Markings (The Lex), 2015 documents 20 memories that people had in/of The Lex, the last lesbian bar presently in San Francisco. This project was made in communication with Lila Thirkield, the owner of the bar and is supported by the Lexington Club Archival Project.
…you do drugs and make out with queers, in the bathroom.
…you cruise and be cruised. No lie…
…I spent my first New Years in SF and met the woman I’m marrying in less than 60 days! I kissed her 4 beers in. It took me that much to have the courage.
…I came for a drink on my first visit to San Francisco.
…I had my first drink in SF…met my partner of 9 years…met my best friends. I had many drinks, laughs, make outs, long nights, great nights.
…I got VIP invited downstairs and soon to be disinvited.
…I told my co-worker that if she bought me tequila, I’d want to fuck her. She bought me 5 rounds.
…I experienced a bartender standing on the bar and announcing Princess Diana’s death. The bartender stood on the bar and the “standing room only” bar was silenced. The respect and honor given to such an icon was memorable, like staged, there was silence for about 30 min.
…The amazing bartender took polaroids…documents!
…I kissed a girl after a 10 year break.
…after transitioning, this was the first place I met and hooked up with a beautiful woman who took me home. I was nervous at first, but we had gotten to know each other here — where I felt safe.
…I came each week looking for love in all the wrong places…and eventually met Mrs. Right. We arrived as friends, left as so much more and are vowing to spend our lives together this May. Without the Lex, I’d be a crazy cat lady.
…I drew Jiz Lee.
…1. had sex with three people I loved! 2. fell in love 3. took acid for the first time and happily freaked out
…I remember the Barbie Chandelier.
…I met my ex who was married so I fucked another gal in the bathroom, than I met my ex here a week later and made out.
…I threw a full can of PBR across the bar to get Ben’s attention so he could get me another can of PBR. I was cut off.
…me and the person I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with discussed who would keep the car and other break-up banalities.
~
Markings is a public art series from 2013 to 2017. The works are a layered interplay of ephemeral moments in/of a place: space, time, light, sound and air. The work transforms an intersection of natural elements, into a monument to ‘hereness’. Markings marks any space as a ‘place’. It delineates the shape, light, sound and air of any location as one of worth.
Most of the Markings projects have included an interactive component in which people are invited to fill out tags printed with “This is where…” – with their memories of places. The tags are then added to flags, which are put in front of the places where their memories took place, and photographed. In some works, the viewers choose a word that “describes” the ‘place’, with the letters punched out of the tag to create shadows on the ground.
The tags produce a layered set of identification markers of what imbues a location with a ‘sense of a place’. The project includes different levels of public authorship as an inherent part of developing projects that heighten a relationship to place. My hope is that an active experience of place empowers people to communicate their needs for their community, and strengthen a sense of civic engagement. Everyone has a relationship to place, and I utilize this truism as a way to invite important conversations.
The materials used for past works include found wire, paper tags and mylar. Mylar is an integral material to the concept of the piece; as it reflects the surroundings, catches and moves the light and makes a very lovely sound when the wind blows. I imagine new versions of this project for public space using more substantial materials but with the same properties. I’m especially interested in emphasizing the many ways that the tags make shadows on the ground. Currently working on a a gallery version of this series that responds to site and/or reflects another site of meaning.