Umbilicus: NSEWC is the sixth installment of a series I began in 1993. It’s influenced by my interest in the Tonalpohualli, an important Aztec ritual calendar, and pays tribute to the Mesoamerican concept of the 5th cardinal direction: CENTER.
The concept of 'center' has been part of several ongoing ‘Actions’ from this time period--Action/Laundry, Action/Threading, and Action/Breathing, all of which became, in one way or another, part of the process of producing this most recent addition to the series.
Umbilicus: NSEWC addresses, through an examination of the everyday: production in relation to lived experience, and the art object’s role in this. It seeks, among other things, to derail the notion that an artists studio is or should be a primary site of production.
With this in mind, peeling carrots, changing diapers, running a gas station or a school, can all be considered art.
