Melissa Koziebrocki performs "Sit and Spin" in Eastman Studio
In winter 2025, Fellow Melissa Koziebrocki created Sit and Spin in Eastman Studio. The performance, held on February 17, featured a suspended yoke (discovered in a corner of one of MacDowell’s historic barns) carved with the initials XIX and MJM, echoing the legacy of Marian and Edward MacDowell’s oxen. After detailed measurements, Koziebrocki sculpted a foam double of herself, and together they circled in unison, bearing the yoke’s weight. During the 27-minute performance, the space resonated with the sounds of piano, wind, and echoes of the past. The audience was invited to capture any unique sound with a microphone. When the rotations came to an end, the yoke was lifted, carried, and released - embodying themes of labor, memory, and connection.
Performance by Melissa Koziebrocki
Filmed by Sofian Khan
"Sit and Spin"
From the artist:
"I, Melissa Koziebrocki, lived and breathed the site of the Dawnlands on the lands of the Western Abanaki Peoples at the barn at the Louise Eastman Studio from January 10 to February 23, 2025. It was inspiring. It was perfect. The site-specific artwork, Sit and Spin (2025), was made in collaboration with the piano playing ghosts, the barnyard animals of the original 1916 Colony Hall, and current MacDowell Fellows (including documentation captured by Sofian Khan and Benjamin Akio Kimitch). The live performance of Sit and Spin took place on the evening of February 17, 2025. The new artwork was born from a yoke and hitching post that was living in the kiln room. After conversations with the maintenance crew, they hung the yoke from the rafters using rope and Purcell knots that functioned as harnesses. After thorough measurements with calipers, rulers, and measuring tape, I began carving a copy of myself in foam to help carry the load of the yoke. During the live performance of Sit and Spin, my double sculpture and I walked hand-in-hand. We walked in circles. This action was repeated. It began with untying the Purcell knot. I got down on my hands and knees under the yoke for a silent prayer and lifted the yoke with the strength of my back. Carved into the oxen’s yoke were the numbers XIX and MJM. We crawled slowly in unison. Together, we rotated 360 degrees and we ended where we began. I looked at each person in the audience’s eyes and asked my fellow artists to capture any unique sound with a microphone. Two Fellows participated. Overall, I cut the rope loose, rotated, rested, and left. The lights went down. I closed the door to the studio behind me. The audience applauded. MacDowell is filled with spirits. The sounds of the piano clinking reverberated in the walls of the barn and Main Hall during the performance. The winds blew the screen door back-and-forth. The energy remains from a hundred years of MacDowell parties. The grunts of the oxen pushing the carts echoed hauling ice to the icebox on and on. Edwards MacDowell’s name (ED) appeared upside down and backwards in my sculpture. To work with Marian’s yoke was an honour. I feel connected to the space and my fellow artists (both before and after me)."