Evening of Performances
Thursday 16 October 2014, 7–10pm
Free; places limited, please arrive by 8pm.
DRAF
Symes Mews
37 Camden High St
London NW1 7JE
www.davidrobertsartfoundation.com
DRAF becomes a stage for its annual evening of performances. Artists, choreographers and musicians present new live works for an unmissable event.
First, Quinn Latimer and Megan Rooney perform their live script O LABOR, SISTER CONTINENT (2014), an intimate poetic conversation that begins in two distinct languages and gradually evolves into one shared lingua franca. Inspired by Jean-Pierre Gorin’s documentary film Poto & Cabengo (1978), and its layered, elliptical depiction of two sisters who spoke in an invented language until the age of eight, this collaborative work evokes economies of gender, space, geography, class and the very medium—language—in which we perform them.
Next, Joe Moran presents two works. Singular (2011) is a durational performance for two pairs of dancers—one male, one female. Highly specific choreographic directives complicate and problematise performers’ subjectivities and their negotiation of conceptual and perceptual puzzles. The all-male performance work Maesk (2014) questions representations of the male body through its disruption. With dancers Katye Coe, Samuel Kennedy, Dominick Mitchell-Bennett, Erik Nevin, Christopher Owen, Hilary Stainsby, Alex Standard, Yiannis Tsigkris.
Sarah Lucas performs Fried Egg (2014). “I aim to get a thick crusty bit on the bottom, especially if I’m going to hang them up—I use pipe cleaners for this as ordinary wire cuts right through them. And sunny side up, naturally.” (from an interview with Frances Henderson, published in Sarah Lucas – After 2005, Before 2012).
Gender Baby (2014) is a live music and video performance by Planningtorock. Disruption and interference, not ordinarily associated with pop and dance music, arm a campaign to unseat norms in a mission towards transnational gender equality; combining spectacular performances with a direct political vision. “Surprisingly, given that Western dance music is born out of black, queer music, it rarely touches upon these themes.”
Finally, Eloise Hawser closes the evening with a new sound piece created for the event, I’ve been told by my lawyers to say nothing at all (2014). Disembodied voices greet, accost and interrogate a silent, unseen subject. Ranging from adoring to abusive—”Do you feel any remorse?” “Flash us a smile!”—these fragments are taken from YouTube footage of paparazzi crowds around hotels and courtrooms, and drift in and out of narrative. The constant, regular sound of a camera shutter adds a percussive undercurrent, building from a simple rhythm to a cacophony of clicks, and signifying to the audience that they are (complicit) subjects being watched by the unseen chorus.
Thanks to DRAF Galleries Circle (Sadie Coles HQ, Hauser & Wirth, Lisson Gallery, The Modern Institute, Sprüth Magers, White Cube), Mousse magazine and Frontier Craft Lager.
DRAF (David Roberts Art Foundation) is an independent space for contemporary art in central London, founded in 2008. It works with artists, curators and other practitioners to develop new formats for producing and engaging with contemporary art, be that exhibitions, commissions and live events. DRAF is directed by Vincent Honoré. All projects are open free to the public. In 2012, DRAF moved to a converted furniture factory in Mornington Crescent, enabling an expanded programme of production, performances, screenings, research and discussions. DRAF is a registered charity (No.1119738), proudly supported by Edinburgh House Estates Limited.
