Performing the Redecoration of a House: Big Pinko
The creation of “Big Pinko”, a house-turned-large-scale-pink-sculpture, took place on the 15th of August and was carried out over 12 hours. Artists Tony Schwensen and Andre Stitt took on roles as house-painters ‘Cy & Dusty’ and the re-decoration of the house served as a performance. This type of performance has roots in conceptual art, where artists such as Duchamp would take already-existing materials and select them as art[1]. The performance is site-specific, thus the sculpture and the relation to the community that it is located at will be of significance.
Schwensen’s art is known for ‘examining human condition’ and ‘paralelling political correctness with everyday experiences’[2]. With his Big Pinko project, the exercise of painting a house is taken out of context and exaggerated, perhaps to allow a reflection of its aesthetics as well as prompting questions about the surrounding community.
Fixing, decorating, painting a house can be seen as an everyday ritual. It is interesting that the artists chose to redecorate the exterior of the house, the dimension that is visible to the outside world. Much different to painting on a blank canvas, painting over a house re-defines its function. It was once a house but it is now covered in pink paint. The painters disregarded any lines such as windows and doors, removing them of all their traditional communal purpose as shelter.
The choice of the colour pink seems to speak a lot about the purpose of the sculpture itself. An eye-catching colour brings attention to an activity that we might not think twice about in our everyday lives. The creation of Big Pinko highlights the performativity of construction. This leads the spectator to observe certain sequences of actions. The repetitive dipping of the brush into the paint, the brush strokes on the walls almost create a dance-like routine. The performance was neither choreographed nor scripted, perhaps what was important was not what the artists’ bodies were doing but their bodies in relation to the house. In order to complete the sculpture, the artists had to climb up, down and around parts of the house.
The ‘performance’ of house redecoration is perhaps one of the many rituals that connects man to architecture. By painting the walls, the individual is transferring their aesthetics. However because the house serves as a function, painting walls does not only concern itself with the beauty but it also symbolizes a kind of hope for what the function of the house will be.
The common performer-spectator relationship between house-painters and the owner can be described as an active one; the owner sometimes participates in supervising or giving instructions, making sure it all goes to plan. In the case of Big Pinko, the relationship becomes a passive one, the performer is in charge and there is a sense of helplessness in the audience. Perhaps this can be related to the context of the community of Minto itself.
The way that this performance piece was publicized was important in that it would have generated different reactions from the spectators. Having read about Big Pinko from ‘Two Thousand’ website[3], Sydney’s subculture guide, I had expected the project to be a monstrous breaking down of a house and a complex re-modeling. Witnessing the performance itself took an hour commute from the city centre. Having only lived in Sydney for a year, I could not even picture in my mind what a suburb called Minto would look like. Most of the organizers at the site were surprised to receive a visit from a non-local, but their friendliness made me realize that this project was something that was of significance to the community. The mere size and presence of the sculpture itself was another way of publicizing the project. It was something that locals could look at as they walk around the neighbourhood and thus become some sort of a magnet that pulls the community together for an appreciation or reflection.
The reason for Big Pinko’s significance in Minto could be because of the fact that there are plans of urban renewal. Across the road from the Big Pinko house, there was a construction site where new houses would be built[4]. The creation of Big Pinko provides a sort of mimicry, a representation, a mirror and a point of reflection for the local people of the changes that will come around them. Perhaps it was cathartic for the members of the community to create something symbolic that would contain their anticipation, hopes and fears. The choice of conceptual performance art is effective in addressing these kinds of social discourses because it uses what is ordinary and everyday and takes it out of context.
The spatial arrangement of the house was interesting. The house was located in a small street with houses very close to each other. As shown in the photos, the house of Big Pinko is connected to the house directly next to it. This provides a direct comparison and also the fact that it is close to the other houses shows that this project is meant to be a part of and not apart from the community. In the photo you can clearly see the divide between the Big Pinko house and the house next to it. The sculpture can be seen from different sides and the spectator surrounds it. At the ‘entrance’ there are machines that look like construction tools. I was not sure if it was placed there purposely, however the bare land and the tools was what set the context of urban planning and renewal.
<no author>,‘Tony Schwensen’ http://www.ozarts.com.au/artists/tony_schwensen
<no author>,‘New Minto neighbourhood rises in Western Sydney’,
<http://www.housing.nsw.gov.au/About+Us/News+and+Newsletters/News+
Articles/Previous+News+Articles/News+2008/New+Minto+neighbourhood+rises+in+
Western+Sydney.htm>, ‘One Minto’ website http://www.oneminto.com.au/location.aspx
<no author>, <http://www.twothousand.com.au/look/big-pinkco-cy-and-dusty/>
Carlson, Marvin. “Performance Art.” Performance: A Critical Introduction. 2nd Edition London and New York: Routledge, 2004 (1996).
[1] Carlson, Marvin. “Performance Art.” Performance: A Critical Introduction. 2nd Edition London and New York: Routledge, 2004 (1996).
[2] <no author>,‘Tony Schwensen’ <http://www.ozarts.com.au/artists/tony_schwensen>
[3] http://www.twothousand.com.au/look/big-pinkco-cy-and-dusty/
[4] <no author>,‘New Minto neighbourhood rises in Western Sydney’, <http://www.housing.nsw.gov.au/About+Us/News+and+Newsletters/News+
Articles/Previous+News+Articles/News+2008/New+Minto+neighbourhood+rises+in+
Western+Sydney.htm>, ‘One Minto’ website <http://www.oneminto.com.au/location.aspx>
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