Croton-on-Hudson performance artist Marcy B. Freedman has created a bit of a tradition in recent years – offering a performance in honor of Valentine’s Day.
And this year, she will mark her fifth annual effort to commemorate the holiday with “Bring a Friend” at the Black Cow Coffee Company in her hometown.
Freedman, whose interactive work usually follows a one-on-one, face-to-face format, is switching things up this time around – requesting participants to come in pairs. The couples, Freedman says, can be friends, lovers, spouses, siblings, parent and child… no matter. She will invite each couple to sit down and chat with her about the nature of their relationship. As she says, she hopes “the conversations will expose the various ties that bind one human being to another.
And her other goal?
“My interactive performances are designed to serve as an antidote to the virtual interactions to which we are becoming addicted. In my mind, email, texting and social networking should not be allowed to replace direct human contact! I want my performances to remind people of the power and importance of interacting with real people in real time and real space.”
Great idea, right?
Freedman will be on hand from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Black Cow Coffee Company, 4 Old Post Road South in Croton-on-Hudson. For more details, contact Freedman at (914) 271-5891 or email mbf@bestweb.net.
– Mary Shustack