The Pin, 2025performative intervention
What exactly is everyone participating in? Taking place at both the High Line and Frieze Art Fair in New York City, The Pin was an intervention set in motion by eleven performers who blended in with the public, identifiable only by a pin on their shirts. They canvassed the venues, approaching unsuspecting passersbys to ask “Can you keep a secret?”Those who said yes were offered ‘the pin’ and told if they decided to wear it, they would become part of the performance – but they would have to keep the performance, and the meaning of the pin, a secret. The performers casually pointed out others wearing the pin, and shared public information about the performance, but to any additional questions they’d reply “I can’t share any more details” and gave no further instructions regarding what to do or how to participate. Participants had to observe the environment, and started to exchange glances and knowing nods with other pin-wearers. They were always greeted warmly by the performers, and if they were initially confused by the familiarity with which these strangers greeted them, it didn’t take long to catch on and start doing the same things themselves. While the ‘insiders’ would get to experience a kind of belonging, the greetings stood out enough at the fair that those without the pin would notice something was up. Someone commented to their pin-wearing friend "Oh god you know everyone here!” after the participant continually greeted other pin-wearers. Meanwhile at the High Line, the performers were playing music and hanging out around a cooler filled with drinks. When anyone with a pin would pass by they’d greet them excitedly, and if the pin-wearer stopped they’d be offered a drink and included in the hangout. Some participants stayed for a long time and even returned the next day. Some started to offer drinks themselves, and subtly excluded those who didn’t have the pin, even if they knew them or arrived together. By the logic of the performance, those wearing the pin shared a social consequence, and had to navigate the ethics of exclusivity, even if in the end, the secret wasn’t really a secret, but an ambiguous space that the participants filled with their own expectations and agency.
Concept: Pilvi TakalaCurator: Taylor ZakarinAssistant Curator: Constanza ValenzuelaAssistant Director: Reyna Bonaparte-SandozProgram Manager: Camille GillettPin design: Hanna ArvelaActors: Alyssa Alizor, Kevin Emilio Pérez, Amelia “Meg Spectre” Sylvor Greenberg, Petrina Ampeire, Marty Chandler, Eva Dorrepaal, Willem Ehrenfreund, Summer Gan, Justin Hofstad, Yuki Kawahisa, Michael ValladaresThank you: Vanessa Carlos, Constant Dullaart, Stine Marie Jacobsen, Maria Pulli
Co-commissioned by High Line Art and Frieze.
Documentation: Filip Wolak and Charlie Rubin. Courtesy of Friends of the Highline and Frieze; Casey Kelbaugh. Courtesy of Frieze and CKA.
