Monochromatic May – FLATCHESTEDMAMA

Monochromatic May daily photos: L= self-portrait, R = photo by Ryan Crase.

I adopted an entirely grey wardrobe (underclothing and accessories included) for the month of May.
Monochromatic May was performed in five consecutive Mays: 2007 through 2011.
Monochromatic May was exhibited at Gallery4Culture in May of 2010.

Grey is the color between all and nothing. It can reflect confidence, independence and careerism (all) or looming weather, anger and depression (nothing). During the month of May, I adopted an entirely grey wardrobe (underclothing and accessories included). Silver was allowed in the way of zippers, jewelry and a few accent items. Black and white made appearances by thread or button, but no stripes or polka dots were worn. The integration of simple, self-created boundaries with daily-life performances like Monochromatic May provides me with a heightened awareness of my 2004 decision to merge art and life.

Below are some YouTube links from videos created in 2011:
Frequently asked questions:
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Daily photos:
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Monochromatic May’s vocabulary words:
[embedplusvideo height=”402″ width=”500″ standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/j2DAT4FkTRg?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=j2DAT4FkTRg&width=500&height=402&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=0&chapters=&notes=” id=”ep3299″ /]

Contents of purse:
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Monochromatic May jumping with Andrea J. Gardner and Sian Wu:
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Color Court:
I held Color Court previous to going in to Monochromatic May. At Color Court, the audience would scrutinize and vote ‘grey ‘or ‘nay’ on my wardrobe items, making sure all items were truly grey. Majority vote ruled. Silver always started the biggest conversation. I liked to say that silver is grey with a party going on but most of the audience disagreed and would vote ‘nay’ on it. Once Color Court had taken place, I could make no additions to the wardrobe until the next year, and any new items would have to go through that year’s Color Court. Items that don’t pass Color Court go to color corrections and are NOT worn in that year’s Monochromatic May (but they can try again next year). Color Courts were held at the Phinney Ridge Art Center, Grey Gallery and Lounge (fitting!) and Vermillion Art Gallery and Wine Bar. Video below is from 2011, at Vermillion:
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The results of Color Court 2011 are explained here:
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Thank you for your interest and have a grey~t day!