SATURDAY May 27th AFTERNOON

photos: ONE NIGHT ONLY performs "Houseguest Project"

THE HOUSEGUEST PROJECT by One Night Only

ONO's site-specific installation was a series of gestures/aktions
that illuminated the uncertain arena of guest etiquette.
How often has your host(ess) handed you his/her keys
and said "make yourself at home" then left for work
and there you were in their private space totally on your own?
Did you look through their drawers? Eat their crackers?
Try on their clothes? Or perhaps you did the dishes,
scrubbed the floors, and hand-washed their socks?

ONO expresses their too little/too much thanks
as Laura's departing houseguests by:
licking/kissing the walls and objects enroute (Blair),
replacing the hostess's floor sweepings with
the guest's obsessively labelled bottles (Anna),
chowing through Laura's homemade spice-y
pickles then lining up copious (funeral) amounts
of fresh cut flowers on her carpet (Felipe),
& handwashing Laura's clothes while wearing them
in the bath then hanging them in the apartment
building's laundry room (Tanis).
There was an evocative video of CU luggage contents
playing on a monitor in a clothes closet.

This highly coded/negotiated terrain of expected
but unarticulated need and desire was very
sweetly exposed in ONO's performance gestures.
Their collective aktions provoked a collegial-dorm
feel in the almost-too-large audience in Laura's
apartment. Although I hate to kvetch about
these almost IDEAL houseguests (they're clean,
thoughtful, and they leave fresh flowers),
I wanted more. Not longer. But more.
More developed aktions and just plain more aktions.
So, dear houseguests, please come back to visit
really really soon! Miss you already.

xoxoox
Love,
La Dragu (the scribe)