Berd’s Carnival 2010
Berd’s Carnival 2010, video documentation, 2010
Location: Pratt Institute
In 2008, I entered grad school as a painter, using encaustic in vast quantities (50 to 100 pounds per painting). Upon graduating, I left with a carnival. The carnival is a world within itself, with never-ending perspectives, curiosities, letdowns, and, of course, games. It does not cost $100 to enter; it’s typically .25. This year, I may have to increase the price to $1 due to inflation.
It is an ambitious and outstanding tour de force through your childhood. Unexpected and magical…it will stay with you forever, and you will inevitably want to go back…like a time machine. Berd’s Carnival 2010 will shift your perspective through satirical provocations and personal curiosity while, from a more sober and objective perspective, shedding light on problems of inclusion and disenfranchisement. – Maura Falfan
About: Berd’s Carnival 2010 was inspired by Coney Island and the flat plains of Texas where I grew up. Some elements of Berd’s Carnival were created off-site, but the actual vision flourished inside the 1000 square foot gallery space. A large structure made of particle board was built within the space with the assistance of Rainy Lehrman. About 40 sheets of 4’x8′ plywood were transported 10 at a time by Home Depot push cart, on foot, with the help of a hired laborer, from Home Depot to Pratt (about 8 street blocks). Elements of Berd’s Carnival included a legless horse carousel, a Wonder Wheel Paint Machine, a Coney Island Installation of light and sound, moving sculptures, and various types of slots, slats, and lenses to look through. After paying a .25 cent fee, one was admitted on voyeuristic terms only, forced to engage with the carnival by peering through various openings. The sounds of Coney Island and a string quartet playing pieces from Hitchcock films resonated inside the space. The sounds drifted in and out depending on where you were positioned in the gallery. Many people were involved in making Berd’s Carnival 2010, to whom I owe my deepest gratitude.
The Debt Doll Project
The Debt Doll project was made for Debt Fair and was initiated by Occupy Museums. I made a series of dolls, silkscreened on PVC fabric, stuffed them with Coney Island sand, sewed them up, and sold them to pay off my student debt. The project lasted from 2013 to 2023. I qualified for student debt forgiveness after working 10 years for a not-for-profit and was forgiven in 2023.
I am selling my student debt before the glowing American flag in Times Square.
Videographer: Cristobal Vivar
2014
Location: Times Square, NY
FREE PUSSY …………………….RIOT
The infamous punk rock collective Pussy Riot is known all over the world but in 2012 they were primarily known in Eastern Europe. While participating with Occupy Museums at the Berlin Biennale in 2012, I discovered Pussy Riot from a poster on the streets of Berlin. I quickly learned that they were in prison for performing their “Punk Prayer” inside the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. I was immediately taken by their case and vowed to spread their circumstance upon returning to New York City. I turned to civil disobedience as a medium. The parents were petrified, the kids, enthralled.
