Brandon Woolf to Present Site-Specific Performance THE MEND in Brooklyn This October

It's been four years since The Console, and this October, performance artist Brandon Woolf is back on the sidewalks of Brooklyn on "The Mend." Equipped with an antique, foot-powered sewing machine, Woolf will take up residence at the base of the stairs of Central Library offering to repair neighbors' garments for free. The only problem is: he doesn't know how to sew! As the collective reckoning of the U.S. Presidential election looms large, "The Mend" offers hope, humor, and the opportunity for collaborative remedy. Will neighbors stop by? Will they offer to help? Will the community work together to fix what it doesn't know how to fix? "The Mend" blends conceptual performance with community-based art offering audiences a chance to repair the proverbial fabric in the face of its great unraveling.

Performance Details:

• Dates: October 4 to November 4, 2024; performance times at www.themend.nyc
• Location: The sidewalk at the base of the stairs of Central Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11234
• Tickets: This performance is free and open to all members of the public

"The Mend" continues Brandon Woolf's career-long investigation of performance's potential as a public, and fundamentally civic practice. Can performance help us to fix something that is broken, antiquated, defunct? In the literal shadow of one of Brooklyn's most beloved public institutions, this project invites Brooklyn's neighbors to convene, collaborate, and publicly imagine a collective stitch forward - even if we don't know just where that stitch leads.

As Brandon Woolf says: "I'll be there to repair your holy tatters and busted seams. Your plaids and gaberdines. The challenge is: I don't know a bobbin winder from a feed dog. I have no idea (yet) how to bind a bias or patch a tear. But I will try to fix any garment you bring by. Please join me, raw edges and all, for a dart or a tack. And maybe together we can help a once and future Singer sing in the face of great uncertainty."

The performance is free and designed for all passersby to take part. Please stop by with your care-worn threads and your cares. We'll do our best to stitch them into something whole again.

About Brandon Woolf:

Brandon Woolf is an interdisciplinary theater artist and a scholar of contemporary performance. Over the last fifteen years, he co-founded and co-directed three public performance ensembles - Culinary Theater, Shakespeare im Park Berlin, and the UC Movement for Efficient Privatization [UCMeP]. Brandon has recently presented performances at Kennedy Center, Harlem Stage, Invisible Dog Arts Center, Jewish Museum of Maryland, Target Margin Theater, Brooklyn College, Freie Universität Berlin, Prelude Festival, 14th Street Y, Fulton Center, NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Center, Harvard University's Mahindra Humanities Center, and a USPS mailbox on Prospect Park West. He is currently clinical associate professor at New York University, where he directs the Program in Dramatic Literature. www.brandonwoolfperformance.com

For more information, visit www.themend.nyc or follow the project on social media @brandonwoolfperformance

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