Grapefruit

Self Interview by L. Valena

What did you choose to start out the Cyan stream?

I chose a grapefruit. I presented Ariel with a grapefruit, in a box, with no explanation or instruction whatsoever.

And what does a grapefruit mean to you?

Grapefruits are beautiful fruits. They are delicious, they have a very unique flavor, and are kind of underrepresented, if a fruit can be underrepresented. They have a certain zestiness that is unlike anything else. The smell of a grapefruit is transportive in a way that other fruits I don’t really think… I mean, everyone’s different, but for me, they just have such a unique and complicated smell and flavor. I’m just a big fan- I usually have a good day if it starts with half a grapefruit.

I was also thinking of Yoko Ono. I went to see her retrospective show at the Whitney a few years ago, and it was just amazing. So much of the work she presented at that show was mind blowing and interdisciplinary. And I think she would dig this project. There’s a book that she wrote called Grapefruit, which I read in high school. It’s a book of different ideas for performance pieces, almost instructions. And most of them don’t really make any sense- it’s very surreal. For example, in one of these ‘performances’, the participant is instructed to set all of the clocks in the world ahead by two seconds without telling anyone.

These are scripts for performances that really become thought experiments, and the book jacket has a note to the reader. It says ‘burn this book after you’ve read it’. As a teenager, I thought was the sexiest thing in the world. The idea of writing a book in which part of the act of reading that book is destroying it is wild. I admire that level of confidence in engaging with an audience, and I love the surreal quality of the sentiment.

How does that relate to this project?

Well, the surrealists believed that creative genius could be a shared experience. Their ideas are very much where this project’s theoretical basis is rooted. I don’t know if Yoko Ono would call herself a surrealist, but a lot of her work has a subversive and dreamlike quality that I would say at least puts her in that sandbox. Starting this stream out with a grapefruit is my way of giving her a shout out, and highlighting how these ideas manifest in different peoples art and through different voices. This project is a way I’m hoping we can come together to harness that energy.

Call Number: C0FD | C1FD.vaGra