Presented alongside Performa’s First Benefit Auction, Paddle8 will launch four original videos from artists who have previously participated in Performa’s Biennial. From April 27th to May 17th, a selection of Performa’s archival performance videos will all be on view to the public on our recently launched Paddle8TV!
Exclusively posted on Paddle8TV, we will be showing videos not previously seen online by Liz Magic Laser (Performa 11), Laurie Simmons (Performa 05), Martha Colburn (Performa 09), and Kelly Nipper (Performa 07).
Already on view since April 27th, and originally presented during this past fall’s Performa ‘11, Liz Magic Laser’s work entitled I Feel Your Pain is an innovative mixed-media performance that restages America’s recent political contests under the guise of a romantic drama. Happening simultaneously on screen and in a live-performance, Pain, examines how emotion can be used to create authenticity when presented on a formal stage.
Launched today on Paddle8TV is Act One from artist Laurie Simmons’ first film and Performa 05 commission The Music of Regret. A short clip of her film, starring Meryl Streep, can already be seen on Simmons’ Dossier from her participation in our exhibition Wit. Music is a poignant and self-reflective work, divided into three acts, with One and Three first performed at Salon 94, and with Act Two still in progress when it was shown at Performa ’05. Full of melancholic nuisances, symbolic objects prevalent in Simmons’ work, and nostalgic performative anecdotes drawn from 1950s America, the film is brought to life by Alvin Ailey dancers, and a group of suburban neighbors (played by a puppets) and a real life woman (Streep) as she sings songs with a custom-made ventriloquist dummy.
Be sure to come back to Paddle8TV on May 9th, to view Martha Colburn’s Introspective Research into States of Mind, part of Futurist Life Redux from Performa 09. Colburn’s Futurist Life was originally conceived by having eleven artists reimagine scenes inspired by the lost Futurist film Vita Futurista. The resulting Colburn film was comprised of these original eleven segments. In the new version, the artists return, and randomly draw from the already completed segments, given a short synopsis, and are challenged to re-perform a new interpretation of their new scenes, thus giving birth to Futurist Life Redux.
Lastly, on May 17th, Paddle8TV will present Kelly Nippers’ Performa 07 commission entitled Floyd on the Floor. Nipper’s live-work is a performative study of the movements created by hurricanes, and its relation to technology and human emotions. Originally premiering at the renowned Judson Church, Floyd employs 8 contemporary dancers to work with a giant striped parachute and carry out moves directed by a square-dance announcer. Working with limited movements, the work itself is a commentary of the ominous future of technology-based relationships.
Be sure check the preview for Performa‘s benefit online now on Paddle8. Take a look at our previous blog post with highlighted works from the Benefit Auction. And stop by our Paddle8 Tumblr to see more works from the four artists featured in our special Performa + Paddle8TV presentation! Have a good day from the Paddle8 Team.