On the morning of May 19 the furnishings of our living room were removed and packed onto an American Van Lines truck for transport to MOCA on NE 125 Street.  While STUFF moved out the door, one piece at a time, large black trash bags filled with comfy green pillows and cushions were squeezed in the front door by Kevin Arrow of MOCA, Fritz Haeg and Mindy.  It was all surreal.  Keith commented to Fritz that he suddenly realized that he might miss the STUFF!  The living room was finally empty, voices echoed and were amplified.  Fritz spent the remainder of Tuesday looking for more cushions and pillows – he had already exhausted Ikea’s in-store stock!  Mindy and Keith cleaned – some old dirt was disclosed by the emptiness.  A person from MOCA delivered a 4’ x 8’ board and two 2 by 4s, and cement blocks - this is our salon work table.

Thursday came quickly and Fritz arrived early with more pillow and cushions, some new lights and two rugs, and four cement blocks - Salon colada began to take form – in GREEN.  The low table was configured in front of the fireplace, pillows and cushions were placed against the walls in the other space and carpets placed in the center.  It was done! – the green furnishings glowed in the naturally lit yellow room – Ann commented that it looks like a beautiful garden room.

The First Salon was convened on Wednesday, May 20, 7 PM, at Salon colada.   Through the hard work and sometimes stressful preparations of many people The First Salon by all accounts was a great start to our summer series.

Final preparations at Salon colada ran up to the wire.  Willing participants began to flow in to inspect the new salon-friendly digs, have a drink and some food, and lively conversation in the dining room.  Attending were people from all walks of our lives and people who became part of our lives only during that night – neighbors, friends, professional colleagues, artists, scientists – an amazing array of interesting, exciting, thoughtful and interactive people.  Beer, wine, and other drinks lubricated the approximately 25 guests, young and older.

We finally asked everyone to grab a spot in the "garden room."  Keith explained the process that led us to The First Salon.  Then Mindy performed her poem:

Ode to Fritz, by Mindy Nelson

this is an ode to Fritz

who delivered our writs

to make us use our wits

to go out of our zone

and be less alone

and off the phone

to tone down the drone

of everyday life

to create something new

for me and you

we haven’t a clue how to do

or woo you to do

what isn’t so easy

it makes me queasy

but Fritz seems so breezy

so we tell our friends

we explain

as we squeeze their brain

they don’t seem in pain

but they think us insane

and so we declare

our stuff goes there

Fritz brings new stuff here

but wait, I don’t get it

they look bemused

totally confused

then, finally, amused?

where will you sit to watch t.v.?

to relax and read and drink your tea?

we have to go to MOCA to see

you?

no, at home we host each gathering

invite people, see what they bring

for ideas, exploring, tinkering

we hope to create opportunity

try to build community

mix some creativity

with a touch of ingenuity

and learn about what happens

an experiment of the social kind

where we are the subjects and must use our mind

do what we are not inclined

not a reality show gimmick

but to give us a kick

to find out what makes us tick

kind of ironic

that we would be picked

after all these years of watching fish and honeybees

this is an ode to Fritz wearing a Tom Sawyer smile

like Tom, it seems to beguile

as he waits awhile

to see

if we

flee

or find the key

to mixing life with art

 

We asked several guests to read definitions – community… coloda… living room… but it was the definitions of ART and SCIENCE that sparked the conversation for the remainder of the evening.

What is science, what is art, how do they differ, how are they the same.  What elements drive  the production and “value” of scientific investigation, what elements drive the production and value of art?  What does “value” mean in art?  What part do colleagues play in molding scientific research and art production?  This was an amazing start that we can build on when we convene future ArtScience salons.

Billie asked: How would a scientist address the very experience we were having?  How would an artist do it?  It was a disarming question, the quick paced discussion halted for a few long moments of silence!

After a few days of preparation and a tour of the darkness and lightness of India, The White Tiger Salon went off on June 8.  The Salon was an offshoot of a book club that meets regularly in southern Miami-Dade County and the name derives from The White Tiger a book by Aravind Adiga that we shared and discussed along with a dinner of an Indian design.  Adiga’s book describes a life of extreme, mostly top down, dehumanizing, social structure. 

The salon, by contrast, is a cooperative group that stimulates listening and mutual learning; the process equalizes the participants through mutual respect of their varying backgrounds and interests.  Disagreement and argument are at the heart of a vibrant salon, but it is the ideas alone that are contested.

One matter now clear after a few weeks of Salon colada is that Fritz furnished our house with PERFECT cat furniture.  They love the pillows and cushions, can’t beat a 4 x 8’ board with a substantial layer of smooth cork.

Sandra Teresa Hyde’s “Sex Tourism Practices”
Hakim Bey’s “Overcoming Tourism”
Jonathan Culler’s “Semiotics Semiotics of Tourism” 

On July 11, we brought the neighbors together to show-off what they know.  Most people we invited we did not know.  About thrity people convened at 1 PM for juggling, orchid know-how, Spanish electro acoustic guitar, backyard butterfly production, great food with recipes, jewelry-making, percussion instrument design and production out of found stuff, ...  We had no idea what our friends and new friends would bring to share.  Salon colada was alive (slightly chaotic) with yelling, pillow-throwing, hammering, percussion noise, and as a separate event, Juan Areco on guitar with a chorus of percussion instruments.

This is Just to Say (II)

By C. Mindy Nelson

I accidentally jiggled

your pepper plant

while moving it

to make room

for the hula dancers

who on Sunday

will teach us to perform

their island dance

Forgive me

for knocking off

the little pepper

too soon

03.20.09 - open call: looking for an adventurous miami resident eager to start a series of salon gatherings at their home...

Dear Miami,

For a project at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), North Miami, I am seeking the collaboration of an adventurous local resident. They will organize and host a regular series of salon gatherings at their home during the run of the exhibition from May 21 – September 13, 2009. I will work with them to strategize their new salon series, but the events will be entirely organized by the host, with guests of their choosing.

The selected resident will have the entire contents of their “living room” relocated in exactly the same arrangement in the MOCA galleries for the run of the exhibition. I will develop and design a very simple seating system that is conducive to the social salon gatherings to furnish their vacated living space.

Museum visitors will be invited to make themselves comfortable in the transplanted “living room”. A video will be produced about the household, their lives in the living room before the project, and during a few of the salon events. This will then be presented in the museum galleries, along with snapshots, invitations and other ephemera from their events. They will also be invited to keep a diary of their experiences to be posted online and printed in a 'zine.

If you are up for the challenge, excited by the possibility of turning your lives upside down for the summer and eager to open up your house to new possibilities, send a few photos of you and your “living room” with a very brief message describing why you would want to do this, to studio-at-fritzhaeg-dot-com. Please pass this on this to anyone in Miami that you think might be interested. I will be visiting to meet with candidates on April 21st.

Warmest Regards,
Fritz Haeg