant exits its nest.
13. Animal Empathy
    Prepare chicken for your next meal. Take a bite and imagine the life of the chicken. Continue chewing until you have imagined the places where it was born, lived, and died. Swallow.

Hungry Ghost on Bartlett Mall, Newburyport, MA

Inspired by Kafka’s short story, Metamorphosis and Buddhist Cosmology, GAL’s roaming intervention, “Metamorphosis: Hungry Ghost” is a cautionary tale of excessive consumption.  A GAL barker led our character, the Hungry Ghost, through an Earth Day fair announcing the tragic news that Stephenie, a savvy, yet profligate shopper, awoke one morning transformed into a ravenous Hungry Ghost. She is now doomed to roam the world consuming without ever being satisfied. The public was encouraged to feed the hungry ghost by putting their waste water bottles, napkins, candy wrappers, etc. through the many gaping red mouths of the ghost. This waste could then easily be seen through the translucent “digestive sacs” that lay exposed on the outside of her body.

Hungry Ghost Getting Sugar Fix at Convenience Store