Talenthouse

NO PAY NO PLAY


NO PAY NO PLAY is a collaborative installation that conceptually deals with the tension of opposites, a commentary on media and culture, and a reference to how the City of New Orleans belongs to the world.
Jennifer Vasher and Sarah Plaia Davidson are two New Mexican artists with a common approach. Their work reaches clarity through the ordering of chaos. Much like their predecessor, Agnes Martin, it is from deep within the noise that they reach their presence. Whether stringing pills, or placing dowels, the measured cant of their work yields a potent visual field, a sense of place where the footing is unsure. Through the repetition of action, like so many prayer beads, these women create a vastness that only the restraint of process can deliver.
It was during discussions about process that the two artists arrived at the common ground for NO PAY NO PLAY. Created for Prospect 2, this site specific installation evokes the questioning of good and bad, the inherent duality of nature, what is your pain, what is your pleasure? What hurts, what can be healed?
The forest of pills creates an anesthesia for a perilous journey, or is it the path to healing that “the city that care forgot” deserves? Is the roof like structure a loft above the fray, a symbol division or a last refuge, a sanctuary for uniting survival? The horizon installation representing a levee, or constraint against the difficulties of life below sea level, and the river, from which all life flows, can be seen as weapon, or the abundance of healing to come.
NO PAY NO PLAY gives the viewer the opportunity to be surrounded by careful intention, an experience of meditative work making, a breath of control and the opportunity to clarify for themselves on what ground they stand. In a culture of “feel no pain”, a singularly individual perspective, this installation asks its participants to recognize that we are all on a roof somewhere, waiting for the rescue. In an attempt to unite, NO PAY NO PLAY, is an homage to our connectedness, our interdependency and our responsibility to community.

Location United States

Bio http://www.sarahplaiadavidson.com/
http://www.levygallery.com/projectroom/jennifer_burkley_vasher/jennifer_burkley_vasher.html