THE BURDENS WE CARRY

19” x 11” x 17.5”
43.8 lbs
Concrete, drawstring bag straps, rope, spray paint

The long-duration performance object is a concrete cast of the interior space of a full-to-bursting drawstring bag, complete with what appear to be fabric folds at the top and sides. The surface of the work has the texture of canvas, broken up by chips in the concrete of various sizes and small patches of black spray paint. The original straps are embedded inside the body of the ‘bag,’ creating loops from the top and bottom corners that allowed the work to be worn until they broke from strain. The broken strings are tied to themselves around the structure, with a green, red, and yellow rope in a carrier’s knot functioning as makeshift backpack straps. The sculpture is displayed on a ‘pedestal’ of the artist’s body, carried using the loops of rope over the shoulders.
It serves as a physical representation of the often invisible psychological, relational, and financial burdens that people carry which harm us and modify our behavior. I created this work to engage with an endurance performance art process of taking it with me everywhere I go during my day for an extended period, in this case about a week. In actuality, it was so painful to bear due to the forty pounds of it being concentrated on two small strings over my shoulders that I could only reasonably transport it from place to place and not wear it indefinitely. This points towards an interesting metaphor; by taking it off once I arrived for some sort of task such as attending class, eating at the dining hall, tutoring, teaching improv, or working on projects at home, to name a few, the performance symbolizes ways in which we cope or distract ourselves from our burdens. However, by needing to take it with me regardless, I found myself making the choice to not engage in tasks that I otherwise would have, such as going to the gym, walking to the dining hall, or getting a coffee. When I visited my sister, she was disturbed by the amount of pain it caused me and took it upon herself to modify the straps with Swiffer pads. This action spoke to the ways in which our loved ones make efforts to alleviate what they can of our burdens without taking them on themselves.