This wedding performance was curated by Johanna Tuukkanen into her annual ANTI— Contemporary Art Festival in Finland, which has presented some of the world’s most exciting performance artists. It took place on September 30, 2012, on the Queen R, an old wooden tour boat. Our ceremony was officiated by Emma McNairy, our gorgeous, gifted, and beloved opera singer friend. As usual, we asked for no material gifts but invited people to help create the wedding. Even so, as part of the ceremony, we received two material gifts that we still cherish. A group of textile art students presented us with a traditional Finnish wedding rug that resembled a waterfall. They had woven it from men’s ties. Another group caught a big fish in Lake Kallavesi, which they ate. They then dried the head, which had incredibly sharp teeth, making it look like a kind of prehistoric creature, and gifted us this fish skull. Other performances included one about how much water it takes to make a piece of paper. There were traditional wedding dances and songs. Emma sang our vows as an aria.
To consummate our vows with the Lake we jumped from the side of the boat into the frigid waters wearing nothing but our custom airbrushed shorty wetsuits designed by Sarah Stolar. When Annie landed in the water, goldfish crackers floated out of net pouches attached to her bra to feed the fish, an idea from Linda Montano. After enjoying a few minutes in our Lake-lover’s wet arms, we swam around to the ladder on the back of the boat. We were pulled aboard and were given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation by Justin Credible, who had served as our master of ceremonies for the Purple Wedding to the Appalachian Mountains, and Cassils, one of our favorite artists, who was performing their own work at the festival. We still feel forever bonded and connected to Lake Kallavesi, in spite of its being a long-distance relationship.
To view, our beautiful Wedding program and full credits click here.