A conversation on the square with Lucy Lippard, chats about the interesting interactions with others regarding performance art with Rebecca Belmore, and numerous talks with other artists who both perform as well as make objects happened Dec 2-4th @”Acting Out: A Symposium of Indigenous Performance Art” in Santa Fe, NM. See review/story: Artsy.com
Young artists Anna Tsouhlarakis and Merritt Johnson, both Native, as well as a talk by Dr. Kate Morris on the work of Kent Monkman and his “Casualties of Modernity” project were presented during the symposium. There is something intriguing about Johnson’s Youtube (Exorcising America) addressing otherness, alien, place, space, and longing; along with a wink at the ridiculousness of everyday life and our expectations of others. Check them all out.
“Performing the Body” a panel and discussion addressed the influence, politics, and impact of using the physical body as a medium for actions, including the associations and perceptions that audiences may have of an artist’s body.unpack the influence, politics, and impact of using the physical body as a medium for actions, including the associations and perceptions that audiences may have of an artist’s body. Panelists were : Lori Blondeau, Artist; Muriel Miguel, Gloria Miguel, Artists and
Co-founders of Spiderwoman Theater; and Adrian Stimson, Artist. Blondo and Stimson, Natives from Canada, make their own work as well as collaborate in projects such as “Canadian Idol No More” and other spoofs that stand as comic yet interventionist works dealing with racism, prejudice, and language. Currently I am searching for ephemera, including images, text, video or reviews of a work entitled ” We Want To Look Like Barbie, That Bitch Has Everything”. I found an interesting paper here on Van City Art’s website.
The most memorable moment was a performance by Guillermo Gomez-Peña. From Artsy.com: “Guillermo Gomez-Peña, whose performances are characterized by the artist’s freakish charisma, linguistic exuberance, and gender-bending antics, was on hand to lead a radically compressed version of the two dozen workshops he conducts every year throughout the world with his troupe, La Pocha Nostra.” Gomez Peña is known for asking provocative questions about how Native and Chicano lives are represented in the dominant culture while using heavy dollops of satire, pop culture, and absurdism to keep his work accessible to audiences outside the art world. Gómez-Peña has written 10 books, many of which expand his idea of connecting art to active citizenship. “I call it ‘imaginary activism,’ ” he said. “It’s a place where Latinos occupy the center and Anglos are seen as exotic and non-mainstream. It’s a place where there are no passports and no borders. I use multiple languages like English, Spanish, Spanglish, and invented languages as well.”
Otherness, Embodiment, Ritual, Native Practice, Identity, Conflict, Misrepresentation, Marginalization, and the like.
