Sit, Sit, Sit, Sit

After two years of long-distance, telepathic performance—with Robyn Cook in Africa and Lauren von Gogh in Europe—the artists will use a Watermill Center spring residency for Sit, Sit, Sit, Sit, in which they will share the same physical space for the first time. They will inhabit New York City and the East End of Long Island, in addition to the Watermill Center facility and grounds, to undertake a series of experiments and performances relating to their attempts at creating a telepathic connection. Sober&Lonely will document their experience via a range of media including live performance, sound, text and photography in a free public event at Watermill on Saturday, June 12 at 2:30 P.M.

Cook and von Gogh have been collaborating as Sober&Lonely since 2005. They carry out their transnational, multi-disciplinary, experimental performances in the form of a blog at www.soberandlonely.com. The posts, mostly comprised of photos, represent a constant dialogue between the two far-flung artists, although it’s often difficult to tell which artist is the creator, and which the addressee, of any given entry. The geographic distance between them is often palpable, as in a picture of two people on a beach with the headline, “This is where I waited for you, but you never arrived.” While in New York, they will attempt to test whether their telepathic connection has synchronized their thoughts. They will use the project’s various media in new ways once being in the same place has changed the basis of their collaboration. Ultimately, what they create will form a Sober&Lonely book.