Franklin Furnace’s Goings On
January 6, 2005
CONTENTS:
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1. James Scruggs, FF Fundwinner 2002-03, at HERE, NY, Feb 4-12, 8:30 pm
2. Aaron Landsman, FF Alumn, at The Performing Garage, NY, starting Jan 7
3. Irina Danilova, FF Alumn, announces Project 59
4. Julie Tolentino, FF Alumn, Jan. 9-23 at Participant, Inc., NY
5. Nora York, FF Alumn, at Bowery Poetry Club, Jan. 10, 7 pm
6. Micki Watanabe, FF Alumn, at Abrons Art Center, NY opening Jan 6, 6-8 pm
7. Peter Grzybowski, FF Alumn, in Poland, Jan 7 & 8
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1. James Scruggs, FF Fundwinner 2002-03, at HERE, NY, Feb. 4-12, 8:30 pm
Disposable Men February 4-12, 2005
8.30pm at HERE Arts Center 145 6th Avenue at Spring Street, NYC
for tickets 212 868-4444
group sales 718 919 5553.
Disposable Men is highly experimental multi media performance featuring 12 channels of video with good old fashioned storytelling at its core. King Kong, African American men, and Frankenstein collide in humor laced tales about theme-restaurants featuring mutilation with dessert, and party motivators with major minstrel twists. Disposable Men is a richly interactive live multimedia performance exploring the uncanny relationship that African American men and classic Hollywood monsters share… the unfounded fear of, and the imaginative ways that they are disposed.
Disposable Men was created and will be performed by James Scruggs
Directed by Kristin Marting
Technology Direction by Hal Eager
Original Music by Philip Pares
Assitant Director Niegel Smith
Costume Design Patrice Busnel
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2. Aaron Landsman, FF Alumn, at The Performing Garage, NY, starting Jan. 7
Hi. I’d like to invite you to the new Elevator Repair Service show, in which I am performing. I think it’s a pretty amazing piece o’ theater – it demands a bit of your time (see schedule below), but I believe it’s worth the investment. I really hope you can make it. Aaron
ELEVATOR REPAIR SERVICE
announces its most ambitious project ever
GATZ
http://elevator.org/shows/gatz.html
starts January 7
at The Performing Garage
33 Wooster Street (between Broome and Grand)
reservations 212-529-7875
“James Gatz — that was really, or at least legally, his name.”
GATZ includes the entire text of The Great Gatsby, read aloud verbatim by the staff of a small office in the midst of their increasingly bewildering business operations.
GATZ is both a parody and an illumination, turning Fitzgerald’s novel on its head by overlaying it on the humbler social setting of the modern small business office. GATZ is also a nod to Andy Kaufman, who famously tried to read the entire novel aloud in standup comedy clubs. GATZ runs 6-1/2 hrs including a 1 hr dinner break between Parts I and II. You can also see Parts I and II separately (2-3/4 hrs each)
See the calendar for specific show times:
http://elevator.org/calendar/gatz.html
directed by John Collins
associate director Steve Bodow
with Laurena Allan, Robert Cucuzza, Jim Fletcher, Ross Fletcher, Vin Knight, Aaron Landsman, Ethan Lipton, Annie McNamara, Kate Scelsa, Scott Shepherd, Susie Sokol, Tory Vazquez, Ben Williams
set Louisa Thompson
lighting Mark Barton
sound Ben Williams
costumes Colleen Werthmann
producer Jill Dombrowski
stage manager Daya Wolterstorff
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3. Irina Danilova, FF Alumn, announces Project 59
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Project 59 will be open from 5 to 9 pm on January 2nd (159th day of Aztec year, and Hiram and Irina 10 month by Project 59 calendar (59 months a year with 59 days per month). Project 59 will be open as well from 5 to 9 pm on January 12th for the Tribeca Second Wednesday Open Night. Come and check 20 years of Shaving Performances installed at 59 Franklin St., Suite 202 (Project 59), above GAS Gallery. Welcome on Sunday, January 2nd or Wednesday, January 12th. The 20 years of Shaving Performance installation: artifacts, video, photo and slides of different performances, including the last Shaving Performance in Ukraine. No one could argue the fact that, as soon as Irina shaved there, Ukrainian democracy awakened. Now, when the Orange Revolution is over, what should be the next place for shaving performance: Iraq or Washington? If you have any question please contact us via e-mail (irinadanilova@earthlink.net, hiramlevy@earthlink.net) or cell (917-621-5941 Irina, 917-621-5877 Hiram) Have a happy New Year!
HiraMandirina
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4. Julie Tolentino, FF Alumn, Jan. 9-23 at Participant, Inc., NY
Contact: Lia Gangitano, 212 254 4334
JULIE TOLENTINO
FOR YOU
an installation and durational performance
January 9 – 23, 2005
Opening Reception: Sunday, January 9, 2005, 7-9pm
Exhibition is open for viewing during regular gallery hours.
To book a performance appointment, please call: 212 254 4334
From January 9 – 23 PARTICIPANT INC presents FOR YOU, a site-specific performance-based installation by dancer/choreographer Julie Tolentino. Physical reconfigurations of the space, sculptural props, and lighting design function as the environment for a durational performance. Each day of the two-week exhibition, Tolentino will perform for one viewer at a time. Visitors are asked to make an appointment that will allow them to select music and viewing positions that impact the choreography performed for them. Visitors who have not scheduled an appointment will have a bird’s-eye view of the performance via live video feed in an adjacent projection on the lower level of the space.
Acting as director, Tolentino worked with Ori Flomin to form a collection of improvisations. As choreographer, Flomin interpreted, recombined, and formatted short fragmented phrases to structure a fifteen-minute performance. Other collaborative elements–such as sound selections remastered and refined by Killer; video recomposed and manipulated by Rob Roth; and space illumination conceived by Lori E. Seid–contribute to the sonorous environment, FOR YOU.
Disrupting the illusion of performance with a real-time close-up, FOR YOU creates a context that, while exposing the performer, also exposes the viewer. Light, video, and objects offer various points of entry, and draft a cinematic experience, re-scripted each time a new participant takes part. Merging methodologies of relational aesthetics and minimalist generosity, what is taken-away is fleeting, undescribed. One-on-one, FOR YOU instigates a controlled intensity to examine the simplicity of momentary contact.
The exhibition format allows the viewer choices not usually offered in traditional performance settings: their own preferred time, a choice of music, and proximity to the performer. Against the grain of common quandaries regarding dance performance, such as the desire to know, “what is it about?” Tolentino requests the viewer to experience only what is occurring in a short space of time. Repetitive imagery and an absence of narrative characterize the simplicity of her language. The installation is spare, lacking artifice, and allies with everyday experience: a bed, some chairs, and video images drawn from daily travel. The performer, whose completion of the work is not required, or aided, by the viewer, makes this surrogate experience, temporary in nature, more real. Although the viewer’s presence changes the work by presenting another level of challenge, FOR YOU also examines the solitary rigors of resting, waking, moving–as Tolentino continuously performs these actions, alone and with others, for entire days at a time. Utilizing what she considers to be found ability–or leftover ability from her lengthy career as a dancer–her subjective choices seek to enhance what is occurring: moving images caught by light and viewpoint between eye blinks and seat adjustments–emphasizing the meditative durational character of her work.
The underlying structure of FOR YOU is apparent, paradigmatic; the experience is self-contained, unfolding in real time. A large-scale video projection of subway tunnels, with their flares of light and pathways with stops between, accompanies the choreography. The pacing, movement, and content of the video further align the experience with notions of internal and external travel. The melding of video, found illumination, and movement renders familiar aspects within a defamiliarized space. In this sense, the alienation associated with spectatorship is simultaneously enhanced and obliterated. The performance (for one) is removed from view by a lustrous partition, and reconfigured for an additional perspective via stationary surveillance camera–filling the lower level of the space with a duplicate identity of the piece. Repositionings of performer and viewer constitute a constant push and pull of focus that is mirrored, in part, by this live video projection, where unscheduled visitors are not privy to the private exchange.
FOR YOU furthers the development of exhibition strategies that highlight the innovative methods of performing artists who do not seek traditional theatrical venues, but instead, incorporate performing art into diverse presentation formats that engage audience members in new ways–exploring the evolving relationship between audience and artwork, viewer and performer. Over the past six months, Tolentino utilized PARTICIPANT INC to develop and rehearse performance elements on site.
Tolentino is formally trained in dance, performance, and architecture, and has performed with a range of companies including David Rousseve/REALITY Dance Theater, as well as long-term collaborations with Ron Athey, Jet Clark, and Bob Flanagan. Tolentino’s club work includes Clit Club, New York; sin-a-matic, Los Angeles; Fetish Ball, Los Angeles; Schmidt Theater, Hamburg, Germany; and Fist, London, England. Tolentino’s full evening performances include: The Point of Diminishing Return (2002) at The Kitchen, New York; The Bottom Project (2000) at The Green Room and Contact Theatre, Manchester, England, and The Kitchen, New York; and Mestiza-que bonitos ojos tienes (1998) at queerupnorth and The Green Room, Manchester, England, and Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland. Site-specific solo and group performances include: 10 states to permanent sleep (2002) at The Green Room, Manchester, England; Untitled at Le Batorfar, Paris, France; DDSM (1999) at The Green Room, Manchester, England; Pieces of Mind-Mestiza as Landscape (1999) with live DJ Aldo Hernandez at DanceExchange, Birmingham, England; and Butterfly Box #3 (1996) at Mother, New York. Tolentino collaborated with curious.com to create three videos: Blind; Goodnight Larry Joe (dedicated to Lawrence Steger); and Travels/MapSuit (2001). Other videos include: POSITIVE LIFE-Living with AIDS (c. 1993) with Catherine Gund, Aubin Pictures, New York; and Walking with the Dead (c. 1994) with John Killacky.
PARTICIPANT INC’s exhibitions are made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. PARTICIPANT INC has received generous support from the Harriett Ames Charitable Trust, Bloomberg , The MAT Charitable Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and numerous individuals.
PARTICIPANT INC is located at 95 Rivington Street, between Ludlow and Orchard
Streets on the Lower East Side.
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, noon-7pm.
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5. Nora York, FF Alumn, at Bowery Poetry Club, Jan. 10, 7 pm
HAPPY NEW YEAR! May we see a better world — (at least we will work for one!) Come hear NORA YORK in (a secret) concert at the BOWERY POETRY CLUB (an APAP* association of performing arts presenters showcase – come support — WHAT I WANT!) MONDAY JANUARY 10th 7pm — (7$ dollars — very small price for a BIG show! spread the word)
Bowery Poetry Club 308 Bowery (between Bleecker & Houston) New York, NY 10012 212-614-0505
With
Dave Hostra bass
Steve Tarshis guitar
Allison Miller drums
Charlie Giordano Accordion
Jamie Lawrence Keyboards
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6. Micki Watanabe, FF Alumn, at Abrons Art Center, NY opening Jan. 6, 6-8 pm
Happy New Year! hope you can come by. xoxo micki
“At Home: Visions of our place in the world”
Abrons Arts Center, Henry Street Settlement
466 Grand Street NY, NY 10002
Jan 6-March 1 2005
Opening Reception Thursday Jan 6 6-8pm
for more info see site below.
http://www.re-title.com/exhibitions/abronsartscenter.asp
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7. Peter Grzybowski, FF Alumn, in Poland, Jan. 7 & 8
‘CE’ series performances in Poland:
Friday, January 7, 2004 at 5 PM
Pokaz Gallery, 20/22 Krakowskie Przedmiescie Street, Warsaw
as part of ‘Performance Club’
http://free.art.pl/pokazpismo
Saturday, January 8, 2004 at 6 PM
Manhattan Gallery, 15 Wigury Street, Lodz
http://free.art.pl/galeria_manhattan/
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~~end~~
Goings On are compiled weekly by Harley Spiller
Click http://www.franklinfurnace.org/goings_on.html
to visit ‘This Month’s World Wide Events’.
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Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc.
80 Arts – The James E. Davis Arts Building
80 Hanson Place #301
Brooklyn NY 11217-1506 U.S.A.
Tel: 718-398-7255
Fax: 718-398-7256
http://www.franklinfurnace.org
mail@franklinfurnace.org
Martha Wilson, Founding Director
Michael Katchen, Senior Archivist
Harley Spiller, Administrator
Dolores Zorreguieta, Program Coordinator
