The Shape of Night: The Language of Sleep

Dan
Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:05:05 +0000
Projects, bathroom, exhibition, museum, participatory, zone-c

Come try, or invent your own sleeping position inspired by Evany Thomas and Amelia Bauer’s book The Secret Language of Sleep: A Couple’s Guide to Thirty-Nine Positions. In the Walker's Cargill Lounge.

“Awake, we may think we know what we’re doing, and why. But each night, as we settle into our favorite sleeping positions, the truth escapes.” Are you a classic spooner, or is your standby sleep position the “Starfish and Conch,” the preferred position of couples who fight well together? Do you practice the “Softserve Swirl,” or take turns as “The Springloader” or “The Seatbelt”? The Secret Language of Sleep: A Couple’s Guide to Thirty-Nine Positions by Evany Thomas and Amelia Bauer—a favorite title published by McSweeney’s, serves as inspiration for this event where visitors are invited to bring the book’s illustrations to life and invent their own sleeping position. All participants will be invited to enter their new position and title into a contest for a 40th Sleep Position written and illustrated by Thomas and Bauer.

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Amelia Bauer

Amelia Bauer graduated with honors and received her BFA from the School of Art at the Cooper Union in 2001. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums internationally, including the San Francisco Museum of Art, Miami Museum of Art, National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution, Brooklyn Museum at the Armory, New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts, CCA Santa Fe, CoCA Seattle, Helen Pitt in Vancouver, and Capricious Space in New York. Bauer’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She has been a contributing artist for McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, the Believer Magazine, and various novels published by McSweeney’s for the past eight years. Amelia was honored and pleased to collaborate with Evany Thomas and McSweeney’s on the Secret Language of Sleep.

Susy Bielak

Susy Bielak is the Associate Director of Public and Interpretive Programs at the Walker Art Center, an exhibiting visual artist, writer, and educator. At the Walker, she creates educational programs and interpretive strategies for adult audiences. Much of her work extends to community-based and cross-genre projects. She completed her BFA in studio art, anthropology, and psychology at Macalester College, and MFA at the University of California, San Diego in drawing, installation, and public practice. Prior to her MFA, Bielak managed local, regional, national and international arts programs for Arts Midwest. Her own work has been exhibited and collected across the U.S. and Mexico, including by the International Print Center, Luis Adelantado Mexico, Minnesota Museum of American Art, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, New American Paintings, and Walker Art Center. Bielak was selected as San Diego’s New Artist of the Year last fall, and will launch a new project this June at the San Diego Museum of Art. More information can be found at www.susybielak.com.