“New York, New York,” was a performance intended to induce the sense of nausea and existential dissociation caused by the process of living in New York City, specifically as a woman pursuing the arts/experiencing the art world. The piece physically consisted of PBR beer cans and wine bottles collected from the attending guests throughout the night (contained in a blue recycling trash bag), a Thank You For Shopping Here! bag containing 100 printed issues of The New Yorker collected over the course of 2018, an AM/FM radio which was playing an in-between station of classical music and jazz, one copy of Artforum (Summer 2018 Vol. 56 No. 10), strips of Magnum condoms, microphone(s) affected through Ableton, a knife and sharpener, and a Magic Wand Vibrator with contact mic amplified through venue speakers. These sound objects were mixed live throughout the performance with pre-distorted samples from Nina Hagen’s “New York New York” and edited subway train sounds.

The bag of cans and bottles were emptied onto the ground. I began to stuff the bottles into my mesh bodysuit to create a sonic effect of glass and cans tinkering as my body moved, a nod to that familiar sound of people going through New York trash, scavenging for glass and plastic in the middle of the night. The magazines were strewn about onto the floor, on top of which I began to writhe about, reaching for bottles and cans and prints to read. At the bottom of the Thank You for Shopping Here! bag, I found the Artforum magazine which was stuffed full of Magnum condoms. They all fell out as I opened the magazine. I took the condoms and taped them around my neck. Then I began to roll the magazine up in an effort to penetrate myself with it; It was too large however, so I began to sharpen the large knife. I cut the art forum in half, and began to roll it up again and attempt to insert it into my vagina. After some failed and half way successful attempts, I strapped it to the magic wand and began to use it on my clitoris, bypassing the penetration. After some time, not able to reach a “climax,” I threw aside the vibrator, and walked away, the wand still vibrating on the ground amidst the trash.