Man Walking Down the Side of a Building

Jean says: This past Saturday afternoon at 1:30 PM, Valerie and I watched my friend Stephen Petronio walk down the wall of the Whitney Museum, recreating choreographer Trisha Brown's 1970 work aptly titled "Man Walking Down the Side of a Building". These pictures, shot from across 75th Street, give you a sense of the height of the Whitney - and the drama of the spectacle. The metal structure seen at the top was constructed as the launching pad for the piece. These photos provide some perspective on the situation and how it looked to those of us on the ground.

The Whitney is an imposing monolithic structure. From the street, the metal launching platform looked like a tiny erector set. Saturday's spectacular sunny, cool, crisp weather was the perfect backdrop.

















In the 1970s, Trisha Brown utilized radical gymnastic choreography in a series of Equipment Pieces employing implements and devices such as the cables and harnesses. Needless to say, when Stephen appeared on the platform and launched outward, wearing a simple harness attached to cables in order to be perpendicular to the building, he looked like a cross between a high wire act and some demonic SWAT team member about to rappel into Gotham.

In engaging in ordinary movements such as walking in an extrordinary setting on the side of a New York institution, Stephen literally made traffic and pedestrians stand still. Of course, no one can make them stop talking on their cell phones, but they were at least looking skyward while they chatted.













According to the Whitney Museum's program, by creating striking and at times dangerous situations, Trisha Brown engages her audience in a form of participatory theater. No shit, Sherlock. Nothing brings a crowd of New Yorkers together better than public spectacle. Like the Romans, we love bread and circuses. The crowd was a mix. Half of them were very informed individuals who knew all about Trisha Brown and Stephen Petronio and were fully engaged in the Whitney's program, "Off the Wall Part 2 - Seven Works by Trisha Brown" and the other half were totaly uninformed gawkers, caught up in the sheer joy of the moment.












Watching Stephen's movements was a little disorienting. His nonchalant stroll challenged the traditional notions of gravity and space.

Here's Stephen and his #1 fan. Back on terra firma, he seemed very relaxed. This was, of course, only his first of two Saturday performances. He would repeat the walk at 5 PM and then leave all of this behind for awhile while he and his company start their European tour: two weeks in London followed by two weeks in Milan. Check out the minimal harness equipment he's wearing.

Craig Hensela, a member of the Stephen Petronio Company (SPC) Board, who organized SPC's highly successful art auction last year at Milk Gallery, is on the right in the photo, along with Ms. Valerie and his friend Cristobal.




Clare Flack, another SPC Board member, plays court photographer to memorialize the occasion. Stephen last performed this piece in the 1980s. Who knows when he'll reprise the role again?







Here's a shot of the crowd on 75th Street waiting for the show to start. Naturalists among our readership will notice that Valerie does not believe in the theory of protective coloration to blend in with her surroundings. I never know what she'll show up in, but I'm always confident I'll spot her in the crowd.

Speaking of hard to miss, none other than the Dumpling Diva herself, Marja Samsom, joined us for the festivities. She was rocking an ecclectic look of black and white striped chef pants, yellow messenger bag, black nylon jacket lined in yellow mesh, blue hooded sweater with vintage style figures, black T shirt, white scarf with black polka dots, and black leather lace-up booties that she bought a size too large to give her "that Olive look" -- as in Oyl, Popeye's girlfriend.

Here are a couple of closeups of the two of them at the corner of Madison Avenue and 75th Street and then further south on Madison Avenue. As you can see, they have distinctive but quite different styles.













We passed a plastic topiary, and couldn't resist taking advantage of a silly photo op. The topiary were hilariously shaped. They were set securely in boxes, surrounded by shiny black river stones. It was somehow not surprising that the stones were all glued down. How New York!

Valerie says: Following a bite to eat, we popped into Barney's, when who should we run into but Suzanne Golden (whose every item of clothing we covet)? We had a short chat, during which Suzanne told us that she will be one of the sixty artists featured in "Loot", the Museum of Arts and Design's upcoming biennial exhibition and sale, which will open on Thursday, October 21 and run through October 26. If you possibly can, you should have a look. Suzanne's bead work is like no one else's. It's daring, playful, challenging and beautifully color coordinated.

While catching up, we noticed we were all wearing combat boots. Here we are going toe to toe for the fun of it. In the center is a blue rubber ball with wobbly red spirals we found napping by a Madison Avenue boutique. Some unfortunate child's loss became our gain. Jean says: Suzanne and I were both sporting Doc Martens lace-ups, she in lipstick red and I in leopard print.

Jean says: I was unsuccessful in adjusting the color in this photo, so I'm calling it "the golden Golden shot"!

Valerie says: And then, being the Very Busy People we are, we all went off to take care of the Very Important Business that unfortunately separates us most of the time, and that makes these short interludes all the more enjoyable when they happen.




Valerie is wearing: a blue felt hat painted poison green by Francine Gintoff, who also added three black metal cartouches with gold portraits to it; handmade polymer earrings by Elke Kuhn, reminiscent of mosaic glass face beads of the Roman imperial age; a reversible vintage green Himalayan lamb vest with handpainted interior; a vintage Peplum by Yoshiki Hishinuma polyester shirt; Cavaricci black cotton pants; and camouflage combat boots with rubber 'spikes' - the label is unfortunately illegible. Here are the earrings and the shirt. If you know the maker of the earrings, let me know. (She didn't have a business card that day.) If you click on the photo, you can see lots of little holes in the shirt. That's a sign of heat-set shibori.

Jean is wearing a vintage straw hat embellished with her bakelite domino pin, Vivienne Tam nylon T-shirt, Kyodan peplum jacket, H&M cotton baggies -- all in black -- and leopard print Doc Martens boots.

Got Milk?

Jean says: Due to a wrinkle in the space-time continuum, Valerie was unable to accompany me last Tuesday evening to Art for SPC, a cocktail party and silent auction to benefit Stephen Petronio Dance Company held at Milk Gallery at 450 West 15th Street in the heart of the meatpacking district.

She is, shall we say, on a short sabbatical, leaving me behind the wheel to navigate the highway of life alone. Stand back! The inmates have taken over the asylum. While the cat's away, the mice will play. While Valerie may want to deal with and examine issues, I confess I prefer the fluff. What can I say? I'm shallow. I am the People magazine to her Atlantic Weekly. Some girls just wanna have fun. (Image of reckless abandon from The fabulous Cars.)

Where, you may ask, was my partner in crime? Not so fast. You'll have to work to find out. Here is the first clue to this mystery, a skylight somewhere in Manhattan. Humor me, dear readers, and play along with my demented version of Where's Waldo? featuring Where's Valerie?





Here's your second clue - a framed photograph of Victor Borge. Figured it out yet? Ha! Didn't think this would be easy, did you? Stay tuned, sweeties...









Needless to say, without Valerie I was flying solo. I needed what those insipid beer commercials would call a "wing man"! Who was up to such a daunting task? Enter my mystery guest, a former performance artist who had accompanied me to past Petronio Company performances and who is extremely tolerant of my fashion A-D-D.





Who was this woman of mystery and was she up to the task? You be the judge.










It is none other than the Dumpling Diva herself, Marja Samson, who came to my emotional rescue! Donning her thigh-high black boots, she ventured out into the stormy night and braved the elements to stand at my side -- and schmooze (unlike three of my fair weather friends who stood me up and who will remain nameless ... but YOU know who you are).






Craig Hensala orchestrated the concept of the event and was responsible for the amazing art on the walls. The donated art by leading artists celebrates Stephen Petronio's commitment to multi-disciplinary collaboration and proceeds from the event will benefit future endeavors of the company. Craig and choreographer Stephen Petronio are standing in front of my favorite piece -- a Cindy Sherman photograph with a disembodied, bandaged, demonic head floating above its doll-like body, complete with articulated joints. Cindy Sherman, honorary chair of the event, was gorgeous and absolutely charming in person.





The artwork was by a wide ranging group of artists and photographers such as Yoko Ono, Patti Smithe, Richard Melee, Annie Liebowitz, Andy Warhol, Sarah Hardesty and Stephen Petronio. Once I got the lay of the land, I made the acquaintace of two wonderfully entertaining gents, Patrick Askin, an actor (patrickaskin.com) and Alex Gena, a photographer (alexgeanaphotography.com). They were hilariously funny and provided me with a mother ship for the evening. As I orbited the gallery space, I would periodically touch base with them and compare notes.






I don't know who this fair damsel is, but she was wearing killer shoes. (I admit it, I'm shallow.)









June Poster (center) is Managing Director of SPC.







Here's a friend of dancer Emily Stone with actor Richard Askin and dancers Natalie Mackessy, Joshua Tuason, Barrington Hinds and Emily Stone. Emily mentioned plans to return to Boulder, CO during the company's summer break.






Here's Marja and two of my peeps, Joel T. and Julie A. soaking up the atmosphere before placing their bids. It really was a treat to see such an amazing assemblage of artwork all in one place at one time. To be in the same room with some of the artists was icing on the cake.






Dancer Julian De Leon and I share a laugh.










Marja hangs out with two hunks. (Now, I ask you, dear readers - would Valerie ever write a line like that?)








Stephen and one of his guests who braved the elements to attend. (Note the umbrella)








Photographer Sarah Silver and her boyfriend who is a chef.









Dancers Natalie Mackessy and Barrington Hinds pose with Sarah Silver's gorgeous (and gorgeously tall) assistant.








When worlds collide -- Talking Head meets Dumpling Diva. David Byrne and Marja, old acquaintances, take minute to catch up. (Note the umbrella. Another orphan of the storm took shelter in the brighty lit gallery!)









Dancer & Assistant to the Artistic Director, Gino Grenek will accompany Stephen to Wales for 6 weeks to choreograph a piece for a Welsh dance company.









Craig pauses for a moment with Stephen and Jean-Marc Flack.







As I was walking across 15th St. approaching Milk Gallery with Joel and Julie, I couldn't help but notice a very striking young woman. Later that evening, we got to connect. Her name is Angel (of course) and she is a clothing designer (of course). She's pictured with her friend Matthew Waldman, founder and chief design officer of Nooka (www.nooka.com), and Richard Askin.






Clair, Julian and Fred indulge my request for a photo.








Craig Hensala and a guest share a moment..










Choreographer and SPC board member Liz Gerring with Richard Move and Craig.







Claire Flack and her parents, Ronald and Daniele, are all patrons of SPC's Producers' Circle.







Where's Waldo?Where's Valerie? Clue #3: Yes, it was elective and no, it was not a butt lift. Yes, she's OK and no, it was not a boob job.







At 8 PM, Stephen welcomed his guests and gave special thanks to Craig and to Karen and Mandie Erickson and Showroom Seven International as well as to the countless volunteers, friends and patrons whose support helped make the evening possible.







As if the artwork and cocktails were not enough, Amdada Wells gave a solo performance of an excerpt from "Ghostown" which premiered at the Joyce Theater in April.







Back in her "civvies," Amanda and her husband (2nd from right) and their friends sweetly posed for the camera.







Ariel Lembeck, Administrative Associate, works wonders behind the scenes.










Richard Move is a Martha Graham imitator. Here he is voguing in front of the Warhol polaroid of his Muse. He confided that after one of his performances at the Warhol Museum, he was given a tour of the archives and actually got to see the polaroid and the silk screen which were on display at Milk Gallery (www.move-itproductions.com).






Here's Richard in front of the Warhol silk screen.







What I'm wearing
I'm wearing a crew neck black and white striped tee shirt (Ralph Lauren) paired with a black and white striped knit jacket (Zara) held with a black and white felt fish skeleton pin (Rosebud on Thompson St. in Soho), long black draped skirt (Ronan Chen @ Rosebud), black and white skeleton birds and red heart metal necklace (Enz on 2nd Ave. in the East Village), black patent change purse with red winged heart (Classic Hardway from Tokyo Boy, from Enz), vintage '40s black felt hat (Bellini Originals), clogs (Dansko), glasses (Moss Lipow), Angela Caputti black resin cuffs, vintage black bakelite dice earrings, a collection of gold and of black bakelite rings and Ice Pirates watch (Canal Street).



Where's Waldo?Where's Valerie? Here is the 4th and final clue. Yes, it was outpatient. No, it's not a nose job. Yes, she's OK and no, it wasn't liposuction. More to come when Valerie is ready to spill the beans.