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PERFORMANCE ART
Live half-nude girl in Somerville — again!
BY CAMILLE DODERO

Sure, Elaine Belsito was half-naked, clad in only a sports bra and bathing-suit shorts. Yes, she was in a storefront on a heavily trafficked Somerville street. But the local performance artist had no idea her exhibition would cause a disturbance that would land it in the New York Post’s " Weird but True " column, sandwiched between an account of ducks stopping traffic and a blurb about a Wisconsin man hoping to hawk a seven-inch French fry for $1 million on eBay.

It all happened a few late Friday afternoons ago at the 108 gallery, during the first week of exhibitions at Somerville’s brand-new Beacon Street art space. For the second time that week, Belsito was presenting If You Lost Five Pounds You’d Be Perfect, an hourlong performance in which she repeatedly struggles to fit into too-tight clothes — a typical women’s-fitting-room ritual — as an illustration of " the internal audience that women always carry around. " But then, out of nowhere, a Somerville policeman interrupted, forcing Belsito off stage, and citing complaints from neighbors. And then came the press.

The hullabaloo that followed — elderly neighbors bruiting the idea of petitioning to ban all future 108 spectacles; Somerville alderman Maryann M. Heuston (who didn’t return calls asking for comment) openly suggesting that the gallery needed permits for such displays and hinting that she wouldn’t support such authorizations should the gallery apply; wire reports printed in the South African press — was certainly a much bigger controversy than Belsito had ever imagined. " I thought that people would be passing by, they’d stop, they’d look, they’d say, ‘Huh!’ " Although she and 108 curator Kate Ledogar chose to schedule the performance for 6 p.m. on Friday because there’d be more traffic on Beacon Street at that time of day, they didn’t anticipate that the event would turn into an international story. " I thought 25 friends would come see it, " says Belsito, " and then we’d go out and get a beer. "

But despite all the furor, Belsito will perform If You Lost Five Pounds You’d Be Perfect again this Friday at 108 — without official city sanction. Ledogar, who says she’s conferred with both a lawyer and the ACLU about the matter, doesn’t believe Belsito’s performance requires any permits. " I have found that there is no reason that we would need a permit to run the show — it just doesn’t fall under the definition of any occurrence that would, " says Ledogar. " I don’t want permitting to become an excuse for enforcing some shady idea of morality. "

This time, Belsito won’t don and doff her wardrobe directly in the window. Instead, she’ll perform before the gallery’s open front doors in an attempt to lure potential gawkers inside, as a sidewalk gathering might require municipal approval. " Whatever I can do to avoid that and stay within the limits of the law is what I’m going to do, " says Ledogar. " I have wanted to use these windows in the way that they’re meant for — really getting a little bit in your face with certain things. That’s what a storefront window is, advertising your merchandise. "

Bill Doncaster, a spokesman for Somerville mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay, says that the city will not intervene. " Apparently, there is no permit that she needs just to hold what she’s holding, " Doncaster says. " If it were to draw a crowd on a sidewalk, the police would probably move people along from a public-safety standpoint. If that persisted, she may be required to ask to hire a police detail of some sort. But essentially, she’s free to do what she’s doing. And the mayor’s office is certainly not going to be standing in the way. "

" I think performance art is new to some people, " offers Belsito. " And I imagine it’s sort of a territorial thing. You know, don’t park your car on my lawn and please don’t be doing that weird-ass thing in the window. "

Elaine Belsito will perform If You Lost Five Pounds You’d Be Perfect on Friday, July 11, at 6 p.m., at the 108 gallery, 108 Beacon Street, in Somerville. Call (617) 481-3833.

Issue Date: July 11 - 17, 2003
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