Time and the Matron

How "The Blued Trees in NYC; The Sea WIll Have the Last Word," Event October 30 Is The Top of a Cultural Timeline

Branches being painted in the gallery, with help from Elia Emery Min, in preparation for installation for the October 30 event at the Anita Rogers Gallery, 484 Greenwich St., NYC NY

The title of this aricle refers to Schubert’s famous work, Death and The Maiden. That allusion could be a separate treatise about the build-up to October 30 in the past month. This could be a very long article about how artists have used time as another color in our palette. I am thinking of John Cage’s, “.4'33'” That may be the subject for a future article but tonight I don’t have time.

Instead I will create some context for the audience that will attend live and streaming 7: PM EST October 30. The October 30 culminates research and experimentation for the Blued Trees project that began in 2015, when a small group of activists tasked me with stopping natural gas pipelines in New York State. The history of how my thinking was sourced and has evolved since then is in a zine, created with Elia Emery Min, that will be available to the live audience the night of the event.

I will tell our audience that after the performance, they will be asked to judge the couple, a fossil fuel executive and his wife for their respective accountability for ecocide. We will have only 30 minutes to decide outcomes, but meanwhile, anyone can write, draw, link or otherwise debate the issues in the Zoom chat, which Elia will monitor.

Before the performance, I will tell the audience: Tonight, you will be asked to judge a fictional couple for ecocide. The husband is already on trial but they may both be accountable.  My premises are based on the real 2018 mock trial for The Blued Trees Symphony, a continental scale installation in the path of natural gas pipelines. We won an injunction by arguing that copyright law could trump eminent domain takings. Your only hard evidence for your verdict tonight will be the wife's experience of their relationship and the world she has found herself in. Everyone, live and streaming, will have a chance to weigh in, in live comments, in the Zoom chat tonight or the morning after.

After the performance, I will tell the audience: You have heard the WIfe’s Lament and watched her alter ego wrestle with what her husband has of the Earth. He has already been convicted but we don't know his sentence.

Now we are going to play a game with time and intuition to exercise our capacity for agency and wisdom. We will put a time limit on each person who speaks live. As many people as possible will be given a chance to comment live but you can also contribute to the chat. Live, you will be timed so the opportunities to speak are fair, no more than two minutes each, except the invited experts, who will have three minutes each. Some questions to consider include: What are the limits of accountability for ecocide? What should be the sentence for the executive? Is the wife of a fossil fuel executive as liable as the convicted husband if she denied and enabled his behavior? In the gallery, feel free to pick up the branch the dancer, acting as the wife’s alter ego, has been working with as you consider these questions. Please let others hold it, and please treat it with respect. Bear in mind, whatever we decide tonight, or how we vote to determine the outcome of the Election, the sea will have the last word.