Illustration from Being Work by Eileen Wolf Echikson. Courtesy Dorothy Dubrule.
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This special OPEN LAB celebrates the publication of Being Work – a collection of essays by dance and theater artists which offers access to varied experiences of performing in live exhibitions – edited by Dorothy Dubrule and published by Insert Press.
For the NYC book launch, Ryan McNamara moderates a conversation with Dubrule and fellow contributing authors effie bowen and Paul Hamilton, who read excerpts from their essays, share their experiences from visual art gigs, and, together with event attendees and local artists, co-envision an expansive future for performance labor in galleries, museums, and art fairs.
In Being Work, authors capture a spectrum of mundane and profound moments that arise within performance gig work in visual arts contexts such as museums, galleries, and art fairs, detailing the day-to-day practice of inhabiting art work as well as reflecting on broader questions of how they got there and the impact it has had on their outside lives. While providing very personal, human perspectives on what it feels like to perform in visual arts spaces, Being Work asks its audience how a performer’s labor is perceived and valued in these spaces, and what new possibilities might unfurl within the, at times fraught, coexistence of the two mediums.
Being Work will be available for purchase at the event, or can be ordered through Insert Press here. Contributors include: Mireya Lucio writing on being the work of Marina Abramović, Casey Brown on Maria Hassabi, Jessica Emmanuel on Xu Zhen, Kestrel Leah on Julien Previéux, Allie Hankins on Gordon Hall, effie bowen on Narcissister, Paul Hamilton on Bruce Nauman, and Dorothy Dubrule on Tino Sehgal.
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Dorothy Dubrule is a choreographer and performer based in Los Angeles. Her choreography is often made in collaboration with people who do not identify as dancers and has been performed in theaters as well as bars, clubs, galleries, sound stages, and sports arenas. The content of her choreography draws inspiration from film and community theater. Prior to moving to LA, she danced with DIY performance art collective Club Lyfestile and comedic fly girl crew Body Dreamz in Philadelphia. She has worked with visual artists, musicians, comedians, choreographers, and directors such as Emily Mast, Jon Daly, Kate Watson-Wallace, Lea Anderson, Lisel, Melinda Ring, Milka Djordjevich, Narcissister, Tino Sehgal, Trulee Hall, and Zoe Aja Moore, among others. Dorothy was the Executive Director of Pieter Performance Space, a non-profit platform for movement artists, healers and activists based in LA from 2017 to 2022. From arts non-profit leadership she transitioned to organizational operations with a focus on the care and resourcing of humans in the workplace.
effie bowen is an anti disciplinary artist making work that examines how obedience is enforced by objects and training. They have a BFA in Dance from Hollins University and an MFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Paul Hamilton, a Bessie-nominated dancer, began his training in Jamaica at the Jamaica School of Dance. After relocating to the United States, he continued his studies at SUNY Purchase under Kevin Wynn and Neil Greenberg. His dance repertoire includes performances with Elizabeth Streb, The Martha Graham Dance Ensemble, and The Barnspace Dance Company. In 2000, Paul embarked on a long-standing collaboration with Reggie Wilson Fist and Heel Performance Group, resulting in acclaimed works like Black Burlesque (revisited) and the Bessie-winning Big Brick. His thirst for knowledge led him to choreographer Keely Garfield, resulting in captivating pieces such as Scent of Mental Love and Telling the Bees. A pivotal moment arrived in 2014 when Paul teamed up with artist Ralph Lemon to create Chorus, an integral part of the Scaffold Room performance at The Kitchen. His outstanding contributions earned him a Bessie nomination. Paul’s journey continued with performances in Bessie-winning productions, including Jane Comfort’s 40th Anniversary Retrospective and David Thomson’s He his own mythical beast. Notably, he restaged Bruce Nauman’s Wall Floor Position at MoMA and MoMA PS1. Currently, Paul thrives in original works by Melinda Ring, Neil Greenberg, and Susan Marshall. He is currently a Movement Research Artist in Residence, and his choreographic work has been presented as part of the 2021 Performa Biennial in collaboration with artist Kevin Beasley, and at Movement Research at Judson Church.
Ryan McNamara is a Brooklyn-based artist who works in performance, video, photography, drawing and sculpture. His work has been featured at MoMA PS1, The Guggenheim New York, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, ICA Boston, Perez Art Museum Miami, ICA London, The Garage Moscow, The Power Plant Toronto, the Athens Biennale, and The High Line New York. He teaches performance in the Hunter College MFA program and his work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.