FUTURE TENANT - PLAY FESTIVAL

I-Am-A-Heather | April 18th - May 17th, 2008

Are you a Heather?

Heather Horton \| Burlington, Ontario Oil on Canvas Heather Horton was born in Burlington, Ontario, Canada in 1974. She received a B.A. from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and then went on to graduate from the Interpretive Illustration program at Sheridan College in Oakville. Heather was elected into the Ontario Society of Artists in 2007. She was also elected into The Federation of Canadian Artists in 2003 as well as into the Society of Canadian Artists in 2002. Her work can be found in private and corporate collections in Canada, The United States, Germany and The United Kingdom. Heather has recently been profiled for “The Artist’s Life”, a program exploring the creative process that is aired on Bravo! Canada. “My name has a softness to it, like my personality. It is not an abrasive name but rolls off the tongue in a lovely way. I am non-confrontational but yet confident. My name has perhaps aided in nurturing my creative side, as I am now a painter. My parents really liked the name as it went well with my surname.”http://heatherhorton.com/
Miguel Humberto Torres-Urquidy \| Pittsburgh, PA Digital Composition-“Heather Forecast” I have done little art, so, I do not consider myself an artist, but a permanent work in progress. I say this because I admire those who have the maturity to take on the challenge of exposing their ideas to the world. In regards to my work, my biggest achievement has been when the people of the place where I work selected one of my paintings to be put on permanent display. I am thankful for that. I am not submitting because of my name but because my virtual girlfriend and virtual affair are both called Heather. So you could say that I am a "Heather Lover". Both of them know of each other, so I believe that the unwritten rule is that as long as the other is called Heather, they are fine with it. So, in order to keep up with them I realized that I need a tool that would give me the 'Heather Forecast'. My name is very long and it is foreign which creates a multitude of problems. For example, calling my bank usually takes half hour, of which, 20 minutes are spent spelling my name to the operator and making sure he/she got it right. My name is very long and it is foreign which creates a multitude of problems. Have I ever wished I was named something else? Never.
Heather Marie Miller \| Rome, Italy Independent Movie I'm a left-handed, mixed-brained person who works with oil paints, film production and editing, animation, and graphic design. I also make bags and accessories out of post-consumer products and sew for fun. I run. I am a product of the late seventies. My mom proposed it and my father answered with a kiss. That's what they told me. In Italy, no one can pronounce my name: "Esther", "Edder", "Het-hair". I love it when my boyfriend says it. Our name in Italian is Erica; it's the same ower. My best friend growing up was named Bon-Heather. With two older brothers, it made me feel like a part of something.
Heather Kelley \| Montreal, Canada / Pittsburgh, PA Interactive Game I primarily work in "art games" though I also like to make music and sound work. http://moboid.com/ In high school I had my name sewn across the back of my social club jersey. The guy who sat behind me put his hand on my back to cover up the H and said "Hey everybody, check it out. 'Eat Her.' " I feigned offense, but secretly I thought that was pretty cool to have a barely-disguised naughty phrase in my name. I've rebelled against the femininity of Heather. My mental image of most Heathers is of a passive girly-girl. Oh and this name is very English, and difficult for some non-English speakers to pronounce. So it has made me feel less integrated in other language communities where I've lived.
Heather Haley \| Vancouver, BC Video Poem Purple is the colour of a fresh bruise. Haley's latest videopoem, "Purple Lipstick" confronts the insidious nature of domestic violence through compelling juxtapositions. A disembodied female voice employs vivid language, absurdist against a backdrop of banality, images of normal family life. Numb in her isolation and still in her nurse's uniform, a wife and mother prepares dinner. The inherent terror of her homelife is invoked with excruciating tension. Its brutality can only be alluded to. http://www.heatherhaley.com/ I was nearly named "Debbie" which is what my mother wanted. She named my sisters "Donna" and "Diana" and though my father was Ukranian he wore a kilt every chance he got, cried when he heard the bagpipes and loved the name "Heather." So I was lucky to be the first-born, that he won that argument, not that there is anything wrong with the name "Debbie" I just like "Heather" and it suits me. Another funny thing about my name is that my French relatives have a hard time pronouncing it. They say "Hedder."
Baby Teeth \| Chicago, Illinois Musicians We love pop music and top 40, but we all have very weird musical filters, so, when we try to play pop music, it comes out all mangled and strange. But, as a great man once said, "It's still rock and roll to [us]." Once we were playing a promo show at a Virgin Megastore in Chicago, and the DJ would make announcements after every couple songs. At the end, he would always mangle our name in a different way: "The Baby's Teeth... Baby Tooth.... Betty Teeth....", etc. We were pretty bewildered, because we deliberately chose a band name that we thought was as un-fuck-up-able as possible! Oh well. On writing “For the Heathers”… “I think it was because Heather seemed to me like a name that could mean a lot of things. She could be the cheerleader, the pothead, the junkie, the nerd. The name is transcendent, and it really got my creative juices owing, and luckily the other boys felt the same way.”	Pauline Kochanski + Heather Lindahl \| Chicago, IL Photography + Performance My name is Pauline and I am a photographer. My photographs are of my friend Heather Lindahl, a dancer and performance artist. Heather & I have collaborated on a number of projects where I photograph her practicing ideas for a performance. I always wanted a more regular name though now I am comfortable with the name Pauline. I was named for my maternal grandmother. “My favorite name had always been Isabella. But now that I am a mother myself, I spend a lot of time in playgrounds listening to other moms call out "Isabella! Come over here Bell” The name Isabella is everywhere now, it's the new Heather.”-Heather Lindahl
Heather Saunders \| Toronto/Ontario, Canada Mixed Media Sculpture I’m a Toronto-based artist who works in fibers. I have exhibited in British Columbia and Ontario, Canada and last year won Honorable Mention in sculpture at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. Combining skills attained in my Bachelors in Art and Art History (Sheridan College and University of Toronto), Masters in Library and Information Studies (University of Toronto) and Masters in Art History (University of Toronto, forthcoming. My work explores the concept of gender as a social construct, specifically as inuenced by clothing and gender-specific colour coding. The irony is that in these feminist sculptures where the cocoon acts as a metaphor for female socialization, I am complicit: I cast my vote as a consumer when I scour baby stores for ultra-feminine garments. I am admittedly seduced by luscious fabrics in myriad shades of pink; and like a good Victorian, I contentedly stitch and embroider. Although I had never considered the relationship between my name and my work before, I now realize that the frequent emphasis on oral imagery (as a signifier of femininity) may be more than coincidental, considering that heather is a ower. My parents chose the name because it couldn’t be shortened, which gave me a fixed identity. I too have never wanted to change it. I was stunned by the number of women named Heather when I tried to register for my first Hotmail account. Frustrated that every variation I tried (Heather plus various numbers, heatherina@hotmail.com, etc.) was taken, I eventually settled for toomanyheathers@hotmail.com. The address has always made people laugh.	Heather Powell \| Pittsburgh, PA Sculpture A story about my name...The Legend of Heather in Scotland—Long, long ago in Scotland, the famous Celtic bard, Ossian, had a daughter called Malvina. She was beautiful and sweet natured. She won the heart of Oscar, a handsome warrior. They became betrothed, but Oscar left in search of fame and fortune. Malvina pined for him and sought solace by telling her father how much she loved her brave warrior, Oscar. On a beautiful autumn day, the two were sitting on a Highland hillside when a ragged messenger staggered towards them. He brought the terrible news that Oscar had been killed in a mighty battle. The messenger held out a spray of purple heather to Malvina - a last gift from Oscar - and told her that he had died whispering her name and pledging his love. In her grief, Malvina ran over the hillside, weeping bitterly. Where her tears fell, the purple heather turned pure white. When she saw this, she said "May this white heather forever bring good fortune to all those who find it". And so, in Scotland, to this very day, white heather continues to be a token of good luck. Has my name shaped who I am? As much as the world. Do I ever wish for another name? Sometimes.
Elise Roedenbeck \| New York, NY One Minute Film eliseroedenbeck.com/ I work primarily with video. I've been making video since I was thirteen. I have a lot of things to say, but not enough words to say them with. When I first moved to the states people butchered my name, so I adopted the English pronunciation. This horrified my mother. Being named Heather makes me think I'm either somewhat unique or an old lady. Probably both. When I was twelve, I wanted people to call me Sharky…I liked sharks.	Heather White \| Madison, WI / Pittsburgh, PA Collages/Prints I attend the University of Wisconsin in Madison... not a small school. There are 4 other Heather White's here, our emails and studentaccounts get mixed up. I am currently working towards an MFA. I do lots of volunteer work and community programming. I live a double between Pittsburgh and Madison. My mother recently told me that my name was never really discussed. It was always going to be Heather, another name was not even considered. She did say that my uncle wanted to name me Tiffany and she knew even in the womb I was definitely not a Tiffany.
Heather Stanco \| Pittsburgh, PA Game/Interactive For me, being an artist has always been a one track thing; I was born, I made art, I studied art, I love art, I became an artist. As simple as that sounds, it’s been difficult to stick to that path, and so for me, being an artist is about maintaining who I am no matter the challeng