My art practice is interdisciplinary and often distributed across various sites, physical and virtual. A single project might take place online, in the street and in a gallery, and involve multiple audiences participating in different ways for different reasons. Collaboration is how I work (even when I claim sole authorship). Many of the below projects are collaboratively authored by iKatun, the Institute for Infinitely Small Things, or other people and groups that I have worked with. Projects are often developed in response to a particular site and temporal context (a public video screen in Harvard Square, a festival that lasts 11 days, an exhibition about eBay, and so on). These contexts are important to understand, or imagine, if you are just looking at the documentation.
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Erase the Border [Planned, Spring 2012]
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“Erase the Border” is a project that will take place on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation in southern Arizona.
The Institute for Infinitely Small Things is currently seeking funding…
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The Border Crossed Us
The Border Crossed Us is a temporary public art installation by the Institute for Infinitely Small Things that transplants the US-Mexico border fence in southern Arizona to the UMass Amherst campus.
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No One Has Yet Determined What The Body Can Do
On Sunday, October 1 2011 the Institute joined with Occupy Boston in the 6th HONK! Parade to carry signs with two messages: “NO ONE HAS YET DETERMINED WHAT THE BODY CAN DO” and “#OCCUPYBOSTON”.
At 7AM Thursday, October…
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Transgender Bathroom Dedication
Transgender Bathroom Dedication dedicates the men’s room at the MFA Boston to Dean Spade who was arrested in 2002 for using the men’s room in Grand Central Station and dedicates the women’s room at the MFA Boston to Chrissy Pollis…
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Failure Support Group
Is there, actually, a recipe for failure? Are certain methodologies more prone to failure than others? How? What is at stake in acknowledging failure in one’s process, one’s community, or one’s career?
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The World’s Largest Potluck Ever
The World’s Largest Potluck Ever would stage a mile-long potluck dinner on the Cambridge Street Corridor in Cambridge, MA, in an attempt to break the Guinness record, showcase the diversity of the businesses and residents, build community, publish a recipe…
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It takes 154,000 breaths to evacuate Boston
kanarinka ran the entire evacuation route system in Boston and attempted to measure the distance in human breath. The project also involves a podcast and a sculptural installation of the archive of tens of thousands of breaths .
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Exit Strategy
It takes 154,000 breaths to evacuate Boston was installed at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston in 2009 as part of the James & Audrey Foster Prize show along with a new work entitled Exit Strategy.
Excerpt from Exit Strategy:
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Digging for Happiness
The Institute for Infinitely Small Things sought happiness through the labor of digging an enormous hole in the front yard of a Cambridge family who volunteered their land for this purposelessness.
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Origami Stimulus Package
The Institute and members of the MIT Origami Club held a party to make origami creations out of the 600-page economic stimulus package. Part of the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts at Brandeis University, Waltham MA.
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Iraq Lullaby Service
Iraq Lullaby Service is a singing syndication service provided by kanarinka for Iraqi blogs during 2009, the year in which the US is to begin ending its occupation of Iraq. I sing one blog post every week (or two…
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The Working is the Work
Members of the Institute for Infinitely Small Things took on the role of laborers at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston as part of the programming for the exhibition The World as a Stage. The regular workers went…
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Platform2: Art & Social Engagement
Platform2 is a series of events in Boston, MA, that are designed to facilitate dialogue about art & social engagement. Platform2 events happen every 2-3 months in diverse locations, such as an artist’s studio, an urban park, or on a…
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12 Inches of Weather
A series of drawings that map 12 inches of weather on the human body by tracing perspiration, movement and time.
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Free Fear from the USA (if you take it)
A reverse shoplifting experiment to bring American fear & insecurity to Canadian bookstores. The Institute for Infinitely Small Things deposited over 40 copies of their self-published “New American Dictionary: Security/Fear Edition” into Vancouver bookstores & educational institutions.
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All The Things We Didn’t Say
Edition of 10 Audio CDs. At a gathering about relational art practices, I used custom software to record everything that wasn’t said and compiled it on this CD.
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The Last Month of the Future
An installation with paper clouds and weather forecasts. Visitors are invited to remove the clouds, one piece at a time.
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The City Formerly Known As Cambridge
What would the city look like if we could rename all of our public spaces, right now? The Institute invited members of the public to RENAME places in Cambridge, MA, for the 2008 publication of a map of “The City…
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Unmarked Package
The Institute for Infinitely Small Things toted hundreds of “Unmarked Packages” around Chicago to poll residents about terrorism and fear in public space. The results were published as a video research report.
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Everything is in Order
A performance by the Institute for Infinitely Small Things at the Decordova Museum & Sculpture Park in Lincoln, MA. Visitors were greeted with assurances that everything at the suburban museum was just fine and there was nothing to worry about.…
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Transferring Patriotism
The Institute for Infinitely Small Things is selling its patriotism to any interested buyers. Once the sale is made, the full transfer of our patriotism to you will occur in the following way:
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The New American Dictionary: Security/Fear Edition
This book catalogs over 60 terms related to fear and security which have entered American English since 9/11, including new terms (“freedom fries”, “islamofascist”) and old terms which have been redefined (“torture”). The books are available on amazon.com for…
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All About You
On April 5th, 2007, iKatun screened a special selection of short video works all about YOU from the E-flux Video Rental (EVR) collection at the Carpenter Center at Harvard University.
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All for Free (Free for All?)
A performance piece in which we dress in men’s suits, heavily made-up, and smile continuously for four hours while offering mystery packages of free samples to the audience. We can choose to give or withhold a package from an audience…
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How do you take your coffee? / Kakvu Piješ Kafu?
A proposal to do five public performances and a video documentary to research the “development” and “modernization” accompanying the rise of the tourism economy in Podgorica, Montenegro, a country on track to be part of the EU.
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Nipples for Homeland Security
A pair of buttons created for the Miller Block Gallery’s Campaign Buttons effort.
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Conflux 2006
Conflux 2006 was produced by Glowlab and curated by Glowlab (Christina Ray & Dave Mandl) and iKatun (Savic Rasovic & Catherine D’Ignazio). Conflux is the annual New York City festival where visual and sound artists, writers, urban adventurers, researchers and…
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Drift Relay
The Drift Relay was a collaborative psychogeographic experience in the form of a 24 hour exploration of San Jose. Participants drifted through new and familiar city spaces with a Glowlab coach and a mobile kit of recording tools, contributing to…
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The Impeach Bush Jogging Circus
A mobile circus whose heyday was the NYC Marathon, 2006.
Impeach Bush outfits (unused ones) are still on sale for $10 per item while supplies last.
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Corporate Commands
The Institute for Infinitely Small Things performs corporate commands where they occur in the urban landscape. We try to perform each command as literally as possible. There have been more than 15 performances of corporate commands in the U.S. and…
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Art Interactive (2004-2006)
From 2004 – 06, I was the Director of Exhibitions and Programs at Art Interactive, a non-profit gallery space in Cambridge, MA, dedicated to showing participatory artwork in all media. While there, I produced ten exhibitions and over forty special…
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57 Things to Do for Free in Harvard Square
The Institute was commissioned to do a work for a public video screen in Harvard Square, an outdoor mall in Cambridge, MA. The resulting work is a video guidebook for tourists in Harvard Square which instructs them in 57 things…
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Sifting the Inner Belt
A year-long social performance and research art project bridging the Boston Center for the Arts and Berkeley Street Community Garden in the South End of Boston, MA. The project consisted of performances, potluck dinners, conversations and installations.
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100(11) Instruction Works
A series of 11 experimental urban walks and 11 collaborative performances over 11 days in Toronto’s public spaces. The performances were based on instructions uploaded to the website by people from around the world.
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42 or 363 Definitions of Cartography
A book which catalogs 42 or 363 definitions of the term “cartography”. The original first edition of the book is a series of colored index cards in a box. It was later published by Sal Randolph as part of her…
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Funerals for a Moment
People from around the world uploaded passed moments to www.funeralsforamoment.net. In May 2004, we staged funerals for the moments that had passed at the location where they originally occurred in New York City. Part of Conflux 2004.
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public alley 818
Via a website, people from around the world submitted instructions for projects that I could do in the alley behind my house in Boston.
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Household Creatures
An installation involving dozens of household appliances on top of women’s shoes. The work was installed in the lobby of the building in a storefront window. A video camera captured reactions from the street audience and projected them inside of…
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Tea Party
For the exhibition “Better Homes & Guardians”, iKatun modeled the tea party of the future using stuffed animals, furniture, a mini-tea set and duct tape.
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info@blah: overload & organization
info@blah: overload and organization was an exhibition at the Mills Gallery at the Boston Center for the Arts in Spring 2003. Part of the Boston Cyberarts Festival, info@blah showcased work in all media that deals with information overload. The 25…
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Paradise
An adaptation of Dante’s Paradise for the information age. A grid of 256 LED lights responds to visitors’ sound by running the Game of Life, a software algorithm that creates complex behavior from simple rules. When there is no sound,…
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The Digital Pocket Gallery
An six-month-long online gallery dedicated to exhibiting what is inside the world’s virtual pockets.