Timothy Lonergan, Prometheus in Baltimore No. 1, 2002
digital print from video still image, 11" × 14"

I met Tomoko in her role as the curator/director at AG Gallery in Williamsburg. She has put together a beautiful web gallery this month from the Visual AIDS slide registry, concentrating on documentation of performance. The artists she chose are John Eric Broaddus, Timothy Lonergan, Hunter Reynolds, Richard Sawdon Smith, Stephen Varble and Yolanda.

In reading her curator's statement, I learned she is a bit more wacky in her history as an artist than I had surmised from her sweet exterior!

I used to be a performance artist before my curatorial career and always believe that the body is the most effective medium to express how human beings are strong and sensitive. It is also the most effective medium to actually interact with the audience. I sold my used panties in the subway, gave audiences a menu with several options of sexual activities to choose from, and lay down with only my underwear in front of an audience and watched a Japanese pornographic video. There was always this amazing moment when I actually felt through my body that I shared the same time and experience with the audience. It was one of the reasons why I chose performance as a medium for my artwork.

[image from the Visual AIDS website]