Handyman

2016, Installation & performance, Broad Museum, Los Angeles, CA

This project was made in collaboration with LA based art collective Mutant Salon in June 2016, as part of Summer Happenings at The Broad and as inspired by The Broad’s “Cindy Sherman: Imitation of Life” special exhibition (on view at that time). As a pop-up beauty salon, the members and collaborators of MS took over the museum all the way out into the streets, transforming it to a hyper queer public space. Visitors were invited to put on make-up and participate in a different kind of self-care.

My role was Handyman, a Bodhisattva-inspired massage healer of many hands. Through a combination of plastic and real hands, chanting, whispering and caressing -- the intention was to serve the audience with human touch but also to remind ourselves of the impermanent nature of pleasant as well as unpleasant sensations on (and in) the body. At the end of each session, the visitor received a small gift and a blessing of love.