Brian Feldman (artist)

Brian Feldman (born April 1, 1981) is an American fringe theatre performance artist whose work often involves "bizarre feats of endurance".[1]

Brian Feldman
NationalityAmerican
Occupationperformance artist
Years active2003–present

Background

Feldman was raised in Orlando, Florida, where as a child he performed in television commercials for Disney and Nickelodeon.[2] His parents, Edward Feldman and Marilyn Wattman-Feldman, and sister, Adrienne McIntosh,[3][4] have all participated in his performance art.[1][3] He is based in Washington, DC and Orlando, and has received fellowships from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.[1]

Performances

Feldman's first performance art piece, staged in 2003, was The Feldman Dynamic,[5] in which Feldman, his parents, and sister have dinner onstage before an audience.[3] The Feldman Dynamic was later staged as part of the New York Fringe Festival.[6]

Other shows involving his parents have included 24 Hour Embrace on Father's Day in 2011, in which Feldman and his father hugged 24 hours inside a boxing ring,[1] and 24 Minute Embrace on Mother's Day in 2015, in which Feldman and his mother hugged for 24 minutes each in Orlando, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia.[3]

In a 2010 piece designed to protest Florida's laws against same-sex marriage, called Brian Feldman Marries Anybody, Feldman "promised to legally marry any woman who showed up at the Orange County Courthouse at a specific date and time".[7] Feldman married "relative stranger" Hannah Miller, and the marriage was annulled in 2011.[8]

In the show Dishwasher, Feldman goes to an audience member's home, washes their dishes, and then performs a monologue of the audience member's choosing, ending with the question: "Am I a better actor or dishwasher?"[2] Dishwasher has been performed in Central Florida[8] and in DC as part of the Capital Fringe Festival.[3]

Other Feldman performances include txtshow in DC, in which Feldman gives audience members anonymous Twitter accounts, and then sits onstage reading out messages as they come in;[3][5] Brian Feldman's William Shakespeare's Macbeth, where he repeated the word "Macbeth" more than 17,000 times over nearly three hours in an amphitheater at Orlando's Lake Eola Park, while wearing a hockey mask in front of an audience given earplugs;[1] and Wawa Shabbawa, in DC and Florida, a shabbat dinner held at a Wawa convenience store.[9][5][10]

Interpretation

Feldman's art frequently makes use of repetition, the passage of time, and audience participation, often revealing "more about the people seeing the show than" about himself.[3] Feldman's work has been compared to Tehching Hsieh and Marina Abramovic, but "more playful".[2] Feldman has said of his work: "It’s a little terrifying and fear is a driving force. Fear of the unknown is exciting."[3]

References
  1. Spata, Christopher (28 March 2017). "Performance artist squeezing oranges for 140 hours in St. Pete — then he'll wash your dishes". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  2. Judkis, Maura (18 July 2015). "For Fringe actor Brian Feldman, all the kitchen's a stage, and all the dishes merely dirty". Washington Post. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  3. Kurzius, Rachel (14 August 2015). "DCist Becomes #BFFs With Prolific Performance Artist Brian Feldman". DCist. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  4. Palm, Matthew J. (24 April 2015). "Brian Feldman plans a Mother's Day hug to remember". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  5. Kurzius, Rachel (5 February 2018). "In Which Performance Artist Brian Feldman Celebrates Shabbat in Wawa". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  6. Hart, Anne Larimer (13 July 2015). "What It's Like to Have Brian Feldman Wash Your Dishes". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  7. Sullivan, Erin (15 February 2016). "Artist Brian Feldman was injured in a mugging and needs your help". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  8. Fraser, Trevor (3 February 2017). "Performance artist Brian Feldman will come to your house to perform a monologue — and wash your dishes". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  9. Spata, Christopher (7 March 2018). "Performance artist's latest: A traditional Shabbat at a Wawa picnic table in Tampa". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  10. Kubersky, Seth (October 31, 2018). "I was swift to RSVP for Wawa Shabbawa on Oct. 26, not knowing the significance that Shabbat would take on". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
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