Instructions for Head Carpenters -- PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!
Be at BOILER at 2:00pm sharp on Saturday Nov. 7 and Sunday Nov. 8. 191 N.14th Street, Williamsburg Brooklyn.
((link to map))
Dress warmly! The BOILER ironically has no heat and it's chilly in there. At the gallery you will be given a hammer if you need one, a timer, a nail apron, bags of nails, an ID tag and a lunchbox
We'll talk through the piece, familiarize everybody with the tasks, the timers and a couple of hand signals. Then we'll do some test tasks and eventually a full run. It should take about 2 hours, and then you'll have 2 hours off before the Able Carpenters arrive to warm up, get a snack etc.
You'll be in teams of 1 Head Carpenter (HC) and 6 - 8 Able Carpenters. I am hoping that the thing can self-organize somewhat, and your team will find you, but keep an eay out for them.
There are 5 basic actions in this piece (with a couple variations we will discuss:
1. Rustling small or large nails in the bag - (swirl bag of nails with circular motion)
2. Shaking the nail apron
3. Hammering small or large nails into your board
4. Eating lunch
5. Hammering your board
Important notes
--> Clothing: work clothes with a light colored top. The definition of work clothing is open to interpretation. Most carpenters I’ve worked with wear trashed jeans and a T-shirt, but feel free to get as elaborate as you like. Some people are bringing hard hats and coveralls, all good.
--> Please be on time. There will be a fair amount of organizing to accomplish.
What will happen:
The piece begins with 4 whistles from the Job Supervisor (me), HC’s will start their clocks on the fourth whistle and follow the scores. Try to be aware of communicating your actions to your Able Carpenters. Get as much eye contact as you can, make your gestures large and comprehensible. Please don’t talk during the performance, and please avoid hamming it up. Simple, dead-pan task completion is what we are after.
When hammering nails, remember that the goal is to have the sound of hammering, and lots of it; there is no point in sinking the nail with the fewest blows. Sink the nail almost all the way, but leave the head sticking up a tiny bit -- the reason being that the sound of whacking wood is much louder than whacking nails, and I’d like to stick to the quieter sound.
The piece will end on the third of 3 whistles. Stop hammering on the third whistle, leave hammer, lunchbox, nail bags and apron on the floor at your place. Enjoy the kind appreciation of the people.
THEN IT WILL BE TIME FOR A LOVELY BEER!
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