Anna Banana

Born in Victoria, BC in 1940, Anna acquired her name from her students at Vancouver's New School in 1968. In her capacity as breakfast and lunch cook at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, the name resurfaced, as her kitchen crew, the Flying Lettuce Kitchen Company, took up where her students left off.

When she fell into a box of bananas at a party on a mountain in Big Sur, in 1970, she accepted it as her own, used it ever since, and in 1985 made it official with a legal name change. A member of the artist group, Specific Research Institute, Dr. Banana created parodies of research projects with works such as Proof Positive Germany is Going Bananas, ('93), and Bananas in Distress ('98). Using humor, her public events aim to question authority, and engage the audience in a creative act. Her most recent work, Tie a Knot on Me is an interactive work, presented in conjunction with Karla Saches' Knots/Crossings at Nordbahnhof Station as part of Berlin's annual Transportale event in 22 subway stations across the city. Anna engaged passers by in both tying a knot using coloured threads on the back of her jacket, and answering three questions, asked in German, for her research project; name, age and place of birth.

Interdisciplinarity - bringing into one work, one's skills in various disciplines, such as writing, performing, image making, and the use of technologies where relevant, in the service of the individual piece.