(New York, New York) UBS Financial Building

Every business day from Noon - 1pm, professional actor Jerry Goralnick performed a scripted routine, which took place at a public lunch table outside the UBS Financial Building in Midtown Manhattan.

A single detailed script was created involving a range of activities that would happen at specific moments within the hour. Some of these actions included recieving a phone call, peeling an orange, leaning against a tree, as well as more subtle gestures such as rubbing his earlobe or peering up at a nearby window.

The script was repeated flawlessly for 62 consecutive business days.

The audience, which consisted mainly of UBS employees, became aware of Jerry's uncanny consistency and predictability, yet never suspected anything unnatural. His presence blended seamlessly with the architecture and design of the building.

Ironically, as the subject, Jerry himself became a diligent spectator and observer of the daily happenings of the UBS building.

As part of the daily performance, Jerry was scripted to "pull out a notebook and write for 5 minutes". He was asked to write anything that came to mind and approach these writings in any way he wanted.

What was recorded in this notebook was an unexpected surprise. 62 pages of mental wanderings directly inspired by the immediate environment of UBS.

Besides a few snapshots (all staged), the only documentation for this project is this journal, an extremely unique document that records first-hand the Life/Theater Project: Jerry Goralnick.

A publication of this journal will be available soon.

This project was part of the exhibition:
25 Years Later: Welcome to Art in General

August 16–November 9, 2007
The UBS Art Gallery

An exhibition on the occasion of Art in General’s 25th Anniversary, with artworks and projects by Alejandro Cesarco, Kianga Ford, Chitra Ganesh and Mariam Ghani, Sharon Hayes, Timothy Hutchings, Surasi Kusolwong, Bik Van der Pol, Ana Prvacki, Jirí Skála, and Lee Walton.