Saturday, October 22, 2016

"MY BARBARIAN"

 "The delightfully satirical performance collective "My Barbarian", working at the intersection of theater, visual arts, and critical practice, uses performance to theatricalize past and present problems and imagine ways of being together."  The interactive exhibition is currently on view at The New Museum in New York City.

 (shot this at Bowery on Houston Street when I got off the bus)


Thanks to The Creative Center we were given free access to explore different facets of the exhibition and to experience workshops derived from the My Barbarian performance manual. The first session was on 10/13 but the second on10/20 had to be postponed-a new date TBA.
(Our Creative Center Coordinator Sophia met us smiling)
Then Iviva Olenick gave us some of the exhibitions fascinating history, how it came to be, the purpose and describing in brief what we would be doing.
~*~

Some Aspects of the Exhibition

Masks
Who do you think you are?
Who do others think you are?

Who are you?
Theater Games
Becoming community
Learning to trust


The transcript

*
The entire project sourcebook is available


Several Videos are projected

From individual statements...
 and past group performances.


The Exhibition Map
The Five Techniques
Estrangement, Indistinction, Suspension of Beliefs, Mandate to Participate, and Inspirational Critique
~*~
We spent time in a separate classroom enacting various theater games and getting to know one another better, after which we discussed our participation and plans for the next session.
 ~*~
The Roof
Some of us went to the 7th floor to see "one of the most arresting public spaces in downtown Manhattan: an eleven-foot-high, 2,000-square-foot multipurpose space for events and special programs, the Sky Room features two walls of floor-to-ceiling glass surrounded by panoramic vistas of the city from an outdoor terrace that runs around the east and south sides of the building."

Outside...
looking in...
looking up...
(shaky hands. I have a touch of Acrophobia)

Looking South...
Looking East.
 ~*~
Back to the Lobby
the Museum Shop
offers books
and more.
There's a suitably pricey concession stand too.

LINKS
1. The New Museum, designed by Tokyo-based architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA, is a seven-story, eight-level structure located at 235 Bowery between Stanton and Rivington Streets, at the origin of Prince Street in New York City.
 http://www.newmuseum.org/building
2. Home site, past-present and future Exhibitions
http://www.newmuseum.org/

Post Script
There are no uptown bus stops on Third Avenue between Houston Street and Cooper Square at 6th Street I discovered, and after waiting forty minutes here in vain,  I walked the rest of the way home.
~*~

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