Anne Hamilton – “The Event of A Thread”

Ann Hamilton is a well known artist who in 2012 exhibited her installation “The Event of a Thread” in New York city. The exhibit was highly interactive and featured large curtains that fell down and was propelled by machinery into calm soothing waves. The art piece also had various swings that were just as long as the curtains that the audience could sit on in order to control the curtains. Amidst this, a lone performer sits on a desk and pretends to be a writer as he listens to the speaking of a woman. Although I could not find exactly how many people were involved in the making of this piece, I have found that Ann Hamilton outsourced many of the materials she needed to be made for this project. For example, she gave Rose Brand Sewing a custom job to create the curtains. She also had actors who participated in the project as well as a studio of assistants. This piece, to me, is very provocative since it entices to viewer to enjoy and interact with the piece in ways even the artist couldn’t have guessed. The audience would often lay down under the curtains which, to Hamilton, was very surprising and delightful. The piece is calm, beautiful, and serene while also giving an experience all of its audience can appreciate and adore. This piece uses technology only minimally; the art itself is very organic and may inspire other pieces to incorporate technology in a similarly subtle manner.