Group Intervention
(Being) One Thing at a Time
Six public actions were carried out from August to November 2003. Each action presented a distinctive situation in a different public place. And although the performances varied - from pairs feeding each other food over the course of a meal in a restaurant, to people holding welcome mats outside a carpet store, to couples kissing extensively in front of a tobacco factory – they all presented similar challenges and held common goals. Bringing the notion of mindfulness to daily actions, or inserting an unexpected interpolation into a mundane situation: in short, performing a social experiment that would attempt, even in the most subtle of ways, to shake up the routine and question our 'automaton' behaviour.
Drug, Welcome, ESSEN, part of (Being) One Thing at a Time, Montreal, 2003
The performances had another goal as well, they wished to impact upon the urban architecture by taking these fleeting actions (for, even if it did last an hour, it would then disappear) and documenting them in order to fix our action – in time and space – in a permanent way, and in the final instance create contemporary – hence relevant – urban tableaux vivants.
Some of them have been performed – and documented – on several occasions: Welcome, Drug and ESSEN.
Drug, Welcome, ESSEN, part of (Being) One Thing at a Time, St-John's, NL, 2005
The ESSEN Performances
The performance, ESSEN (German or Yiddish: to eat), is part of a larger series of ongoing process-based public art actions called (Being) One Thing at a Time. Each performance in the series creates an opportunity to pay close attention and to slow down time. Since the beginning of (Being), ESSEN has kind of taken on a life of its own.
ESSEN invites pairs of participants to sit across from each other at a table, in the sharing of a meal at a restaurant. This playful and meditative performance insists that one is not permitted to feed oneself but instead be fed by one's dining partner (drinking independently is allowed!). As a performance, ESSEN addresses a theme that has occurred in much of my artistic work over the last number of years – my contentious relationship to food (and eating). Inviting others to take part is an opportunity to include the insight of others into my ongoing enquiry: what are some common characteristics and quirks in how we relate to eating? And how does a person develop their particular relationship to food? To date, I've shared meals in Montreal, Ottawa, St. John's, NL, Toronto and Vancouver. With each unfolding, the performance never ceases to reveal new insights – and inadvertently sets the stage for joyous, celebratory, and transformative encounters.
Drug, Welcome, ESSEN, part of (Being) One Thing at a Time, Ottawa, 2005
See Anurag Dhir's video about ESSEN as performed in Toronto for the ascent magazine-ESSEN tour
ESSEN as featured in ascent magazine
Hear Victoria Stanton talk about ESSEN on Kootenay Co-Op Radio's Deconstructing Dinner show
(Being) One Thing at a Time and ESSEN Performance History
- June 2007: La Plancha Diabolo, as part of Urban Visions, Shorelines: 07, The MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, ON
- November 2006: Place Émilie-Gamelin as part of État d'Urgence, ATSA annual event, Montreal, QC
- July 2006: Marché Jean-Talon, on the nationally broadcast T.V. show Des kiwis et des hommes, Radio-Canada Télévision, Montreal, QC
- February 2006: Restaurant Dev, ascent magazine three-city tour; Montreal, QC
- January 2006: radha yoga & eatery, ascent magazine three-city tour; Vancouver, BC
- January 2006: Vegetarian Haven, ascent magazine three-city tour; Toronto, ON
- May 2005: Various locations, as part of the exhibition Off Grid/Hors Circuit, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON
- April 2005: Various locations, as part of the exhibition Outspoken, Eastern Edge Gallery, St. John's, NL
- August - November 2003: Various locations, the initial series first carried out in Montreal, QC