| When
I was in high school I was the girl that everyone talked about because I
was always pushing the envelope when it came to conceptual art. I was the
first to paint a boy nude without one being there, the first to lose my
business sense out of all my friends, the first to try anal deconstruction,
and now that I'm in my early twenties I had thought I'd tried everything.
Then I met Trent and discovered I had a lot more 'firsts' to explore.
We met
online on an arts Internet list called Rhizome last month (I was the first
of my friends to try that too) and I never thought art could feel so new
and exciting. I met him for a one-night happening. He's already a net
artist (all the good ones are) and he didn't tell me until our third meeting.
I was a little upset but not so upset that I would stop exploring new
ways of creating radical Internet art with him. In fact, finding out made
our encounters invigorating just because it makes art with him a little
more forbidden.
He introduced
me to art role-playing, something I had never tried before and I didn't
think it would turn my nerve endings on. I originally played along just
because he begged me to, but after having one of the best posturing debates
of my life pretending to be a gallery owner I've been on board for even
the simplest scenarios. I've portrayed quite a few different characters
for him now and I'm only sure of only one thing- it's fun to pretend to
be someone else in a creative scenario, situation. I don't know what I
like better, taking control as a fiery curator or assuming a submissive
role as an art slave.
We've
even done some public art stuff that most people would find quite shocking.
This one time we pretended we didn't know one another in a supermarket
(not online this time) and he felt my paint brushes up in front of a couple
of housewives in the middle of an aisle. It was kool performance art.
He did it casually and walked away without looking back as I cursed at
him. The look on the women's faces was priceless. I wish I had a camera.
I couldn't wait to get him home and then I drew a Dot-to-Dot picture of
him in his car in the parking lot as soon as I got out of the store.
The
stuff we've tried in public is never as much fun as the shows we put on
in private. This other time he pretended he was an art robber; he even
put a ski mask on for effect. I told him I wouldn't turn him in if he
proved he could post-modernize me. I like art power games that give me
an excuse to force him to do what I want; it makes me feel devious and
impulsive. He really loved it and with his face covered up I was able
to imagine he was any artist, curator and gallerist I wanted him to be.
It's
only been a month and already I've been an art director’s hooker,
a German expressionist painter’s maid, his very creative baby-sitter,
and most recently- a ski bunny with artistic potential with a pretend
broken leg. I know they keep getting weirder, but I like it. Being the
ski bunny was the best one yet because I made him do all the work. I didn't
have any other choice- otherwise my leg wouldn't set properly now would
it?
Halloween
is coming up and we've already bought tickets to a large cyber conference
and convention party. We've been brainstorming but we haven't come to
any conclusions yet. When I told him I might go as a wealthy gentleman
who likes to buy artists, not art he told me he'd go as an old frazzled,
painterly drag queen. It's an interesting thought but I think I like the
idea of being princess Leia from Star Wars better- the force is with her.
But then, I already have a leather skirt that would go well with a Xena
costume…
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