Do you ever feel so overwhelmed by what you must accomplish that you have a difficult time focusing on the task at hand? So do I and, more importantly, so does Miss Pin Cushion, who will be at the core of one of the 15 installations in the eighth annual Showtel at Hotel Biba in West Palm Beach.
Each year artists, selected from proposals submitted to Showtel founder and curator Kara Walker-Tomé, transform one to two dozen rooms of the hotel, and even the swimming pool, into works of art. Over the years, many Showtel installations have included a performance element. This year is no exception.
When Showtel opens, Jackie Tufford, a.k.a. the fanciful Miss Pin Cushion, will be in Room 114 demonstrating the frustrations of a seemingly tiny person trying to sew with a very large needle in a room full of giant pins, pincushions, patterns and fabrics.
“Miss Pin Cushion’ is an installation dealing with scale,” explains Tufford, an Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale teacher who has participated in previous Showtel exhibitions. “You have this environment where everything is larger than it would normally be. There will be patterns for dresses hung around the room and large needles and spools and these large pincushions on the floor and this character is just trying to make something but is overwhelmed by everything around her.”
Tufford, who will zero in on our sense of being overwhelmed in a way that may cause us to forget about our pressures, says she came up with the idea for this installation when trying to learn how to sew while feeling overwhelmed with work deadlines and life in general.
Speaking of overwhelmed, Showtel may feel a little less overwhelming than last year when 2,000 people attended the one-night show, resulting in crowds and parking difficulties. Artists have been given more time to transform the rooms and the show has been extended to three nights. Attendees can park in one of the nearby lots or pay $5 for valet parking.
To read about a few of the other Showtel installations, pick up City Link this week.
Showtel is 6-8 p.m. Thursday and 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Hotel Biba, 320 Belvedere Road, West Palm Beach. Tickets for Thursday’s preview are $30 online and include a weekend pass, and tickets for Friday and Saturday are $10 online or $15 at door. For more info, visit Showtel.org.
