Clown Dinner Party

Participants entered the sacred abandoned grocery store, had their fortune told by each clown (Rainn Forrest Jackson and Bea Hurd) upon their arrival. No spoken words were used in the communication of the clowns’ divinations. Once everyone had visited each clown, participants were handed coupons which read:

“Your dinner waits, but not in a bowl.
The pieces are hiding around this whole.
Walk the space and harvest now.
Find each part left from our sow.
Gather them all, then we’ll eat…
When your meal appears, find a seat!”

Participants gathered sandwich ingredients, sides, and beverages hidden around the space, and enjoyed a meal together. Rainn led the first “toast” to joy, laughter, and absurdity, and everyone “toasted” their sandwiches together. Each participant was invited to propose their own toast. After the toasts, the clowns led the “sandwich motions” – a series of movements inspired by the making of sandwiches, and weird workout videos. It was then time to cut the cake! Each person cut a slice for the person to their left in the circle. Once everyone had their cake, the clowns instructed them to fed their cake to the person on their left.

This work focuses on the creation of a third space and allows for the emergence of creativity from participants facilitated by the artists. It creates a space of joy and community for those marginalized by current political strife