Nine days in a boat in Bothell

For the Enterprise

A unique site-specific art happening, “Destination: Country Village,” by Amy-Ellen F. Trefsger, launches July 1 for a nine day mooring at the Bothell shopping center.

Trefsger’s “Destination: Country Village” is presented as a preview of SITE-SPECIFIC/2006 King County Performance Network, a series of site-specific art happenings. The program takes art out of theaters, museums and galleries, and integrates it into the daily life, work and play of King County residents. “Site-specific” art happenings — art performances, installations or events created in direct and specific response to their locale — are scheduled to take place in communities in King County from August through October 2006.

Country Village is a collection of 45 specialty shops, which includes an antique store, glass blowing studio, wine shop and day spa, located in a garden setting complete with ducks, rabbits, roosters and train rides. Trefsger will live in a stationary boat located on the grounds of the Village for nine days, with nothing more than a cot, a desk, clothing and the necessary toiletries. Outfitted in a selection of nautical wear, she will spend her time roaming through the village, greeting and interacting with shoppers and visitors.

“The desire to reside in the boat at Country Village comes from an artistic drive and a strong sense of nostalgia for the silence and serenity of the rural setting that I grew up in,” Trefsger said of her work, continuing, “I enjoy examining mundane aspects of every day life, drawing attention to their humorous intricacies via public performance.”

The piece continues an ongoing theme in Trefsger’s work, temporarily residing in or inhabiting public spaces, that first began with a 40-day stint living in the gallery at Center on Contemporary Art during the group show “Domicile: A Sense of Place” in 2004.

Following her preview performance of “Destination: Country Village,” Trefsger will participate in the regular SITE-SPECIFIC season with a work titled “Urban Beach Scenes.” She will travel throughout King County in September and October 2006, re-living her summer childhood vacations at the seashore by bringing the beach with her to various settings and documenting herself in sand and beach wear.

A collaboration between 4Culture, King County Local Arts Agencies (LAA’s), and King County performing artists, the King County Performance Network was created in 1997 to link contemporary artists and organizations with suburban arts commissions and councils, their performance venues, and their audiences. For the past eight years, the King County Performance Network has brought contemporary performances to theater venues in suburban communities throughout King County. In 2005, the Network began a two-year focus on site-specific performances, taking contemporary art out of the theater, and integrating it into the daily life, work and play of suburban audiences.

The 2005 SITE-SPECIFIC season featured 15 artists commissioned to create site-specific performances for 19 communities — including Printer’s Devil Theatre’s “The IKEA Cycle” at IKEA in Renton; SuttonBeresCuller’s “There Goes the Neighborhood,” a mobile living room that traveled to venues throughout King County; and other performances in shopping malls, libraries, coffee shops, parking lots and public parks throughout King County.