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Event
A Preview of Theorems, Proofs, Rebuttals, and Propositions: A Conference of Theoretical Theater
A preview of the upcoming experimental conference 'Theorems, Proofs, Rebuttals, and Propositions: A Conference of Theoretical Theater,' this evening draws together artists, scholars, and also theorists working outside institutions.
A lecture by Professor Spivak, on imaginative training for epistemological performance, will act as a provocation and catalyst for further discussions and, alongside a performance of Robert Ashley's 'Public Opinion Descends Upon the Demonstrators' be Varispeed, an excerpt of G. Douglas Barrett's 'Hence Where Labor' performed by Fahad Siadat, and a live auction of critical theories written in the moment by the audience.
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is a world renowned critical theorist whose work has been particularly influential to the field of post-colonialism. Her research interests focus on feminism, Marxism, deconstruction and globalization. She is a founding member of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University where she is also a professor of the highest faculty rank, the only woman of color to be given such honor in the history of the institution. Since 1986 Dr. Spivak has also been an active supporter of rural education as well as socio-ecological movements, both through her theoretical research but also by being a philanthropist. She was born in Calcutta, India, in 1942. She is the translator of Jacques Derrida's seminal work Of Grammatology, which is essentially the first text that introduced deconstruction theory to the United States. Dr. Spivak is the author of many influential works such as In Other Worlds: Essays in Cultural Politics (1987), Outside in the Teaching Machine (1993), Can the Subaltern Speak? (1985), A Critique of Postcolonial Reason: Towards a History of the Vanishing Present (1999), Death of a Discipline (2003), and Other Asias (2005). In 2008 Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak published Who Sings the Nation-State? co-written with Judith Butler. Dr. Spivak's more recent works include Nationalism and the Imagination (2010) and An Aesthetic Education in the Era of Globalization (2012).
Varispeed is a collective of composer-performers from experimental theatre group Panoply Performance Laboratory, ensemble thingNY, and Why Lie? that creates site-specific, sometimes-participatory, oftentimes-durational, forevermore-experimental events. Founded by Aliza Simons, Dave Ruder, Paul Pinto, Brian McCorkle, and Gelsey Bell, Varispeed came together in June 2011 to perform a twelve-hour celebration of Perfect Lives Brooklyn before they were invited to perform the critically-acclaimed Manhattan version in November as part of PERFORMA '11. Their new arrangements in Perfect Lives Manhattan made Time Out New York and New York Times' critic Steve Smith's "Best of 2011" list. Subsequently, Varispeed presented on Perfect Lives at Performers Forum and began a series of 1-minute recorded operas, each dedicated to a supporter of the collective. In August 2012, Varispeed presented their second full scale project, an over-night, 12-hour arrangement of John Cage's Empty Words, which was presented at Roulette, Exapno, and across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Theorems, Proofs, Rebuttals, and Propositions: A Conference of Theoretical Theater is an experimental conference based on the premise that performance is not just an artistic medium, it is also a vast and complex conceptual structure reaching into every sphere of society. Scheduled for September 2013, the conference recognizes, frames, and authorizes performance-making as a constructive theorizing and envisioning act with the agency to escape autonomous artistic spheres and participate in co-construction of public discourse. Significantly, the conference begins with four theoretical positions, each presented via performance. The conference is structured to allow participants to respond to, rebut, and extend the views presented in the four initial performances, through discussions, talks, and conference publications. The four theoretical performances that provide the core of the conference will be presented by Mike Taylor (USA), Reality Research Center (FINLAND), Amapola Prada (PERU), and Kikuko Tanaka (JAPAN/USA).
Proceeds from this event will go towards air travel for International participants in the September 2013 conference and cover expenses related with the public culmination of the conference project at large.
Theorems, Proofs, Rebuttals, and Propositions: A Conference of Theoretical Theater is conceived and organized by Esther Neff (Panoply Performance Lab) and Yelena Gluzman (UCSD), and supported by a grant from Culture Push's Fellowship for Utopian Practice.
To contact conference organizers, please email theatertheoryconference@gmail.com
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LocationGlasshouse Projects (View)
246 Union Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 13 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
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