A Moment for Art
Yup. That’s garbage. And that guy in the orange vest? He’s the performer. He is Markuz Wernli Saitô, and it must have been a tuesday, because that’s "I Love Trash" day in his ongoing relational art piece "The Momentarium."
The piece is designed to bring pause to people’s busy lives, draw their attention to things that may be missed in the hustle and bustle:
Each moment of the everyday, every action of living, poses the question: how it might be lived differently, more truthfully and respectfully. Through the conscious experiment and artful intervention Momentarium inspires creative techniques to address the challenges of our times.
Between September 11 and November 5, he takes an hour every day to explore a different theme with whoever comes along. Monday it is a tea ceremony; Tuesday, as above, he puts little tags on garbage bags telling sanitation workers how much he values them; Wednesday he leads people through a tour of Kyoto’s canals, talking with them and sharing the experience.
This idea of the performer not as an outside voyeuristic experience but as a guide and companion through the experience is not new–it has its roots, after all, in the oldest art of all, storytelling. What attracts me to it is more the fact that this is art designed not to create a new thing of beauty, but to actually draw the eye and consciousness to the beauty that is already present in life. It’s a very zen sort of art work, and the motivation–not to get rich, or famous, but simply to improve the quality of life in general–is inspiring.
Check out the video gallery and see how it’s done. Let me know what you think.
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