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_Staring Contest, 2012
performance at Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA in custom jump suits with megaphones and stopwatches
In collaboration with Katy McCarthy
Special thanks to Clark Abbott

The performance took place at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in galleries showing European masterpieces. The performers competed by timing visitors as they gazed at various paintings. When patrons broke their gaze, their times were announced to the rest of the gallery through megaphones. In addition to the two athletes, there was also an official who tallied scores and blew a whistle to announce the beginning and end of each round. After five close rounds, the match came to a head in the sixth period, which was run as a sudden death elimination. Fretwell took the championship, with McCarthy trailing behind by a matter of seconds.