Campfire

March 2020 Collaboration project with Emilie Wingate (@emnimz on Instagram)

Installation using handmade painted muslin ‘logs,’ bedsheets, string lights, lighting gels, painted and carved pink foam ‘fire pit,’ miscellaneous thrifted decorations.

In this collaborative project, we wanted to create an environment that would encourage storytelling and connection. We thought back to a time when we both felt a significant comfort in sharing stories with others, and we agreed a campfire setting represented that for us.

Although not all of the students participating had experienced the American camp, they later expressed that they felt the comfort we sought to create.

The performance began with rice crispies being offered to the participants. We led some stretching activities and then sat down in a circle around the ‘fire.’ Emilie and I told some personal stories about dreams to start off the conversation. The group spent over an hour discussing various topics from being visited by the dead to linguistic differences.