It took me a while to decide whether I was going to categorize this piece as “letters” or “culture” (I wish I would have been thoughtful enough to make it a PdVideo piece, but, alas, I was caught in the moment.). The nature of Lewis Forever itself made me put it here. Days later, I’m still not quite sure what to make of it.

Having been in residency at the New Museum for the month of June, the family collective (this time only featuring, Sarah Lewis, Isabel  Lewis and George Lewis Jr.) presented a new work in progress every Thursday night, apparently responding to audience  input and making up their mind as they go along.

So what happened this particular Thursday? Well, prompted by the the siblings we started off in the lobby slow dancing to Chris De Burgh’s “Lady in Red.” I was startled when Sarah gently grabbed me by the hand for a go round; and actually, completely intimidated. I felt like the class loser who was just asked to dance with the prom queen. She was so stunning I completely lost all sense of rhythm and grace (not a good look for someone’s who spends her life in a dance studio).

Once we headed downstairs we were told to sit at our very own art station. In front of me were two pieces of paper; one with a  scene from the gallery the other with paper doll versions of one of the siblings and what was to become our own avatar; sticks, two colored pencils, scissors, and a shot of pepper infused vodka (those who weren’t 21 got juice).  We were instructed to color and create a little story in our spaces. Of course mine wound up being a bondage them (what else do you do with a peg-leg cut out doll and a couch shaped like lips?). Once we’re finished George Jr. (who by the way is a total ROCKSTAR [just trust me or this post will be ten pages long]) raised a toast (ahhh….the vodka makes sense now) to us, to them, to art, to music, to tampons, to bandaids, and to Michael Jackson, who died earlier in the day. We took the shot and threw the plastic cups into the center of the floor, which set the tone for the rest of the evening. A party. A release. A tribute to chaos and art. We threw alot of things into the pit of the room, including, at the end of the night, ourselves.

Just as we had began the evening as community, we ended with it…dancing to MJ and just enjoying the creative spirit.

I still can’t say what it was all about, but I know it was one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time.