ANIMATE ENTITIES: OBJECTS IN PERFORMANCE
18 Mar 2016 - 17:30 / 19 Mar 2016 - 17:30
The Jackman Humanities Institute and the Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies present
ANIMATE ENTITIES:
OBJECTS IN PERFORMANCE
March 18-19, 2016
University of Toronto
http://animateentities.wix.com/ae2016
How do objects move in the space and time of live performance? What is the allure of animating ordinary or extraordinary things? How do performances transform the material world? This two-day festival brings together a group of artists, scholars, curators, poets, and puppeteers, who place the performative lives of objects at the centre of their work. In a range of formats—a talk, an exhibition, a roundtable, a screening, and two evening cabarets—these thinkers and artists reveal how seemingly static things become lively and vibrant. Expect the unexpected in this gathering of humans and other animate entities! All events are free of charge, except where indicated.
Special guests include the curator Claire Tancons (New Orleans), the scholar and filmmaker Allen S. Weiss (NYU), and Clare Dolan, director of The Museum of Everyday Life (Vermont).
Schedule of Events
FRIDAY, MARCH 18
5:30-7:00pm
Hart House, Debates Room
Keynote: Claire Tancons
“Flesh as Object in Circum-Atlantic Performance: A Critique of the Exhibitionary Complex”
Independent curator based in New Orleans, whose recent projects include EN MAS’: Carnival and Performance Art and of the Caribbean (2015).
6:00-8:00pm
Hart House, Art Museum of the University of Toronto/Justina M. Barnicke Gallery
Rehearsal for Objects Lie on a Table
Exhibition opening and reception. A composition by Emelie Chhangur, inspired by the play by Gertrude Stein. With arrangements by Diane Borsato, Aleesa Cohene, Erika Defreitas, Derek Liddington, and Terarrea. Featuring Tender Buttons, a cocktail by Elle Flanders.
8:00-10:30pm
Hart House, Debates Room
The Thing About Objects
An evening of object art. Featuring performance artists Shannon Cochrane and Francesco Gagliardi, writer-activists Tom Cull and Miriam Love, curator Clare Dolan, Drag King Flare, photographer Zun Lee, and poet Jenny Sampirisi. Curated and hosted by Kerry Manders and Brandy Ryan. Refreshments will be served.
Admission: pay-what-you-can (suggested donation $5-10)
SATURDAY MARCH 19
10:00-11:30am
Hart House, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery
Between Thing and Agent: A Vocabulary for Performing Objects
Roundtable and discussion with Sarah Blake (Humanities, York), Johanna Householder (Art, OCADU), Nic Sammond (Cinema Studies, U of T), Marlis Schweitzer (Theatre, York), and Mark Sussman (Theatre, Concordia). Moderated by T. Nikki Cesare-Schotzko (Drama Centre, U of T).
12:00-2:00pm
Hart House, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery
An Objects Banquet
Performance meal featuring artists, thinkers, and puppeteers, each performing or presenting an object. Food and drink will be served.
3:00-5:30pm
Innis College, Deluxe Screening Room
What is a Doll?
Film screening and discussion with director Allen S. Weiss (NYU). A work-in-progress that explores the mysteries and profundities of dolls, puppets, and marionettes in the context of the grotesque rag dolls of contemporary French artist Michel Nedjar.
8:00-10:30pm
Burdock Music Hall
Café Concret: An Experimental Puppetry Cabaret
The first Toronto edition of this long-running Montreal puppet cabaret, with performances by PuppetMongers Theatre, Clea Minaker, Helen Yung, Hayley Lewis and Adam Cook, Erin Hill and Heather Caplap, Clare Dolan, and more. Music by special guest Lido Pimienta. Admission includes a hot meal!
1184 Bloor St. West
Admission: $10 advance/$12 at the door
Tickets available here
Animate Entities: Objects in Performance is sponsored by the Jackman Humanities Institute’s Program for the Arts, with support from the Puppet Slam Network; the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies; the Department of Art; the Department of Visual Studies (UTM); the Cinema Studies Institute; the Graduate Architecture, Landscape and Design Students Union; and the Art Museum at the University of Toronto.
For more information, contact:
Gabriel Levine
SSHRC/CHCI Postdoctoral Fellow
Jackman Humanities Institute
gabriel.levine@utoronto.ca
