This is the final component of the Dunlop Gallery’s summer blockbuster Tragedy Plus Time which included two galleries worth of visual art along with three performances. In total, three curators and 19 artists were involved. The last two artists are Alison S.M. Kobayashi and Christopher Allen, and they’ll be presenting Thinking As She Thinks at the Artful Dodger Wednesday Aug. 27 at 8 p.m.
Kobayashi is based in Brooklyn, NY, and the performance she and her collaborator will be presenting tomorrow will be its premiere. Since performance is an organic art form, there’s generally no script or stage directions for the performers to follow. So each time a work is presented it stands as an unique creation.
There is a starting point, of course, and in this instance it’s a collection of audio recordings, diaries, lists and other memorabilia that Kobayashi has collected over the last 10 years. The origin of these materials is unknown, and she uses them to spin tales about different people’s lives. As the stories unfold, she and the audience experience shifts in perspective related to gender, age, time, space and other variables.
The above photo, by the way, is from a thematically similar performance by Kobayashi and Allen called DEFENSE MECHANISM ou MÉCANISME DE DÉFENSE (2012). (Photo credit: Romain Etienne).
Following Thinking As She Thinks there will be a session of Armando format improv by the Tragedy Plus Time players: Jayden Pfeifer, Katie Rich, Colby Richardson and Judy Wensel.
Again, the performance is at the Artful Dodger (1631 11th Ave.) on Wednesday, Aug. 27 at 8 p.m. And it’s free admission.