September 18, 2019 907 PM
This Saturday, September 21, 2019, Marfa Live Arts presents Domina de Bardo by Marfa-based artist collaborative Saint Profanus. This site-specific, durational installation will be open to the public at the Presidio County Courthouse. The performance begins at 5pm and will conclude at 9pm. This is a free event and guests are invited to arrive anytime between 5pm-8pm.
Domina de Bardo is inspired by the ten foot statue of the Lady of Justice that sits atop the cupola sans her traditional symbolic attributes. When kb Thomason and Ria Leigh (Saint Profanus) moved to Marfa two years ago, one of the first things they noticed was the statue’s missing elements—her sword, scales, and blindfold. Marfa Live Arts approached the artists to collaborate on a project which spurred a dialogue about the concept of things “missing” in Marfa. The Lady of Justice became a point of reference and intrigue for the artists to develop an installation and performance in the cupola.
The project began with a series of outreach initiatives designed to engage the local population and probe into collectively held conceptions of memory, meaning, and justice. The artists spoke to local historians and elders to investigate the mystery of the absent attributes. A story shared numerous times involved a citizen unhappy with Presidio County governance in the late 1890s pulling out a rifle as he left the courthouse and shooting the accessories out of the statue’s hands, proclaiming “there is no justice in Presidio County.” There is another popular tale of a young man putting a bikini on the statue in the 1970s. Other anecdotes include a swarm of bees surrounding the statue’s visage in the 1990s.
These early conversations were the genesis of a year-long project that explores private vs public space, concepts of impartiality, and Marfa as a community today. To further this dialogue the Domina de Bardo performance will feature guides Atropos – the past, Clotho –the present, and Lachesis – the future. Both Marfa Live Arts and the artists strive to create community-engaged art and to this end, local audience members will see some familiar faces during the performance, including local West Texas residents Lily Aguero, Diff Torres, Rose Belen Garcia, Tom Schmidt, and Sauvignon Blanca.
Marfa Live Arts Associate Director and producer of Domina de Bardo Emma Rogers explains how important audience attendance and participation is to the success of the performance, “We hope to see a large audience this Saturday. This is an active event in which visitors will be immersed into an environment created by the artists. Audiences will explore the courthouse transformed. Every element viewers will see was created by the artists, from the costuming, to the sounds, to the installations. Audience participation is essential as this experience requires the audience to be fully realized in a different way than visiting a museum or passively attending a traditional seated performance.”
Domina de Bardo takes place this Saturday September 21, 2019 from 5pm–9pm at the Presidio County Courthouse in Marfa, TX. (Please arrive no later than 8pm.) The event is free and open to the public.
For more information, please visit www.marfalivearts.org/domina-de-bardo.
