This year is particularly dear for me because it was 40 years ago, March 20, 1982, that I did my first performance/installation, Coming From Blindness into Sight, in the lobby of One World Trade Center, to celebrate the Vernal Equinox and my official name change to SuZen,
I stood behind a set of black mini blinds, that were attached to my 6’ x 12’ folding screen of my photos of the World Trade Center seen through blinds. These images are part of my Blindseries. As I moved to a soundtrack that I created, a friend hiding behind a curtain, opened and closed the blinds to my movements. At a certain moment on the soundtrack, there was an explosion, I fell to the ground, there was silence and then the blinds lifted up. Looking out at the audience, I slowly got up and heard a voice on the soundtrack say, “Take a Chance“. As I emerge, I began swaying and stripping away my dark layers of clothes, symbolic of my old identity, and revealing my colorful clothes and true self. Then I selected a young man from the audience, as we danced, we invited the audience members to join us in the dance of life. It was truly a magical day!
Attached are some photos, which my dear friend, Keni Fine, took. Keni will be performing at this year’s Spirit of Spring Festival of the Arts making a special appearance as Goldee Goldsteen.
Dancing with Nelson Zayas. Photo by Keni Fine.
SuZen standing next to her 6’ tall folding screen entitled, “Shades of the World Trade Center”.
Each image is 6’ x 4’ created in 1982