Coyote Dry Lake, Palm Desert, California 2006

I chose a site called Coyote Dry Lake that was buzzing with dune buggies, motorcycles and ATV’s; it had a good feel. The work started with a party tent frame measuring 40 x 8 x 20 feet made out of steel poles. I draped the top and sides with camouflage netting. On the front of the structure I framed a 96 x 60 x 3/8 inch sheet of acrylic. This made a large window into the space. On the inside of the acrylic window I hung a foam target.

At 5 am, the day of my performance, I started to smoke two turkeys, a ham, some ribs and a crock of baked beans. I used a water smoking method that requires low temperature heat and a long cooking time. The meat becomes deliciously tender and flavorful. By one in the afternoon, after eight hours of cooking, I served the food and drinks to the arriving guests. I then dawned a ghillie suit and crawled inside the camouflaged space. For 45 minutes I shot sixteen arrows at the foam target as the audience watched from the front and ate lunch.

I love to use water smoking as a method of cooking at home. I wanted to give this meal to my audience. I also grew up hunting a lot as a kid with my father and later as an adult when I lived in lower Manhattan and owned a hunting dog. There was such an extreme contrast to my daily life on the Lower East and the six hours I would spend walking with my hunting dog and shotgun near Poughkeepsie, New York. I made a lot of art about hunting during this time. I like the idea of the audience eating various smoked meats and baked beans while being shot at with arrows.