Start construction Saturday, February 2 and 3, 2008.If the process is unable to be completed in one
weekend continue over the next February 9 and 10, concluding for certain February 16 &17, 2008
Explore the idea of clothing as shelter by using materials unconnected to either covering, or protection.
I will build and “coat" using materials that react to the cold environment of the outdoors and contrast
with the materials of the winter lake. Visitors can participate in the piece by building it, wearing it and
eating it
At 10 a.m. Saturday I will set up the armature for the coat and begin weaving the liquid filled tubes
into the structural grid. Visitors will be encouraged to participate in the weaving process under my
direction. Will the outdoor temperatures on the lake freeze the liquid into bars? How soon will the first
tubes freeze into solid bars? Will the coat be completed between 10 a.m. and sunset? When will the
last tubes be frozen solid? Periodically during the construction process the hardness of the bars will be
tested to answers these questions. Each observation will be noted on a tag and attached to the coat. If
the coat is not completed on Saturday the process will continue on Sunday. The coat will be stored
overnight in the Art Car Shanty.
When completed visitors will be invited to don the coat by sidling into it and place their arms through
the sleeves. The coat will remain on exhibition for one day.
10 a.m. the next weekend day (this could be the next Saturday if construction takes Saturday and
Sunday) the coat will come outdoors again. I will start pulling out the frozen bars and rationing them to
visitors to eat while viewing the shanties. When they finish or have had enough of the bar they return
the plastic tube which is reinserted into the armature.
The piece will transform over time from a brightly colored photo opportunity into a translucent shell. If
all the bars are not eaten in a day (cold food being unappealing in the cold) the coat will be stored
repeatedly and returned to the lake until all bars are eaten or the exhibition ends.
Time laps recording of the process of building and emptying will be made.
