Towel Hag is a performance installation that was first mounted at offthemapgallery in 2009.  The gallery is a cinder-block building the size of a two-car garage.  It has a crumbling cement floor and poor ventilation.  During the summer the atmosphere inside is quite stifling; perfect for a bathhouse.

 The space is completely dark except for two light sources.  A small lamp near the entrance is suspended over a clipboard and a row of flashlights.  On the clipboard are an artist’s statement and instructions that direct visitors to pick up a flashlight and have a look around.  The other light source comes from a small lamp on a table inside the “cage”, a 6’X6’X6’ cube made of black wooden bars.  Inside the cage sits the attendant, making paper cutouts and attaching them to the bars.

 On the floor of the gallery behind the cage, “rooms” are outlined with fluorescent tape.  With all natural light blocked out the tape creates a ghost-like skeleton of a bathhouse that floats in the dark.  On the floor in each “room” messages are scrawled in chalk.  These writings change as time passes. 

 The sound of a gay porn video permeates the room from a hidden source.  Occasionally, sounds from the neighbourhood drift in: a car passes, a dog barks, children call out.

 As the performance progresses the attendant continues to sit silently in the cage making cutouts and attaching them to the walls and ceiling of his cell.  By the end of the 2-4 week performance he is completely surrounded by them.   He disappears into a glowing paper box.

For a short movie of the installation please click here