Patrick Staff: Weed Killer is the premiere of a MOCA-commissioned video installation by Patrick Staff. Staff’s newest work was inspired by artist-writer Catherine Lord’s memoir The Summer of Her Baldness (2004)—a moving and often irreverent account of the author’s experience of cancer. At the heart of Weed Killer (2017) is a monologue—adapted from Lord’s moving and often irreverent book—in which an actress reflects upon the chemically induced devastation of chemotherapy. This monologue is intertwined with comparatively otherworldly sequences, including choreographic gestures shot with high-definition thermal imaging. Presented as an immersive installation, Weed Killer suggests a complex relationship to one’s own suffering and draws into focus the fine line between alternately poisonous and curative substances.

Essay: Notes on Weed Killer

Curator: Lanka Tattersall
Curatorial Assistant: Hana Cohn

Exhibitions at MOCA are supported by the MOCA Fund for Exhibitions with lead annual support provided by Delta Air Lines, Shari and Ed Glazer, and Sydney Holland, founder of the Sydney D. Holland Foundation. Generous funding is also provided by Allison and Larry Berg, and Jerri and Dr. Steven Nagelberg.

In-kind support is provided by FLIR Systems.