DUTY FREE RANGER: BUTTERFACE CHARMS
first performed on November 21, 2015
Two streets in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY
performed once in 2015
RORY GOLDEN
Brooklyn, NY
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DUTY FREE RANGER: BUTTERFACE CHARMS
RORY GOLDEN
Dressed in yellow as a mashup of a European dandy and park ranger, Duty Free Ranger holds a wooden box filled with tiny toys and charms. He grants them to passersby, whispering a prayer or telling them about the charm’s secret history. He may have eaten garlic in advance but bad breath brings good news. “DFR” destabilizes and satirizes colonialism, militarism, and complacency via performative public interventions—“fashion rituals” that inspire curiosity and awaken onlookers. The performances connect contemporary cultural expressions, i.e., fashion, with our colonialist history.