One’s choices within ritual and the momentary oneness that occurs between artist and participant plays a significant role in “Golden Opportunity.”

I am painted gold and nude or mostly nude, blindfolded, and am holding a wooden rod. I sit on a mat below an abstract piñata. In front of me is a ceramic bowl of blackberries. Blindfolded, I wait for an interaction of any kind. Observers choose their way of understanding their interactions. In this performance, the initial observer participated by approaching me and taking the rod. I took away my blindfold and engaged the participant by silently staring at them. The participant stood to the left of me and struck the piñata once. A small cloud of white powder emanated from the piñata. I crouched forward, picked up a berry from the bowl and offered it to the participant. The participant took the berry and ate it, looking at me. No words were exchanged. The participant gave me back the rod. I replaced my blindfold and returned to my original position, starting the action over, and waited for another participant. Eight participants in total engaged with the work, repeating with small differences the action of the first participant. The piñata broke apart, releasing the entirety of the white dust (tapioca powder) and covered me and my surrounding area. Upon offering the final participant a berry, I placed the blindfold to my right and the rod to my left and began to eat the berries in fistfuls, leaving one berry in the bowl. Covered in dust and stained with juice, I walked away from the ritual area, completing the performance.

Within the moments of ritual between participants, I observed that everyone except one person stood to the left—as the first participant did—to strike the piñata. Every participant struck the piñata only once. All but one participant took the berry from my hand. One participant opened their mouth to receive the berry. One participant whispered “thank you” to me as they received the berry. Another participant made eye contact with me as they ate the berry.

I do not have a complete understanding of the purpose of a work or a title until it is performed. The interaction between me and the public is a process that leads to those answers.