Marina Cavadini on hiding sugar spheres behind a spectator's ears

Marina Cavadini (b. 1988, Milan; lives Milan and Chicago) discusses her performance 'Kelsey', created during her first year at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The work involved hiding small silver sugar spheres behind the ears of a woman named Kelsey, who was present among the audience. Cavadini emptied her studio, leaving only the audience and the hidden candies. The performance aimed to explore viewer dynamics and the relationship between artwork and context. When a spectator asked 'Where is the work?', Cavadini replied 'Where do you expect it to be?'. The work generated suspense, laughter, and discussion about art, institutions, choreography, fashion, and Kelsey herself. Cavadini chose Kelsey for her haircut and personality, and considers the performance reproducible only as an anecdote. She draws inspiration from botany and natural sciences, citing the visual reference of fern sori—spore clusters on the underside of leaves—which require the viewer to bend down to see them, paralleling the encounter needed in art.