Curatorial & Projects > Propositional Worlds

I started writing what I refer to as performance scores (a term I use as a kind of shorthand) because they evolved out of my attempt to create a system of dance notational drawings. So I had an idea to write these scores and started and eventually, answered a call for submissions to a publication with Golden Spike Press in Los Angeles, called Propositional Attitudes. At the same time, my book Perfect Worlds was coming out with Little Sister Press in Chicago, so I proposed we share our books together.

For me, writing was the umbrella concern, and I began thinking of the scores as a kind of interactionist or instructional choreography, or a composition. I proposed the idea of show around the idea initially to January Parkos-Arnall, curator of The Commons at the MCA Chicago, then proposed a partnership between the museum and Michelle Kranicke and David Sundry's dance and performance laboratory SITE/less.

The idea was then to present a showcase of interactionist dance and instructionist performance works, some participatory, some not, and drawn from the chapter list in Propositional Attitudes, edited by Elana Mann and John Burtle (Golden Spike Press, LA, 2018) alongside my own Perfect Worlds: Artistic Forms & Social Imaginaries, (StepSister Press, Toronto). This rest is as followed:

"As a presenting partner with the Museum of Contemporary Art, SITE/less offers an expanded program of performances, interactions, architecture, and media. On Friday, October 26, Mat Rappaport’s range—a delivery truck mounted with multiple external cameras— will “dock” at the SITE/less loading bay, where, in collaboration with architect David Sundry, it will become an architectural interface and interactive point of entry. Artists featured in Propositional Attitudes, along with other Chicago movers, will perform a selection of the book’s scores, which also will be on display for viewers to enact. Conversations focusing on instructionist and social practice art, and politics will also take place. The full schedule of events is as follows:

Friday, Oct. 26, 2018

7-7:30pm: Mat Rappaport ………………….……………. range (Docking Sequence)

7:30-7:45pm: Viewer Led interactionist performances (see list of works to be displayed below)

7:45-8:00pm: Sharna Fabiano ………………… Closer/Farther,performed by Zephyr dance artist Molly Strom and special guest Sara Zalek

8:05-8:20pm: Daniel Goode …………………………… I ou, performed by Elana Mann and John Burtle

8:20-8:35pm: Viewer-led interactionist performances

8:35-8:50pm: Sharna Fabiano ………………….Synchronized Walking, performed by Zephyr dance artist Molly Strom and special guest Sara Zalek

8:50-9:05pm: Dana Reason …………………Tea and Fences: A Quiet Tea Party, performed remotely by Dana Reason and special guest musician

9:05-9:20pm: Michael Workman ………………. Drag, performed by Workman with David Perales Albert & Mike Anestor

ongoing throughout the evening: Melissa Potter………………Gender Assignment

Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018

4:30pm: Mat Rappaport ………………….……………. range (Docking Sequence)

5:00-6:30pm: MOVEMENT MATTERS Symposium:

BLURRING ART & LIFE: THE CRITICAL ROLE OF THE RADICAL IMAGINATION IN MOVEMENT-MAKING

Panelists:

John Burtle, editor, Propositional Attitudes, L.A.-based artist,

Lane Hall, Professor, Creative Writing, Media, Cinema and Digital Studies, the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee & Co-founder, Overpass Light Brigade,

Elana Mann, editor, Propositional Attitudes, L.A.-based artist,

Lisa Moline, Associate Professor, Design & Visual Communication, the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee & Co-founder, Overpass Light Brigade,

January Parkos-Arnall, Curator, The Commons at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago,

Moderator: Michael Workman

Performance Schedule

6:30-6:45pm: Sharna Fabiano …………………. Closer/Farther performed by Zephyr dance artists Michelle Kranicke and Molly Strom

6:50-7:10pm: Viewer Led interactionist performances (list of works provided below)

7:10-7:25pm: Sharna Fabiano ………………….Synchronized Walking, performed by Zephyr dance artist Molly Strom and special guest Sara Zalek

7:30-7:45pm: Ali Kheradyar …………………… the wait of us (excerpt: part 2: take 2) performed by Zephyr dance artist Molly Strom and special guest Sara Zalek

7:50-8:15pm: Udita Upadhyaya, Lindsey Barlag Thornton, Caleb Neubauer …………………. rest, for Joseph; boundary line, for Falak; and arrangement #8, for Kim, performed by the artists.

8:20-8:35pm: Robby Herbst………………..New New Games, (11) Flexible Individual/Neo-liberal Limbo performed by Michelle Kranicke and Molly Strom

8:40-9:30pm: Viewer-led interactionist performances overlapping with a performance of Night Moves: Solicitation by Michael Workman, David Perales Albert and Mike Anestor to accompaniment by the Black Friars Social Club.

Gallery hours Thursday-Saturday, 11/1-11/3, 1PM-6PM

VIEWER LED PERFORMANCES and DISPLAY TEXTS

John Burtle ……………………………….. a dirty (or clean) look, Boring, Connect (help), Decision (silent)

John Burtle and Elana Mann .……….…. “I – I” and “You – You” (Q&A)

John Burtle and John Barlog ……………Would we like to try this?

Elonda Billera Harris ………………….… Silent Hike

Michael Hooper ………………………….. The sound of persuasion

Elana Mann ……………………….……… Posturing Empathy, For Mothers and Children

Luke Martin ………………………………..proposal for a group

Ron Milam ……………………………….. Agenda Planning

Adam Overton ……………………………. ALMOST TO DEATH, CONSPIRACY PIECE, No-Irony Performance,

Get Just a Little Bit Closer Piece, Indiscriminate Clapping Piece, Together but Apart Piece

Adam Overton and Elana Mann ………………. Conversation Pieces