Time Body Space Object (TBSO) curators, Alice Vogler and Vela Phelan, invited me to participate in the fourth edition of this project that took place on Spectacle Island as part of the Isles Arts Initiative. I was drawn, immediately, to specific moments in the island’s history. At one point, Spectacle Island was a place of quarantine and eventually it became a dump—capped and contained by soil from a Boston megaproject called the Big Dig. For these reasons, I created a costume that referenced quarantine and contamination. I wanted to be very obviously “other”—a visitor needing protection and insulation from this toxic world.

REDLINE is an eight-hour performance designed for a very specific structure—the long black fence around the pier. I’m curious about that place between safety and danger. I’m drawn to indicators and warnings that safety is no longer at hand. I’m inspired by the red portion on a speedometer—the danger zone or REDLINE. Throughout the performance I went about the simple task of weaving and unweaving enormous lengths of red ribbon through the rungs of the fence. Eventually, the ribbon became part of a sculptural costume. I was (simultaneously) a worker, an explorer, an astronaut, and an ambassador—often engaging with people who decided to spend their late summer days swimming and hiking on the island. All of them wondered what the hell I was doing.