on vanishing text: words, presence, time out of mind

performance-class with the artist derrick ryan claude mitchell

how can you represent something that is about to disappear? best with the means of performance, which itself defies any archiving and can only be experienced directly in the moment of the event. derrick ryan claude mitchell, who has caused a sensation internationally with the group saint genet, founded in seattle, dedicates his class to text production through cathartic bodywork. text is not to be understood here in the sense of the written word, but in a broader definition: communication with an audience can take place on different levels.

teaching language: english

derrick ryan claude mitchell:

this class will focus on the creation of new texts through performance. participants will utilize action, exhaustion, and accumulation of image to “un-body” our words and deconstruct the traditional tension between word and action, and time in the corporeal medium of theater and performance. students will be charged with exploring and participating in the creation of images and actions which will repeat and grow over time. we will employ techniques inspired by robert wilson’s “stream of consciousness” and “active descriptions” which he developed with christopher knowles, allan karpow’s “happenings”, and herbert blau’s “memory-consciousness” to distill experience and “performance art activity” as defined by rose lee goldburg, into “material”. our vanishing texts will not be recorded until after the final presentation where they will also be created in a real time offering to the audience.

dates

12 units

mon., 5 june: 5 to 8 pm

tues., 6 june: 5 to 8 pm

wed., 7 june: 5 to 8 pm

fri., 9 june: 5 to 8 pm

venue: vienna poetry school, mariahilfer straße 88a/III/7, 1070 vienna and around vienna

public presentation (free admission): class ryan mitchell and class thomas köck on fri., 16 june (venue to be announced)

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2 subsidised places
for this class, we offer two subsidised places exempt from participation fee.
please send applications to: sfd@sfd.at including:
- motivational letter (preferably in english)
- short bio (max. 1 page; preferably in english)
deadline: 20 april 2023
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participation fee: 90,- €

limited number of participants!

>> registration form (pdf download)

derrick ryan claude mitchel

is an artist, performer and initiator of the internationally renowned group saint genet, originally based in seattle (usa). his works have been shown, amongst others, at the robert wilson watermill center, the guggenheim museum new york, the frye art museum, wuk performing arts, the donaufestival krems, luminato festival, holland festival and the vienna festwochen.
saint genet's performances are based on performance processes that the artist understands as "aesthetic declarations". these "declarations" take the form of, for example, an installation, a temporary or site-specific performance event, an experimental musical performance, and/or an unauthorized private action.
about saint genet:
https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000057257430/us-theaterregisseur-ryan-mitchell-wir-geben-die-allerdringlichsten-ideale-auf

(c) claudia cordova

spring academy 2023 "confronting the end. anti-apocalyptic writing" (curated by marilies jagsch) >> http://sfd.at/fruehling23 (in german)

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