thisishappening: Feather Bomb And Whale Star

Please join us in the garden for a performance of Feather Bomb and Whale Star. Curated by Tara Strickstein.

Feather Bomb is a scientific experiment in which Really Large Numbers tests the elasticity of a large balloon filled with feathers gathered from the nesting grounds of Canadian geese.

Whale Star is a dreamy, musical performance by Really Large Numbers which takes place on-board a sailing ship fashioned from a laboratory table. In this piece, The Captain (Chad Stayrook) and Figurehead (Julia Oldham) sing a duet about their shared pursuit to capture each others individual perception of a whale seen in both the sea and stars.

thisishappening

The move toward an art that is living is a common signpost for the contemporary period, and stems from a desire for urgency – to matter. This shift toward the privileging of experience, both lived and virtual, is compounded by a hyper-awareness of how we craft ourselves in (real)-time.

thisishappening presents an opportunity to consider how we record experience, beyond documentation, in a manner that can subsist within a gallery context for aesthetic and critical engagement with non-material objects.

Over a period of eight weeks, Emerson Dorsch will present a selection of events, screenings, performance, and interactions that will address a range of concerns within the discourse on art as experience. The works included facilitate exchange through encounter – connecting those who create, own, use, critique, or consume them.

In an effort to expose the numerous lines of tension, which have surfaced from the growing gap between experience and its objectification, the gallery exhibition will exist in a constant state of becoming. Works will be curated-into the space, reflecting and reacting to the projects as they unfold in time.