Six female performers, split into pairs, dressed in black clothing, black shades and bright lipstick, appeared on random days, times and locations throughout Manhattan over a period of two months. To keep the appearances unpredictable, specific neighborhoods were chosen for each unannounced performance. Existing outside of any art frame, The Ladies moved in a particularly slow manner, often remaining in extended stillness. Slowing down time, they disrupted the pace of activity in the public streets and spaces, provoking passersby to react by default.

Directed by: Maria Hassabi
Assistant Director: Jessie Gold
Performers: Biba Bell, Rebecca Brooks, Jessie Gold, Elizabeth Hart, Sarah Beth Percival
Director of Photography: Francis Coy

SHOWS

2015
– Soft City in Malmö, Inter Arts Center, Sweden (September 4-11)

2014
– CentrePasquArt as part of Le Mouvement: The City Performed, Biel, Switzerland (August 30-November 2)

2012
– Cipriani Wall Street, LMCC at The Downtown Dinner 2012, New York (April 23)

2011
– Public Performances, New York (September 17-November 5, 2011)

CREDITS

The Ladies first appeared and were commissioned as part of “Fiction-NonFiction” at Crossing The Line, the fall festival of the French Institute:Alliance Francaise (FIAF). The project was also made possible with funding from the Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston and the Guggenheim Fellowship.