1973 – 1974  Maida Withers Dance Construction Company presented five evenings of Dance/Sound events, the Tin Tabernacle Series, with sculptor/musician, John Driscoll, in a dome-shaped space, Tin Tabernacle (a large gymnasium with a curved roof of tin somewhat in the style of a World Ward II airplane hanger located behind the GW Law School building in what is now an open space quad). The facility was open all night for GW student indoor soccer and other games.

Each performance event was structured to include audience participation, dance, and music.  Events were constructed around the physical facility on many occasions.  The audience was free to walk and move among the dancers and performers.  Of particular note was an improvised trio titled, “No More French Fried Potatoes” based on a poem by poet Emmett Williams.  A French speaking woman and an English speaking man would each eat a french fried potato cooked during the performance by John Driscoll who was wearing a shirt with the letters “Worker.”  The female would make a statement (improvised / spontaneous) “Plus de _____” and the male would respond “no more _____.”  The event ended when the gentleman ate the last french friend potato, commenting, “No More French Fried Potatoes!”

the last french-fried potato
the ultimate poem, version two
(as improvised by Robert Filliou and Emmett Williams during the exhibition l’aujourd’hui
de demain in the Musée Palais Saint-Vaast at Arras, March 20, 1964. performers
eat a french-fried potato before each improvised phrase. the poem lasts as long as the
potatoes hold out.)
no more hotdogs
plus de vrais amants
no more wives
plus d’ensilage de maïs
no more bellybuttons
plus d’éléphants
no more tomorrows
plus de beurre salé
no more stupidity
plus de lampes d’aladin
no more feelings of guilt
plus de ruches blanches
no more children
plus de sirènes
no more ontological critics
plus de rares classiques de ce ciècle
no more good intentions
plus d’immaterialisation
no more jealousy
plus de piles wonder s
no more knocking at the door
plus de listes provisoires
no more gin and tonic
plus de lèvres
no more money
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the last french-fried potato emmett williams
6
plus de participation cosmique
no more personal appearances
plus de dindons
no more hot baths
plus de promenades
no more holes in my shoes
plus de camarades
no more bodhidharma
plus de collaboration
no more bad dreams
plus d’érotique d’abjection
no more sugarbeets
plus de nescafé
no more thelonious monk
plus de permis de pêche
no more prayers
plus de vieux linge
no more answers
plus de mimosas en fleur
no more inspiration
plus de greffes d’écorce
no more limited editions
plus de sémantique générale
no more turtleneck sweaters
plus de sang versé
no more cats
plus de filles d’acier
no more dishwashing
plus de tendresse
no more foghorns
plus de phénomènes paranormaux
no more todays
plus de plantes vertes
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the last french-fried potato emmett williams
no more lack of money
plus d’amants isobares
no more toothaches
plus d’évolution
no more birds
plus de ceinture noires quatrième dan
no more letters to write
plus d’aujourd’hui
no more harpsichords
plus de tartines beurrées
no more czechoslovakian beer
plus de bateaux qui basculent
no more earle brown
plus d’albums de famille
no more big toes
plus de fantassins
no more carbon copies
plus de grenouilles
no more revolutions in art
plus d’asphyxie des racines
no more yellow roses
plus de demain
no more prison bars
plus de techniques de communication
no more marijuana
plus de choeurs des lavandières
no more bedroom slippers
plus de châtaignes bouillies
no more snoring
plus de murs fleuris
no more laughter
plus de vulves comme casse-noisettes
no more apples
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the last french-fried potato emmett williams
8
plus de rideaux rouges
no more signal toothpaste
plus de tournesols
no more loving
plus de pattes foulées
no more can openers
plus de certitude infaillible
no more armpits
plus de fesses exquisement agiles
no more greek islands
plus de fenêtres ouvertes
no more questions
plus de petits cadeaux
no more cooperation
plus de wagons-lits
no more afterthoughts
plus de mayonnaise
no more underwear to wash
plus de dépassement de la problèmatique de l’art
no more hard ons
plus de menhirs
i have just eaten the last french-fried potato
il dit: je viens juste de manger la dernière pomme frite
i wonder who, way back in the dawn of history, ate the first
il dit: je me demande qui, dans la nuit des temps, a mangé la première
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litany for marcel duchamp