Bending the Word

Berkeley Art Museum
Saturday January 31, 2009
7:00 p.m.

Performance: Love Can Build a Bridge
Love Can Build a Bridge takes place in Marfa, Texas, as Donald Judd’s kin start arriving from far-flung places on the morning after his death. They descend on their old drinking spot, Roy’s Cotton Club, with its two windows overlooking Donald Judd’s art farm. They are a motley crew—Donald’s estranged wife Naomi Judd and their chubby daughter Wynonna; Ashley Judd, a bitter Hollywood action star battling her addiction to Morgan Freeman; Judd Nelson, Judd’s illegitimate son brought up by Native peoples and practicing secret Indian rainmaking ceremonial rituals; the artists Richard Serra and Ulay and Marina Abramovic, habitués—or prisoners?—of Judd’s legendary art colony; and Ben Gage, his big-city lawyer concealing a terrible secret. In one corner of the bar a mysterious stranger nurses a Roy-jito, Roy’s own twist on the Mojito that involves a twist of cotton floating above the rim of the glass. Who is this wandering stranger and why is she smiling and sobbing?