Over the course of several hours I will construct a safe out of wood with walls that are made out of two-way mirrors. I will then perform an anti-Harry-Houdini routine. Houdini used gimmicked locks, slight of hand, and hidden manipulation to perform his masterful escape acts. I will do the opposite. After completing the construction of the safe I will be handcuffed and locked inside. Instead of quietly manipulating the locks of my handcuffs I will use a loud power tool to cut the chains. Once free of the chains I will use a hand held, power surface planer to slowly, loudly and methodically destroy the safe from the inside out and escape to freedom. The safe will have a very bright light inside of it that activates only when a power tool is turned on. Because of the two-way mirrors the audience will see a reflection of themselves when the interior light of this safe is off and will be able to see directly inside the safe when the light is on. The idea is to make the process of detention (building the safe) and emancipation (escaping the safe) to be an exposed, diligent, and tedious process as opposed to a guarded, miraculous, and exclusionary process.
This project combines two previous projects that I have done and can be seen here:

http://lucasmurgida.com/841/the-oracle-sf-ca-1009/

http://lucasmurgida.com/1083/dust-to-dust/

On Thursday August 4th Jennifer Locke and myself will be performing in Portland at:
937 [At Fourteen30 Contemporary’s satellite space], 937 NW Glisan, Portland, Oregon 97209. Reception: 6-10PM, Performance: 7-9PM. Made possible by Patrick Rock of ROCKSBOXCONTEMPORARYFINEART.

In 2010 I stopped teaching yoga and in 2011 I ended my career as a locksmith. I realized that what interested me most about my locksmithing research and yoga teaching was that both examinations explicated the ways that each of us create (or are forced to create) very private moments in very public ways. So, I began an investigation into how we share public space and maintain our privacy outside the confines of our own homes. The pieces that follow are my first attempts to engage those ideas.

In 2003 I decided to become a Locksmith as research to inform my art practice. When many of my friends and colleagues found out about this they encouraged me to do diabolical actions such as, stealing things or breaking into places, and then frame the action as “art.” Instead, the body of artwork that came out of this research yielded pieces that were by and large about liberation and breaking free of keys. At the same time that I became a Locksmith I also started practicing yoga. I did this to compare how we lock and guard our spaces to how we lock and guard our bodies. The two bodies of research informed one and other and many of Locksmithing pieces borrowed from yogic philosophy to explicate the “attachment” that many people experience regarding keys and the relationships, places, and things that their keys allow them to access. Eventually I decided that my next career/research-project was going to be as a yoga instructor. After 4 years of schooling and apprenticing I started teaching yoga. I taught for almost 3 years and then stopped. When asked why I usually site various reasons ranging from “I wasn’t good at it” to “it was ruining my personal yoga practice.” During this time I was also making artwork about being a yoga teacher. Again, many people had suggestions and desires about the kind of art pieces that could come out of this research. Many thought that I would make pieces about liberation and helping people, similar to the Locksmithing projects. Instead my research as a yoga instructor yielded works or art that were thematically similar to the Locksmithing pieces but used subtle (and not-so-subtle), passive-aggressive, forced-coercion tactics to herd or manipulate the viewer into doing things they would not normally do in public. Though in each of the Locksmithing pieces I was increasingly aware that I was deliberately posturing students into awkward and vulnerable positions in public, the yoga-teaching pieces were much less subtle and were often directly confrontational. This is what drove me away from yoga teaching. The power dynamic that exists in the yoga studio was too intense and seemed far too easy for me to manipulate (though I never did). I realized that what interested me most about my locksmithing research and yoga teaching was that both examinations explicated the ways that each of us create (or are forced to create) very private moments in very public ways. So, I began an investigation into how we share public space and maintain our privacy outside the confines of our own homes (please see the body of work entitled “Privateer” for more information.) The pieces in this section were directly born from my research as a yoga instructor. Most physically taxed my body in ways facilitated by yoga my practice and pushed the boundaries of audience members personal space.

http://www.laartshow.com/pages/cooper.html

860 South Los Angeles Street, LA, CA, 90014

The above video documents that lecture I would give for all of the Locksmithing Institute performances.

Private(s).2.0: May, 2010

I added a mirror to 2 of the public/private male urinals in the city of Gent. Passers-by will get to share in the joy of public urination as a unwitting man relieves himself.

Many people assume that they have a right to certain degree of privacy in public places. As we move about there is a tendency to view our public surroundings as potential places where we can assert our sovereign nature. For instance a person might go behind a tree, hide in a shadow, go down an alley, or squat under a bridge to seek public solitude. In parks people lay claim to a patch of earth by unfolding a blanket and spreading it on the ground. Construction zones and yellow “caution” tape steer the public away from certain areas to create temporary private spaces. Cities even build places like phone booths and bathroom stalls for its citizens to enjoy private moments. As technology advances citizens ever increasingly walk around enraptured in the bubble of their cell phones. And, if a person is of a more pensive disposition, he or she might find their public/private moments walking, staring at the ground, while lost deep in thought. Public privacy can also exist on a subtler, subconscious level as we are taught from a young age to ignore certain public occurrences. The drunken man passed out on the ground or the beggar asking for change at the bus stop might appear to us no different than a tree or a lamppost as we make our way to work in the morning.When we stare past the woman being arrested by the police or ignore the man weeping on his stoop we effectively give the person who is having a public/private moment the privacy of our ambivalence. But, regardless of how the privacy manifests, it can only exist through an unspoken social contract that permits a person the right to assert and create his or her own overt or subconscious public privacy. And, despite the complicated game that manifests as a result of this silent agreement, most of us intuitively know that public/privacy is an illusion and a creation of man. There is no privacy.

This piece was done as part of the Electrified 2 Exhibition which was a collaborative effort between The Vooruit Center for the Arts and S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Belgium. Special thanks to Eva DeGroote for including me in this exhibit!! Also, thanks to the facilities staff of Vooruit for allowing me to use their fabrication studios…especially Koen Blondeel for helping me everyday!! And…thanks again to Gregg Young for filming and editing the video!

Dust to Dust

On Thursday May 13, 2010 I executed a four-hour performance in the basement of the Gallery BWA in Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland as part of the Interakcje Performance Art Festival. After lighting incense in three of the four remaining coffins I proceeded to dismantle the fourth coffin into its pieces. After carefully removing all of the nails and screws I used a hand held surface planer to reduce all of the pieces into dust. Each of the coffins had a metronome in its interior that was quietly ticking. Due to the small, crypt like nature of the space, the room quickly became thick with sawdust and smoke.

Special thanks to Angel Pastor and Malgoisa Butterwick for including me in the festival. Also, many thanks to Mariusz Marchewa Marchlewicz and Jacek Dąbrowski for taking pictures. And, last but not least, many thanks to Slawomir Bobola and Wiktor Bruchal for shooting the video.

No Mans Land

On May 5, 2010 I executed a 3 hour performance in Ghent, Belgium. After lighting incense in four of the remaining coffins, I buried a fifth in an unused and rare portion of open space in Ghent. Each of the coffins had a metronome in its interior that was quietly ticking. My time in Ghent was sponsored by The Vooruit Center for the Arts. Special thanks to Eva DeGroote of Vooruit for making my trip possible!! Also, many thanks to Gregg Young for shooting and editing the video and Reinout Hiel and Joke Vangheluwe for taking photographs!!