A message from Struts & Faucet’s current Open Studio artist-in-residence, Lou Sheppard:
Hi Sackvilites! I am looking for a few performers to participate in the chorus of my new opera/installation, titled My Fears of Tomorrow are Melting Away.
The “opera” (really a series of video/audio works and installations) are themed around self affirmations, positioning them as labour within late capitalism. The work cycles around questions of the construction of the individual, and the construction of the labourer… What is the labour of self actualization, and what does it mean to perform this labour? How do we become productive subjects in late capitalism? What is the tension between the actualized individual and the productive worker? Would the communal performance of individualism offer a resistance to capitalism?
For the chorus performance- which is to the affirmation “I possess the qualities needed to be extremely successful” five (or so) performers will be asked to “perform” the affirmation (which really is just repeating it out loud ten times.) The performances will be assessed according to Fredrick Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management, so that we find, together, the most efficient way of performing the affirmation. Then the chorus will be asked to perform the affirmation in unison. This entire process will be videoed, and the documentation will be used as an artwork. All performers will be credited in the presentation of the work.
Because the performers are labouring they will be paid for their work, $50.00 for a two hour session. No experience or comfort in performance is necessary. Performers should expect to move around a bit in the gallery space (though not too much) and might want to wear comfortable clothing for that purpose.
For more information or if you have any questions please contact me, Lou, at Struts or at lou@lousheppard.com or 438-346-2096