Printed Matter / St Marks will be hosting Art/Life Counseling via Laughing/Crying sessions with performance artist Linda Montano October 10th from 1 to 4 pm at our outdoor St Marks table

Montano has practiced these interactive healing sessions for decades, guiding her participants through their Chakras. For this performance, Montano will be available via video call, offering 3 to 5 minutes Art/Life counseling sessions to the public. She will ask one question: “What do you wish to Laugh or Cry about?” And then, “Hold your hand on the Chakra associated with your question. We deserve to feel healed. For 3 minutes we will then faux laugh or cry or cry-laugh together. And be glad we feel healed.”

An extensive collection of Montano’s signed books, postcards, exhibition catalogs, and T-shirts will be available for purchase both at Printed Matter / St Marks and through Printed Matter’s web store. A sign-up sheet with timeslots will be available for the Laughing/Crying sessions at our table.

Linda Mary Montano is a visionary figure in contemporary feminist performance art and her work, since the mid 1960s, has been critical in the development of video by, for, and about women. Many of her performances are endurance based, such as Handcuff (1973 with Tom Marioni) where she was physically tied to other artists, and Three Day Blindfold (1974), where she lived for three days blindfolded and had to find her way around. In Art/Life One Year Performance 1983-1984 (Rope Piece), Montano and Tehching Hsieh spent a full year tied together by an 8 foot rope, always in the same room and never allowed to touch. Her 14 Years of Living Art (1984-1998), explored the penances, experiences and intricacies of the seven Chakras.

Attempting to dissolve the boundaries between art and life, Montano continues to actively explore her art/life through shared experience, role adoption, and intricate life altering ceremonies, some of which last for seven or more years. Her artwork is starkly autobiographical and often concerned with personal and spiritual transformation. Montano’s influence is wide ranging – she has been featured at museums including The New Museum in New York, MOCA San Francisco and the ICA in London. You can find her free videos on Youtube.