As luck would have it, Lady Luck herself caught up with us to answer a few of our questions
Aiop: Tell us about Maya Seuss
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| Photo courtesy of Maya Seuss |
MS: I’m a performance artist, and I consider myself that even when I make drawings. My drawings have personality, and use the human body and theatrical narrative as a central point. I work a lot with songs, of which the lyrics are a large part. Similarly, language in the form of a title adds a lot to the content of my drawings. Humor is important to my work; I think it’s important that we humans don’t take ourselves too seriously.
Though I’ve only lived in New York for four years, I’ve always said that New York City is a huge part of my personal Mythology; and it is! My family on my father’s side is now onto five generations of New Yorkers, but my genealogical limb interwove with some Canadiana and I was born on a small island off the west coast of Canada. My father is a professional storyteller and I was his first audience; in this way my personal history, both fictional and non, became spiced with New York flavor. I like to think my personality is a balanced blend of New York energetic hustler and west coast Canadian mellow mystic.
Aiop: How is the preparation coming along for your piece this October?
MS: I’m working on a series of pieces (video, drawings and performances) that explore the occult: magical forces of the un-seeable. Lady Luck fits into this series as a playful way to invite the possibility of magic into the public sphere. In preparation for Lady Luck I am consulting “experts” –people who work with unseen forces- to determine the most effective way to impart “luck” onto willing recipients. I am also developing our costumes and sourcing Lucky Ladies. It’s coming together, and on October 2nd our team of Ladies will be equipped with the necessary skills and uniforms to effectively offer Luck on 14th Street.
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| Photo courtesy of Maya Seuss |
Aiop: What's your favorite spot on 14th street?
MS: I think my favorite thing on 14th Street may be the big neon sign for Psychic Readings by Donna between 7th and 8th Avenues. I haven’t been inside psychic Donna’s den, but that neon sign definitely leaves one wondering what mysteries lie inside.
Aiop: Any message to the people who will be in 14th street during the festival?
MS: A message to people who will be perusing, dashing, meandering and trotting: every one knows that New York has magic in the air. During the month of October (at least) remember to grab some of it.
Aiop: What's your lucky number?
MS: My lucky number is 222. It’s for egocentric reasons, I was born on February 22nd. And I celebrated my 22nd birthday on the 22nd day of the 2nd month on the year 2000. I come from parents who are mystical believers, and my dad thought that having a daughter born on 222 was just the bee’s knees. Also, my younger sister was born on 111: November 1st.
Aiop: Write a fortune that would appear in a fortune cookie. (To be tweeted to all of our followers during the festival)
MS: “You will pass yourself in another dimension today, make sure not to meet your own eyes or bad luck with befall you.”
Aiop: What's the strangest encounter that you've had as pedestrian living in New York?
MS: My strangest encounter in New York, though I’ve had many wild and wonderful ones, was actually with a mouse. I was walking along 23rd street and out of the corner of my eye I notices something blow in front of my feet. I stopped and looked down. There sitting at my toes, looking straight up at me was a tiny brown mouse. We stared into each other’s eyes for perhaps a minute before it scuttled away. Though I’m sure my sense of time was off, it was definitely a significant amount to engage in a staring contest with a mouse.
Don't forget to visit her website, http://www.mayaseuss.com/ to know more about her work. You can also find out when and where she will bestow luck during the festival by visiting the Art in Odd Places website
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