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These amazing photos are by Charlie Arsenault.

note: click the first image to open a viewer window for maximum enjoyment.

sameBUTdifferent

[spring equinox edition]

Let's gather together for the last hour of sunlight on the last day of winter.

THU 19 MAR 2026 | 6 PM to 7 PM America’s Courtyard | Museum Campus

sameBUTdifferent  is a one-hour collective performance action marking the final hour of daylight on the last day of winter. Participants gather in public space to improvise gestures, movements, and small actions that reflect balance, presence, and shared space. As the season turns, participants harness the moment to channel the electric energy of the creative act into a shared environment.

Arrive anytime between 6 and 7 pm. Stay for five minutes or the entire hour.

About the Project

Conceived as an international initiative, Same Difference: Equinox to Equinox unfolds simultaneously in nearly twenty locations around the world. At each site, performance artists and participants gather for an informal and unscripted collective improvisation guided by principles of equality, presence, and mutual respect.

The equinox marks a rare moment of balance when day and night briefly exist in equal measure. This action invokes that balance as a metaphor for the fragile right to assemble in public space, a right increasingly contested across the globe.

Participants are welcome to bring simple objects or materials to explore within the collective improvisation. Nothing should be left behind, nothing destroyed, and no one should interfere with the life of the place.

Observation is also participation. You are welcome to simply witness.

To interface with the international network, join the Facebook group: Same Difference: Equinox to Equinox

Participation Guidelines

Arrive ready to experiment. This is a one-hour collective action marking the final hour of daylight on the last day of winter. Participants improvise gestures, movements, objects, or small actions that respond to the moment, the site, and the people present.

Boldness is welcome. Subtlety is welcome. Work at the scale that feels right while remaining aware of the shared space and those around you.

Do not block pedestrian paths, bike lanes, or vehicle access. The action should coexist with the normal flow of the city.

Bring objects, materials, or simple interventions if you wish. When the hour ends, leave no trace. Everything you bring should leave with you.

During the action, allow the space to hold a focused energy. Conversation should be minimal so a collective field of attention can emerge. Think of the courtyard as a temporary creative zone where individual gestures accumulate into a shared moment.

There is no central performer and no audience. Anyone present may participate or observe. The work emerges through the interaction of many independent actions unfolding at once.

Things to Keep in Mind

Restrooms may be difficult to find. There is a beach pavilion nearby but it may not be open during the off-season.

Dress for the weather. One hour can feel like four in rain and cold. We know from experience.

A walkway runs through the earthwork, allowing participants with mobility considerations to access the site and take part.

The Location

America’s Courtyard (1998) by Brazilian artists Denise Milan and Ary Perez is a monumental land art installation near the Adler Planetarium on Chicago’s Museum Campus.

Set against the horizon of Lake Michigan, the earthwork unfolds as a field of granite forms radiating in widening circles that echo the geometry of galaxies and ancient astronomical sites. Composed of fifty-six granite blocks arranged around four central stones, the installation transforms the ground itself into a quiet observatory where visitors move through stone, sky, and light.

Milan and Perez consider America’s Courtyard a democratic and participatory sculpture where visitors have, in their words, “an opportunity to jump, meet, represent their reality, declaim, dream… to transform the simple actions of everyday life into rituals.” The work proposes a metaphor of an America where cultures coexist in harmony through shared space and mutual presence.

This project takes place on land historically stewarded by Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region. We acknowledge the enduring presence of Native nations including the Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Odawa, whose relationships to this land long predate the city that stands here today.

Getting There

America’s Courtyard is located on Museum Campus, just south of the Adler Planetarium and easily reached from the transportation hub at Roosevelt and State.

From Roosevelt Station, take the 146 bus toward Museum Campus (about 10 minutes), or walk approximately 27 minutes along the lakefront.

Museum Campus is an urban oasis with panoramic views where city and water meet. From the site you can see Chicago’s skyline rising to the west while Lake Michigan stretches eastward to the horizon. Accessible pathways connect the monument, the lawn, the waterfront, and surrounding landscape so that the space remains open to all.

About Defibrillator

Based in Chicago, Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery (DFBRL8R) is an international platform dedicated to performance art and other time-based practices. Since becoming itinerant in 2020, DFBRL8R has presented projects wherever opportunities arise, actively contributing to global dialogues surrounding ephemeral and immaterial artistic forms.

By connecting local and international communities, DFBRL8R works to expand awareness, appreciation, and respect for the discipline of performance art.

Links

Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1B2CEmqT8g/

Google Map https://maps.app.goo.gl/6vApggAYgBt4ZCt96

America’s Courtyard Info https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/americas-courtyard-artwork

Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery warmly invites you to participate in SAME – but – DIFFERENT, a global performance action marking the autumnal equinox. This one-hour gathering will take place during the final hour of daylight on the last day of summer:

Sunday, September 21, 6–7PM Humboldt Park Boathouse 1301 N Humboldt Dr, Chicago, IL 60622

Conceived as an international project, SAME – but – DIFFERENT unfolds simultaneously in nearly twenty locations around the world. At each site, performance artists and participants gather for a collective improvisation—informal, unscripted, and guided only by the principles of equality, presence, and mutual respect.

Spring Equinox | 19 MARCH 2025

Mount Bridgeport | Chicago | Photos: Charlie Arsenault

click an image for slideshow

SAME but DIFFERENT | 19 MARCH 2025 | spring equinox

Same But Different 

a global participatory equinox event

TUE 19 MAR 2024 | 6-7PM

BUCKINGHAM FOUNTAIN [chicago]

ABOUT | Same But Different 

Taking place all around the globe on the March Equinox, Same But Different is an international day of public actions for freedom. In the spirit of cosmic equality, this event serves as a global connection for people performing together in public spaces. This sharing of time and space brings us closer together as a temporary (global) community through performance art. Everyone is welcome to participate with openness and in solidarity. Read the full manifesto below.

 MANIFESTO: Same But Different (Equinox) 

Is an international day for public actions for freedom for all people. Each year on the two Equinoxes, (~ 20 MAR + 22 SEP) the duration of day and night is approximately equal around the globe. In this spirit of cosmic equality, this event serves as a global connection for people performing together in public spaces. This sharing of time and space brings us closer together as a temporary (global) community by encouraging non-violent expressions for locally specific conditions through performance art. Everyone is welcome to participate with openness and in solidarity, embracing and embodying diversity whilst acknowledging each other’s individual circumstances, difficulties, and conflicts.

For this purpose, everyone is welcome to join and/or organize a group performance. The following conditions should be fulfilled if there are no external restrictions:

The event should take place as close as possible to the dates of the Equinox(es)

The event encourages performative group work with at least two people performing together

The event should take place in a public space.

The event is open so offers the possibility for everyone interested to get involved

HISTORY: Same But Different (Equinox) 

This idea of exploring the interconnected role of the performative collaboration and the citizen in shaping and transforming public space has been a fundamental endeavor of Same but Different (Equinox) and its artists worldwide since a symposium hosted by Bbeyond in Belfast in 2017. During this event, Chumpon Apisuk proposed a day of public action as a follow-up to Same Difference: Equinox to Equinox (September 2016), where 283 artists from around the world (45 locations in 29 countries) worked together in public spaces.

Apisuk said, "It is the day that all states must recognise and allow actions from the people which are ‘peaceful’ and ‘non-violent’. This day of action can be with or without context, but for the recognition of all people’s rights to share the public space together, in solidarity with each other, in respect of each other’s rights to share the same public space, as well as the time.”

More and more countries are experiencing social unrest due to the rise of governmental restrictions on basic human rights. Every continent is experiencing some form of repression of civil liberties, be it individual, social, economic, political, religious, cultural, or environmental. These rights are at the forefront of what makes us human and shape civil society.

The global discourse initiated by Same but Different (Equinox) is based on an openness to talk about public space as a social and political sphere. The pandemic has increasingly shown us that public space is essential for community life. It is a place of physical creation that is repeatedly claimed and interpreted by a variety of groups and movements. 

To follow the development and documentation from the various locations, please follow :

www.facebook.com/BBEYOND.PerformanceArt/

Based in Chicago, Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery [DFBRL8R] is a roving platform dedicated to Performance Art. Itinerant since 2020, DFBRL8R presents projects whenever and wherever opportunities arise. Actively contributing to global dialogues surrounding time-based art and immaterial expressive forms, DFBRL8R energetically bridges local and global communities while raising awareness, appreciation, and respect for the discipline of Performance Art.

DFBRL8R is made possible with generous contributions from our community. If you are in a position to contribute, do so via PayPal: www.paypal.me/DFBRL8R