At a moment when site-specific installations, urban soundwalks, immersive environments, and parti... more At a moment when site-specific installations, urban soundwalks, immersive environments, and participatory experiences have (yet again) become popular, Jim Findlay’s Dream of the Red Chamber stands in sharp contrast, embracing what seems like the most passive state—sleep. Is it possible, via a sleep-inducing performance, to become conscious of our own letting go?
In this article, Bertie Ferdman offers historical context for the recent prominence of curatorial... more In this article, Bertie Ferdman offers historical context for the recent prominence of curatorial practices in the presentation of performance. Discussing a range of alternative presenting models and bridges between the visual and performing arts, she traces the evolution of the performance curator from the logistic concerns of programming to more conceptual work.
In recent years, there has been a renewed interest on the part of both scholars and practitioners... more In recent years, there has been a renewed interest on the part of both scholars and practitioners in theatrical practices that challenge conventional uses of the stage and the auditorium. There has also been a growing attention to situated visual art practices, be they contextualized in a given site, and/or created as an encounter with site. Mike Pearson’s new book, Site-Specific Performance, is a welcome contribution to the expanding field of site-specificity in performance scholarship, and Pearson’s intentions are clearly delineated in the book’s prologue: “My ambitions are pedagogical: I aim to encourage further initiatives in performance” (2). Indeed, his monograph is primarily a practical handbook for performance making, and its insights seem geared toward students and teachers of this genre, as well as professional artists wishing to delve further into rigorous site-oriented work; it “is a book about practice: concept, process and exposition” (1; his italics) that addresses these forms of performance making as praxis from the firsthand knowledge of one who has created “site-specifically” for more than three decades. As the codirector of the Cardiff Laboratory Theatre, Brith Gof, and now Pearson/Brookes, as well as the author, director, and performer of numerous solo pieces, Pearson has conceived and collaborated on over forty site-specific works, ranging from “large-scale events devised for special locations” (such as unused factories and shipyards, an ice hockey stadium, a barn, a railway station, and a car factory) (108), to intimate audio journeys, walking tours, and solo storytelling in the woods and on the streets of his native Wales. His book therefore encompasses a wide array of methodologies for the creation of site-specific performance; it includes as well personal memories and performance descriptions, and considerations of the dramaturgical possibilities and pragmatic circumstances of producing this kind of work (including discussion of such details as dealing with permits, heating, and fixed conditions at site). Pearson locates site-specific performance making as both materially and theoretically beyond “the conventions and techniques of the auditorium”; he chooses instead to embrace “practices originating in [both] theatre and visual art” (1). Much of the material in Site-Specific Performance is taken from previous publications by the author, including Theatre/Archaeology (coauthored with Michael Shanks, Routledge, 2001) and In Comes I: Performance, Memory and Landscape (University of Exeter Press, 2007), as well as from unpublished performance notes, all of which are interspersed as lengthy quotations throughout the book’s Introduction and five subsequent chapters. Although I read these chapters in chronological order, the book is more effective as a reference source, where readers can access the Exercises and Projects sections of Chapters 3 through 5 “independently,” as Pearson himself notes, “without further reference to the text” (xiv). The chapters do not necessarily build off each other but instead
Theater 44 (2) “Performance Curators” (2014) and Theater 47 (1) “Curating Crisis” (2017): TURBA i... more Theater 44 (2) “Performance Curators” (2014) and Theater 47 (1) “Curating Crisis” (2017): TURBA in conversation with special issue editors Bertie Ferdman and Tom Sellar (USA)TURBA: I’ve been wondering for some time why it took so long to develop a body of literature around performance curating. In the Global North in 2010, there had been two initial events that laid the grounds for a discourse in the field: the Croatian theater journal Frakcija 55 “Curating Performing Arts” and the conference in Essen, Germany, “Beyond Curating: Strategies of Knowledge Transfer in Dance, Performance, and Visual Arts.” It then took four years before your “Performance Curators” issue of Theater was published, and then another three years until “Curating Crisis.” The concept of the performance curator had been present for decades. So why did it take so long? Why did you, Tom, decide in 2014 that we needed a collection of essays and dialogues on this topic at that time?The Parma Manifesto (1968): Freder...
How do our bodies transfer to the Zoom classroom? Does the body disappear? While appearance, lang... more How do our bodies transfer to the Zoom classroom? Does the body disappear? While appearance, language, and vocal qualities remain, the physical presence of bodies in space, in relation to one another, alters completely. At the end of March 2020, as New York City and much of the rest of the world went on lockdown, all classes at the City University of New York, where the author teaches, went online. As classrooms transferred to Zoom, our homes became the embodied presence of the virtual classroom. Home became the body. Given this teacher’s class and her students’ experiences on Zoom relative to their physical environments, it became clear to that ‘performing home’ during the pandemic was a privilege not afforded to everyone.
tion. Gysin discusses his invention of the Dreamachine and its failed potential as the “drugless ... more tion. Gysin discusses his invention of the Dreamachine and its failed potential as the “drugless turn on” of the 1960s, the “art rag trade” and “deceptual” art (his witty dig at what he perceives to be the empty promise of contemporary art after 1960), the Beat Hotel, the Beats more broadly and Burroughs in particular, the shooting of Joan Vollmer, sex with Moroccan trade and London “dilly boys,” drugs, drinking, censorship, the publishing racket, colonialism and slavery, telephone surveillance, literary disappointment, space travel, pagan princes, magic brain breathing, dream frequencies, and much more. When Savage asks him what his most important field of artistic practice has been, Gysin answers with uncomplicated precision, “Interior vision, really. That’s the ‘field’ I’ve touched.”
At a moment when site-specific installations, urban soundwalks, immersive environments, and parti... more At a moment when site-specific installations, urban soundwalks, immersive environments, and participatory experiences have (yet again) become popular, Jim Findlay’s Dream of the Red Chamber stands in sharp contrast, embracing what seems like the most passive state—sleep. Is it possible, via a sleep-inducing performance, to become conscious of our own letting go?
In this article, Bertie Ferdman offers historical context for the recent prominence of curatorial... more In this article, Bertie Ferdman offers historical context for the recent prominence of curatorial practices in the presentation of performance. Discussing a range of alternative presenting models and bridges between the visual and performing arts, she traces the evolution of the performance curator from the logistic concerns of programming to more conceptual work.
In recent years, there has been a renewed interest on the part of both scholars and practitioners... more In recent years, there has been a renewed interest on the part of both scholars and practitioners in theatrical practices that challenge conventional uses of the stage and the auditorium. There has also been a growing attention to situated visual art practices, be they contextualized in a given site, and/or created as an encounter with site. Mike Pearson’s new book, Site-Specific Performance, is a welcome contribution to the expanding field of site-specificity in performance scholarship, and Pearson’s intentions are clearly delineated in the book’s prologue: “My ambitions are pedagogical: I aim to encourage further initiatives in performance” (2). Indeed, his monograph is primarily a practical handbook for performance making, and its insights seem geared toward students and teachers of this genre, as well as professional artists wishing to delve further into rigorous site-oriented work; it “is a book about practice: concept, process and exposition” (1; his italics) that addresses these forms of performance making as praxis from the firsthand knowledge of one who has created “site-specifically” for more than three decades. As the codirector of the Cardiff Laboratory Theatre, Brith Gof, and now Pearson/Brookes, as well as the author, director, and performer of numerous solo pieces, Pearson has conceived and collaborated on over forty site-specific works, ranging from “large-scale events devised for special locations” (such as unused factories and shipyards, an ice hockey stadium, a barn, a railway station, and a car factory) (108), to intimate audio journeys, walking tours, and solo storytelling in the woods and on the streets of his native Wales. His book therefore encompasses a wide array of methodologies for the creation of site-specific performance; it includes as well personal memories and performance descriptions, and considerations of the dramaturgical possibilities and pragmatic circumstances of producing this kind of work (including discussion of such details as dealing with permits, heating, and fixed conditions at site). Pearson locates site-specific performance making as both materially and theoretically beyond “the conventions and techniques of the auditorium”; he chooses instead to embrace “practices originating in [both] theatre and visual art” (1). Much of the material in Site-Specific Performance is taken from previous publications by the author, including Theatre/Archaeology (coauthored with Michael Shanks, Routledge, 2001) and In Comes I: Performance, Memory and Landscape (University of Exeter Press, 2007), as well as from unpublished performance notes, all of which are interspersed as lengthy quotations throughout the book’s Introduction and five subsequent chapters. Although I read these chapters in chronological order, the book is more effective as a reference source, where readers can access the Exercises and Projects sections of Chapters 3 through 5 “independently,” as Pearson himself notes, “without further reference to the text” (xiv). The chapters do not necessarily build off each other but instead
Theater 44 (2) “Performance Curators” (2014) and Theater 47 (1) “Curating Crisis” (2017): TURBA i... more Theater 44 (2) “Performance Curators” (2014) and Theater 47 (1) “Curating Crisis” (2017): TURBA in conversation with special issue editors Bertie Ferdman and Tom Sellar (USA)TURBA: I’ve been wondering for some time why it took so long to develop a body of literature around performance curating. In the Global North in 2010, there had been two initial events that laid the grounds for a discourse in the field: the Croatian theater journal Frakcija 55 “Curating Performing Arts” and the conference in Essen, Germany, “Beyond Curating: Strategies of Knowledge Transfer in Dance, Performance, and Visual Arts.” It then took four years before your “Performance Curators” issue of Theater was published, and then another three years until “Curating Crisis.” The concept of the performance curator had been present for decades. So why did it take so long? Why did you, Tom, decide in 2014 that we needed a collection of essays and dialogues on this topic at that time?The Parma Manifesto (1968): Freder...
How do our bodies transfer to the Zoom classroom? Does the body disappear? While appearance, lang... more How do our bodies transfer to the Zoom classroom? Does the body disappear? While appearance, language, and vocal qualities remain, the physical presence of bodies in space, in relation to one another, alters completely. At the end of March 2020, as New York City and much of the rest of the world went on lockdown, all classes at the City University of New York, where the author teaches, went online. As classrooms transferred to Zoom, our homes became the embodied presence of the virtual classroom. Home became the body. Given this teacher’s class and her students’ experiences on Zoom relative to their physical environments, it became clear to that ‘performing home’ during the pandemic was a privilege not afforded to everyone.
tion. Gysin discusses his invention of the Dreamachine and its failed potential as the “drugless ... more tion. Gysin discusses his invention of the Dreamachine and its failed potential as the “drugless turn on” of the 1960s, the “art rag trade” and “deceptual” art (his witty dig at what he perceives to be the empty promise of contemporary art after 1960), the Beat Hotel, the Beats more broadly and Burroughs in particular, the shooting of Joan Vollmer, sex with Moroccan trade and London “dilly boys,” drugs, drinking, censorship, the publishing racket, colonialism and slavery, telephone surveillance, literary disappointment, space travel, pagan princes, magic brain breathing, dream frequencies, and much more. When Savage asks him what his most important field of artistic practice has been, Gysin answers with uncomplicated precision, “Interior vision, really. That’s the ‘field’ I’ve touched.”
Exploring performance beyond the stage
Contextualizing the techniques and methods of the incredib... more Exploring performance beyond the stage Contextualizing the techniques and methods of the incredibly rich and vital genre of site-specific performance, author Bertie Ferdman traces the evolution of that term. Originally used for experimental staging practices and then later also for engaged situational events, “site-specific” is no longer sufficient for the genre’s many contemporary variations. Using the term “off-site,” Ferdman illustrates five distinct ways artists have challenged the disciplinary framework of site-specific theatre: blurring the traditional boundaries between the fictional and the real; changing how the audience and actor interact with each other and whether they are physically together or apart; fabricating sites from physically bound, conceptually constructed, or virtual spaces; staging live situations in real/nonreal and often mediated encounters; and challenging our preconceived notions of time and space. Tracing the genealogy of site-based work through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Ferdman outlines the theoretical groundwork for her study in the introduction. Individual chapters focus on distinct types of off-sites—the interdisciplinary discourse of disciplinary sites; the spaces of audience engagement with spectator sites; the dislocation of time for temporal sites; and the historiographical spaces of mapping for urban sites.
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Papers by Bertie Ferdman
Contextualizing the techniques and methods of the incredibly rich and vital genre of site-specific performance, author Bertie Ferdman traces the evolution of that term. Originally used for experimental staging practices and then later also for engaged situational events, “site-specific” is no longer sufficient for the genre’s many contemporary variations.
Using the term “off-site,” Ferdman illustrates five distinct ways artists have challenged the disciplinary framework of site-specific theatre: blurring the traditional boundaries between the fictional and the real; changing how the audience and actor interact with each other and whether they are physically together or apart; fabricating sites from physically bound, conceptually constructed, or virtual spaces; staging live situations in real/nonreal and often mediated encounters; and challenging our preconceived notions of time and space. Tracing the genealogy of site-based work through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Ferdman outlines the theoretical groundwork for her study in the introduction. Individual chapters focus on distinct types of off-sites—the interdisciplinary discourse of disciplinary sites; the spaces of audience engagement with spectator sites; the dislocation of time for temporal sites; and the historiographical spaces of mapping for urban sites.