BOREDOM!!! (as an amplifier), was recently featured in a NY Times article by Claudia La Rocco. The article is about PERFORMA and the blurring of various forms in performance work being created these days.

I found the article to be a great read and was happy that Claudia used recent New York dance performances as examples of this blurring and challenging between various mediums.

Although PERFORMA features dance performances and dance related happenings, including a number of events surrounding/exploring the influence of Judson Dance Theater, the New York dance scene was largely disregarded by the curatorial team. This is a disappointing move especially considering that PERFORMA director, RoseLee Goldberg, states that PERFORMA is trying “to open the doors and windows between the dance and art world, to find the conceptual underpinnings where there could be a crossover.” She continues to ask “How come this conversation was so profound and rich in the ’60s and ’70s?” “Can we reinstigate that?” I would challenge her that this crossover is happening and very active right now. But if RoseLee hopes to open doors between these worlds, I wonder aloud how this is going to happen when a large and active scene of dance artists based in the same city as PERFORMA is pretty much ignored…

The Kitchen’s executive director and chief curator, Debra Singer, seems to also think this crossover between the dance and visual art worlds is lacking. She is quoted in the NY Times article as saying “There seems to be little time spent either studying or taking in things that might be just to the left or the right of your primary interest,” “In New York, we’re so blessed with so much that you can indulge your primary passion.” “At the artist and audience level, almost ironically, it can perpetuate a kind of parochialism.”

I would love to see more of a crossover between the two forms in regards to economy.

But as far as artists being interested and collaborating I think that is alive and active.

I drafted a short list of recent New York performances/collaborations where this blurring/collaboration has been fertile.

Luciana Achugar collaborating with Michael Mahalchick

Maria Hassabi collaborating with Marcos Rosales, Scott Lyall and THREEasFOUR

Ei Arakawa working with students from the Martha Graham School

robbinschilds (Sonya Robbins and Layla Childs) collaborating A.L. Steiner

Dean Moss collaborating with Laylah Ali

RoseAnne Spradlin collaborating with Glen Fogel

Miguel Gutierrez collaborating with Christoph Draeger

The collaborations between Chris Peck and Charles Atlas

The work of Fritz Welch

The work of Julie Tolentino

Mike Pride / Drummers Corpse

The work of Jillian Pena

The work of lower lights collective and it’s individual artists (Matt Bauder , Aki Sasamoto, Lily Skove, Kate Ten Eyck, Dan St. Clair, and Arturo Vidich)

The collaborations between Okkyung Lee and Andrew Lampert

Sam Kim’s recent show had visual artists as performers.

The work of Sarah Michelson

Trajal Harrell collaboration with assume vivid astro focus

The work of Eagle Ager

The work of Vlatka Horvat

The work of lucky dragons

Noémie Lafrance video for Feist

The work of Julia Mandle

Melinda Ring collaborations with Martin Kersels

The work of Claude Wampler

The work of the New Humans

The work of Michael Portnoy

This is an incomplete list.

It seems to me that the real door that needs to open is the conversation between artists and curators.

And to famously quote Timothy Leary from the 60’s maybe curators need to “Turn on, tune in, …..”

(the average home berlin)

The Average Home in New York is opening this Sunday August 19th 2007.

The artist being shown is Mona Miclea.

The opening is from 8-10pm.

The gallery is in the home of Chase Granoff and Luciana Achugar.

Please RSVP in the comments and I will send you the information on where and how to get to the home.

Adidas recently presented a visual art show, as part of Berlin Fashion Week, by the artist Yoshiaki Kaihatsu. In the show which was called “Pets of the World” Yoshiaki cut up various Adidas jackets and clothing creating cute little stuffed animal creatures. The show was at Galerie Tristesse Deluxe in Berlin.

meet:berlin* was involved in the organization of the event.

You can see more photos here and here.

If you like this work you should also check out Michael Mahalchick.

Is this the launch of another social networking site? One that is bringing cool hip artists together to copulate. Well not exactly, it is a project of WOOLOO created to bring various pairs of artists together for purposes of artistic collaboration.

Their site states that:

“In your application, you should explain how this new relationship will explore the conventions of monogamous love, challenge the idea of artistic collaboration and/or explore one of the other numerous stereotypes of human pairing.”

This project makes me think of when Andrea Fraser commissioned a collector, via Friedrich Petzel Gallery, to engage in a sexual act with her.

(Here is a great interview with Andrea Fraser that really helped me to understand her motivation for this project.)

So maybe some people will use AVANT-GARDE DATING to have sex.

(via guerrilla-innovation)

I was recently invited by Katharina Birkenbach to participate in a project called The Average Home. Katharina initiated this project with Arne Hendriks.

The have described the project as being:

The Average Home is a growing network of mini-galleries based in peoples homes. The galleries consist of a slide projector, a window with some sort of screen and the public space around the home. The galleries all show the same image during a certain time.

My gallery is in Brooklyn. The other cities are Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bucharest, Milan, Stockholm, Tel Aviv and Tokyo.

I am waiting to receive the first work of art for exhibition. Looking forward to having my first opening.

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Recently I heard about a “limited edition email”. This is a fun art project/idea from Multi Polar Projects. Basically 500 of these emails were sent out with a proposed value of $1,000. One of the rules of this email is that it can only be printed once. The email also comes with an invoice. The email and edition can also be verified for the purpose of sale and auction. Is anyone really going to buy this? Probably not but it is an interesting comment on obsession with “limited” “exclusive” “value” specifically in regards to art. I wonder if email correspondence could ever gain the same value as historical letters and notes from equally historical figures?

As someone coming from a dance and performance background I am interested in this project as it is forcing/creating a material physical object as well as value out of something that is ephemeral and usually temporary that is without a value.

Last night Chris Peck and I were interviewed by Levi Gonzalez for Movement Research’s Critical Correspondence. The discussion was very fluid and engaging. It gave Chris and I an opportunity to discuss our series Live Sh– at the Chocolate Factory. We talked about why we started it, what our interest is it, ideas surrounding organizing an event and curating performance. We discussed a lot about what we see the role of curation as being and how we find ourselves and interests within that position. I am excited for it to come out on the site as an audio interview and hopefully as a text transcription as well. I am posting a couple of pics that Chris took during the interview.

(me)

(chris)

(levi)

The cowboy and horse makes a special appearance during the interview as a musical performance.

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Jon Moniaci and I are continuing to work on our new performance BOREDOM!!! (as an amplifier). The show is just about a month away and we should be getting the postcards back from the printers tomorrow. Here our some recent pictures from rehearsals and discussions we have had in preparation of the piece.

(light)

(crazy digital light)

(me and jon in our band photo)

(noisedanceseminaractionshot)

I am really excited at how this piece is turning out and am looking forward to sharing it with an audience. We are at a pivotal place right now where we are pretty happy with all the content that has been generated. But now we are trying to find the composition and placement of that content in relationship with the whole piece, the individual elements and the physical space. I find this part of the process super challenging. I guess this is what choreographer is about. At least in some ways. Luckily we have received very helpful feedback from Chris, Levi and Luciana Achugar.

A excerpt from the most recent rehearsal. This shows a re-working of the ending.

At the last rehearsal of BOREDOM!!! Chris Peck came to give feedback and take some pictures.

Here is a short sampling.

I am also excited to announce that Brooklyn Brewery has signed on as the official beer sponsor of the show.

In other news the choreographer Jonathan Burrows has been putting together some great panel discussions on current themes and concepts surrounding contemporary dance. These discussions have been taking place in London at Siobhan Davies Studios. Luckily they have embraced technology and the internet and created a great website as well podcasts. They are well worth listening to if you are interested in current contemporary themes and ideas surrounding performance and art.

Today I edited a video of a recent rehearsal video. I have put up a bunch of clips in sequential order of the piece.

A short piece description.

BOREDOM!!! (as an amplifier) is a performance that exposes the intersections of dance and sound through the vibratory presence of both forms. This is a performance in which the live manipulation of electronic sound equipment creates the basis for the movement vocabulary, which shuffles between a contemplative static quality and a quietly explosive shaking. The performance addresses the place of presentation and collapses the magic of the theater, thus creating an exposed and complicated situation for both audience and performers.