Chrysanna Stathacos, biCHANCE
January 9-11, 2004
 
PARTICIPANT INC presents biCHANCE, an installation and performance by CHRYSANNE STATHACOS. Stathacos constructed a large-scale rose mandala on the floor of the gallery, plucking roses apart petal by petal, while inviting the audience to participate in this process. By the third day the mandala fit the entirety of the gallery.
 
Stathacos navigates the territory of interactive public artworks and holistic art interventions. Her work is a cross-cultural hybrid within the conceptual framework of a minimal sculptural installation, with structures for the public to use for meditation, protection, and wishing. These works have references to Zen sand gardens (Japan), mounds of prayer stones (Asia, Middle East), flower mandalas (India), prayer flags (Tibet), maypoles (Europe) and wishing trees (everywhere). All cultures have used natural and alchemical elements as a starting point for wishing and praying actions. It is the form and conceptual structure of these actions, unique to each place, that have a significant relationship to contemporary performance and interactive art. These actions reveal our deep interconnection to each other and nature, overcoming barriers of language.