We are Maya Ciarrocchi and Kris Grey, two
multi-disciplinary artists living and working in NYC.
We need your help to
raise $7000, which will go towards the creation and presentation of our new
project Gender/Power.
What is the Project?
Gender/Power is an
immersive installation activated by live performance and audience participation.The content of the work is created in collaboration
with individuals who have made specific decisions to disrupt or
subvert gender signifiers. Focusing on embodiment,
identity, and representation, the
performers explore the dynamics of power in
relationship to gender.
Gender/Poweris comprised
of live performance within a projected environment. To create the elements of
the work, participants collectively devise a series of questions on the subject
of gender and authority. Each participant responds to the
questions then exchange their responses with
another group member who in turn recites this text
on camera and in performance. These recordings, in
combination with durational video portraits of the performers are
projected in performance and as an autonomous installation.
Gender/Power is a working methodology that seeks to pose
questions about actual and perceived gender.
When the individuals in this piece claim the narratives of others,
the
social constructs of binary gender are destabilized exposing the
artificiality of our assumptions regarding gesture, clothing, and other social
signifiers that are used to define sex and power.
We see this work having several iterations, some performative with video
components, others purely visual installation. We imagine
the work could eventually incorporate the voices of
individuals who do not appear in the performance and
act as a template for future performances and workshops with alternate
participants. Additionally we are working to create a catalog that includes
stills, transcripts of table work, performance reviews and
other documentation of our process as well as writings on the subject of gender
and power collected from outside sources.
Who’s Involved
Maya Ciarrocchi (lead-artist) is a NYC-based artist whose work in video,
photography, installation and performance addresses identity via documentation and durational portraiture. Recent projects include a meditative view of
communities living in the coalfields of West Virginia and time-based portraits
of formerly ultra-Orthodox Jewish individuals who transitioned to secular life.
Her work has been exhibited in New York at: Anthology Film Archives, Chashama,
the Chocolate Factory, Microscope Gallery, New York Live Arts, Sasha Wolf
Gallery, among other institutions and at Artisphere, (VA) Hammer Museum (CA);
Borderlines Film Festival (UK); Moving Pictures Festival (CAN). Residencies
include the Kala Art Institute (CA), Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (NY), and
the Ucross Foundation (WY). She is the recipient of grants from the Jerome and
Puffin Foundations. She has received Jeff and Bessie awards for her video
scenography and has collaborated with choreographers and directors such as
Wally Cardona, Ping Chong, David Cromer, Merce Cunningham, Kristin Marting,
Bebe Miller and Donna Uchizono among many others. Ciarrocchi received her
M.F.A. in Computer Art from the School of Visual Arts and her B.F.A. in Dance
from SUNY Purchase.
http://mayaciarrocchi.com
Kris Grey/Justin Credible (lead-artist) is a New York City based gender
queer artist whose work exists at the intersection of communication, activism,
community building, storytelling, lecture, and studio production in mediums two
dimensional, three dimensional, and time based. Grey earned a Bachelor of Fine
Art from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a Masters Degree in Fine Art
from Ohio University. They perform, teach, and exhibit work internationally.
Grey was a 2012 Fire Island Artist Residency recipient, the resident artist for
the 2012 ANTI Festival for Contemporary Art in Kupoio, Finland, and a teaching
artist in 2013 at The International Centre for Training in the Performing Arts
in Brussels, Belgium.
http://kristingrey.com
Clarinda Mac Low (dramaturge) started out working in dance and
molecular biology in the late 1980s and now works in performance and
installation and creates participatory events of all types while simultaneously
keeping up a practice of medical journalism, specializing in HIV/AIDS.
Her solo and collaborative works have appeared at P.S. 122, the Kitchen,
X-Initiative, and many other places and spaces around New York City and
elsewhere in the world, including a park in Siberia and the Manifesta Biennial
in Spain. Recent work includes “Free the Orphans,” a project based aroundcreative work with unknown
copyright holders; “The Year of Dance”, an anthropology of the NYC dance world,
TRYST, performance interventions into everyday life; and "Cyborg
Nation," public conversation on the technological body and the nature of
intimacy. She has participated in many different residencies, including as a
MacDowell Fellow (2000), a DTW ARM Fellow (2004-2005), through the Society for
Cultural Exchange in Pittsburgh and as a guest at Yaddo (2012) and Mount
Tremper Arts (2012). She has received a BAXTEN Award in 2004, a
Foundation for Contemporary Arts grant, 2007 and a 2010 Franklin Furnace Fund
for Performance Art grant. Mac Low is co-Founder of Culture Push, a
cross-disciplinary organization encouraging hands-on participation and strong
hybrid ideas. She has a BA in Dance and Molecular Biology from Wesleyan
University and an MFA in Digital and Interdisciplinary Arts Practice from the
City College of New York-CUNY.
Becca Blackwell (performer/collaborator) is a NYC-based performer. Most recently, Becca
has collaborated with Young Jean Lee’s Theatre Company, Half Straddle,
Jennifer Miller’s Circus Amok, Theater of the Two- Headed Calf, Sharon
Hayes, Michelle Handelman, and Erin Markey. Becca is a regular on
the web series’ Gays Anatomy; 2010 New York Television Festival’s Best Web
Series Jack In A Box and Outtakes.
James Tigger!
Ferguson (performer/collaborator) Known as "The Original King of Boylesque" and
"The Godfather of Neo-Boylesque”.
He is a Stripperformance Artist/Actor/Dancer who has performed in New
York and abroad since 1988. A Pioneer in the 90s burlesque revival, Tigger! has
been stripping since 1992 and remains a leading influence in the international
scene. He won the first ever King of Boylesque title at the Burlesque Hall of
Fame in Las Vegas 2006 and several Golden Pastie Awards, including "Most
Likely to Get Shut Down by the Law" and "Most Unpredictable
Performer”. He has acted in Shakespeare, Apollinaire, Wedekind, Horváth,
Williams and numerous original works with Taylor Mac, Julie Atlas Muz and other
geniuses. Has performed in: Australia, Italy, Portugal, France, Netherlands,
Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Cyprus, England, Scotland, Ireland,
Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Canada and all around the U.S.
http://tiggertiger.com
What We Need &
What You Get
It’s crazy how much money goes into creating a work of art. Many of us
work for free or for very little, yet we work because we must. It is important
to us that our collaborators, the amazing Becca Blackwell, Clarinda Mac Low and
Tigger! are paid a fair wage for their efforts. Not only does this help them
buy groceries but it also helps them continue with their own work.
The amount of time and effort that goes to the administrative side of art
making is ongoing and never-ending. Your support in addition to paying our
performers will help us pay for the administrative support of an arts
manager.
We’ve put together some super cool perks to help sweeten the deal. Check them out!
Risks &
Challenges
Gender/Power will be created and performed regardless if it is successfully
funded. However, if it is not funded we will need to cut rehearsal and
administrative costs which in turn may prevent the work from reaching its full
potential.
If we reach our $7000 goal we will be able to pay our collaborators a
modest wage and be able to afford administrative help.
If we raise $8000 we will be able to afford a two-camera documentation
set up.
If we raise $10,000 we will be able to pay our collaborators a higher wage
and print 200 copies of a limited edition catalog.
All of your contributions allow for us to focus more fully on the work
and our practice, which ultimately makes our work more available to you!
Thank you for your support!
Other Ways You Can
Help
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