Andrew Wodzianski Lives in a Box on U Street

My first impression of Andrew Wodzianski came from his opening at Flashpoint in October 2009, a solo show involving a series of paintings based on the 1959 horror film House on Haunted Hill (his knowledge of cinema is extraordinary). Except Andrew never showed up at the reception. Instead, visitors were left to guess whether he lay in a white coffin placed at the rear of the gallery.

A week later, I caught a glimpse of him during a Halloween fundraiser in the same space, except he was wearing a mask and I was inside a chicken suit (I wore that damn thing three days in a row). Needless to say, he was still a total mystery.

Finally, although still in a box, Andrew revealed himself to me on Thursday night. To all of us, in fact. Until 5am on May 1st, either peer through the window at 1318 U Street or watch him in real time (check the performance schedule on his homepage). I’ll leave the facts and interpretation to other news outlets, but sharing his latest living space for a few hours was a unique experience that I’ll never forget.

Below: Wodzianski’s box was assembled by the JBG Companies, Studios Architecture, and Coakley Williams Construction. It has electricity and plenty of amenities but no plumbing (he uses a bathroom in the rear of the building). About eight people can fit inside the space, but not comfortably.
Below: The “Pop-Up Living” space has a large amount of closet space and a laptop to stay connected (he taps into a restaurant’s WI-FI). His closet is filled with suits and ties. You’d think someone would schlep their wardrobe and wear sweatpants for something like this, but that’s not Andrew.
Several pieces of his artwork are hanging in the space.	Bryan Hight from nearby Crème volunteered to serve Andrew dinner.
Below: Shrimp, sausage and grits from Crème with crab hush puppies in the background. Bryan brought enough free food for ten people (my doggie bag was exhausting to carry). While I prefer to keep this blog impartial, I accepted every pro-bono bite because his menu is incredible and photography works up an appetite.
Below: The door to his space is locked but occasionally he lets in visiting friends and media.
Pop-Up Living is also sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon. Andrew’s friends (including local sculptor Tim Tate) were watching the webcam remotely during the interview and kept sending him text messages.	During our visit, people periodically stopped and peered in the window. U Street is very loud, especially at night, but it’s surprisingly quiet inside. The street noise becomes audible after a few minutes of acclimating. There was no shortage of PBR and for full disclosure, I had at least one.
Pop-Up Living is presented by the Cultural Development Corporation, who’s throwing a pop-up gala on May 1st at Longview Gallery (tickets are available for purchase). It’s difficult for me to keep track of all the organizations involved in these events, but that just tells you how much work they are to pull off.
What’s next for Andrew Wodzianski? Where can he go from here? Many thanks to a gracious host for sharing his space.