Roof of artist's studio, 16 Rose Street at Market now redeveloped

Howard Fried, Synchromatic Baseball (5th September 1971)

Description

Howard Fried's Synchromatic Baseball was performed one night in 1971 on a San Francisco rooftop. Fried selected the Dommy and Indo teams from among his friends and acquaintances according to whether they assumed dominant or "indominant" roles in relationships which either directly or indirectly affected Fried himself. No one was told of the criterion for selection. Fried was the catcher for both teams (until he accidentally fell through a skylight, hurt himself, and was forced to end up as umpire). The game was played with tomatoes, the scene illuminated by light from the various skylights on the rooftop, and there was no audience. Fried's psychological assessments as to how the two teams would behave were accurate though there was no actual winner. There are many levels on which this work may be read. (Roth 1980: 90)