Habeas Corpus Project

The Habeas Corpus Project is a long-term series of art/performance project conceived and organized by Jeff Casey in conjunction with other artists. Its goal is to explore the modern understandings of death, grief and mourning. In a culture such as ours where the death, mourning and grief are regarded as private matters, the aim is to bring the dead into the public space and derive meaning from public contemplation of human loss.

Mourning and Melancholy Interview Project

Mourning and Melancholy Interview Project was developed by Jeff Casey and Cecilia Eloisa Leon. Quite simply this is a performance piece in which individuals are asked questions about death, grieving and related subjects. Individual audience members are invited to set opposite the interviewer and answer questions. Each interviewee is asked a different question and are given the opportunity to ask the interviewer questions as well. The performance is a part of the Hebeas Corpus project.

The Interview Project was performed as part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison 4D Art Show on Nov. 4, 2011. The performance was abruptly, and comically, cut short by a fire alarm. No one was hurt.

There Then in That House

"There Then in That House" is a video installation project created by Jeff Casey. The video was part of the Ossuary exhibit curated by Laurie-Beth Clark at the Chazen Museum of Art (2012). The video consists of two elements. First, the audio is a poetic text in memory of Aeyn Edwards. The text was originally part of a solo performance, "Sacred and Profane." Second, the video images that run throughout were contributed by volunteers who filmed their beds first thing in the morning after waking up. This part of the project was inspired by Félix González-Torres' "Untitled (1991)" billboard.

Sacred and Profane

Sacred and Profane is a monologue written and performed by Jeff Casey on the subject of the relationship between the living and the dead. It is primarily composed of original material, including a short poetic text. The performance also includes portions of other texts, including Maurice Blanchot's essay "Friendship," Thornton Wilder's Our Town, and a love note written by Aeyn Edwards to Tim Morris, who died in 2011 and 2006, respectively.

Sacred and Profane was performed on Dec. 2, 2011 at the Performance Festival at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

John Casey's Body

John Casey's Body is a solo project written and performed by Jeff Casey on the subject of memory, death, heredity and the relationship between the past and the present. The performance begins with the unveiling of some of the possessions inherited from his father. John Casey's Body was performed as part of the Open Stages Series of Forms at the Univ. Wisconsin-Madison, Nov. 6, 2010.

Some Things Which Must Be Kept

Some Things Which Must Be Kept is an installation piece that includes items contributed to the Habeas Corpus Memorial Project, ephemera and take-aways from performance art pieces and relics of the dead. It was installed at the Gelsy Verna Gallery at the Art Lofts of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, February 12-21, 2012.

The following is the curator's statement which accompanied the instillation, which includes a list of items presented in the installation:

I’ve had my current wallet for about 17 years. It is a bulky leather number that used to have a belt chain. The chain fell off at some point; the leather just wore out, as if the wallet had outgrown the chain. God knows I had outgrown it. The wallet was already second-hand when Joshua gave it to me. The last time we saw each other, he was about to move to China—Shanghai, I think. He appeared to be losing the battle with his hairline. Joshua hasn’t replied to e-mail in years. Some day the wallet will fall apart, and I’ll put it under my bed inside the box in which I keep all of those things that can’t be thrown away: old letters, postcards, artifacts of the dead, personal memorabilia....

I think we imagine that relics exist to serve us, to be our reminders of the past, but perhaps we exist to service the relic, to maintain and preserve it, like a white elephant that cannot be put to work, recycled or discarded. If history is the orderly repurposing of the past into the future, relics are the obstinate holdouts, temporal squatters.

Matches: take-away from The Pulses of My Ghosts by Erin Hood (2011).

Yahrzeit candles: memorial contribution by Laurie Beth Clark to Habeas Corpus (2011).

Jar with soil and paper: memorial contribution by Jenn Rocheleau to Habeas Corpus (2011).

Tennis ball sleeve and paper: ephemera from the production of Hermetic written by Jeff Casey, directed by Tim Hamilton (2010).

Journal: relic once given to Tim Morris (d. 2006) by Aeyn Edwards Wheat (d. 2011).

Seed packet: take-away from The Forgiveness Project by Douglas Rosenberg (2010).

Unknown object: ephemera from Metro Goldwyn Mayer performance by Jeff Casey (2011).

Melon baller: take-away from The Melon Workshop by Spatula and Barcode (2011).

Spiral-bound notebook: relic of Bernice Thompson Casey (d. 2003).

Index card: takeaway from Bookless art evening (2012).

Plaque & metals: relics of John Willie Casey (d. 1986).

Paper towel role: memorial contribution by Erin Hood to Habeas Corpus (2012).

Poster: take-away from Untitled (Silver Beach) (1990) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres (d. 1996).

Cloud drawing: ephemera from An Attempt at Negative Capability by Andrew Salyer (2010).

Piece of dress: ephemera from Cut Piece as performed by Katrina Schaag (2011).

Memorial Project

The Memorial project is interactive. Individuals are invited to commemorate or enact a memorial to someone they have lost. The memorial can be an object, an action or a piece of writing--big or small.

Participants are asked to document their memorialization in whatever manner they feel comfortable, with an understanding that the emphasis in this project is as much on the act of honoring the lost, as on any material product. Contributors thus far have included Andrew Salyer, Erin Briddick, He Xue, Jennifer Rocheleau, and Laurie Beth Clark.

If you are interested in participating in this project, please e-mail Jeff Casey.

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