In the summer of 2008, the British performance art duo of Susanne Clausen and Pavlo Kerestey (known as Szuper Gallery) presented a performance called The Extras in the outdoor courtyard of Regina City Hall. Back then, Saskatchewan’s film industry was steaming along pretty well, and the performance explored how our sense of place can be altered by the transformation that occurs when a film intended for American audiences is shot in a place like Regina ie in the 2005 romantic -comedy Just Friends Regina stood in for a city in New Jersey.
Now, Szuper Gallery has returned to Regina for Ballet. The principle component is a video installation that will be on display at the MacKenzie Art Gallery until August 28. Above is a still from the video, which explores the interconnection between rural and urban communities as it relates to the production, distribution and consumption of food. Lately, there’s been a fair bit of political unrest in the Middle East and other areas of the Developing World. One of the main drivers is the rising cost of food and the stress that places people with modest incomes, so Ballet certainly is timely.
Tonight at 8 p.m., and Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., Clausen and Kerestey will be presenting a thematically linked performance at the MacKenzie that will explore in greater detail some of the issues raised in the video. Tickets are $20.
