Watermill Center Residency, Water Mill, Long Island - November 2008, January and June 2009
On Saturday June 20, a group of collaborators and I presented a work to the public at the Watermill Center, which traced the connections between Robert Wilson’s secluded artistic laboratory and the labyrinthine writing of Raymond Roussel, a posthumously celebrated French writer of process-generated literature. The Ariadne’s thread that links Roussel and Wilson passed among such seemingly disparate agents as a photo of their mutual admirer, Louis Aragon, to the theatrical reverence that both gentlemen hold for a still-life of precisely arranged ritual totems.
This day-long summer solstice event marked the culmination of the group’s three seasonal visits to the Watermill site, and the insight and controversies that made up our experiences. Guests had the opportunity to discover the group’s reflections and metamorphoses of Roussel’s eccentric and exacting universe amid Watermill’s sprawling building and grounds. Tours occurred during Roussel’s daily 20 course, five-hour, private meal, which his vast fortune afforded and his lifelong love of sweets encouraged.
While our reclusive host dined alone, a selection of seasonal courses indicative of “la grande cuisine bourgeois” were available for tasting in the staff dining room. A variety of other displays, presentations and activities were also on the menu for adventuresome guests to taste, and try on, including a wardrobe of Roussel inspired bespoke apparel, a workshop for replicating objects from Robert Wilson’s extensive collection, a vocal performance for one and many voices, conversations with Rousselian film screenings and more.
My collaborators for this project included Elizabeth Adams, Amanda Boekelheide, Ryan Dohoney, Emcee C.M., Master of None, Huong Ngo, Julia Rich and Chris Piuma.
During our residency, the group had a number of opportunities to meet, create and cook with members of the Watermill Staff and Southampton community including Watermill’s Community Board, students and parents from the Hayground School, and members of the Girl Scout Brownies of Suffolk County. We thank them all for their collaboration and support.
