See more performance pics on my flickr page.

See my vimeo page for video performance excerpts.

Relating to Geography, 2013-present

Relating to Geography, a collaborative project between Victoria Stanton and Johannes Zits, starts with the premise that our surroundings are more than a passive backdrop. Staying away from references that venerate or fix nature in the realm of the sublime, while attempting to approach the built environment from an alternative perspective, we look into how movement and interactions can question the limitations imposed by dominant histories and constructs. It is our view that through acts of investigative exchanges between ourselves and the spaces we negotiate, that we may begin to open up and broaden a dialogue about our relationship to “place.” See more images of Relating to Geography on my flickr page.

Relating to Geography Performance History

• October 2013: Titled, Relating to Geography 2, Toronto (Toronto Art Fair), presented at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, ON, as part of Art Toronto’s Opening Night Gala
• August 2013: Titled, Relating to Geography 1, Toronto Island (Embodying Nature), presented at Artscape Gibraltar Point, Toronto, ON, as part of self-directed residency

Roadside Attractions, 2008-2010

I have trouble traveling. But as a performance artist it’s what I do – to show my work. Negotiating new terrain is the central premise of the proposed piece, Roadside Attractions, a process designed specifically for arrival in new locations. Focusing on parallels between performance and travel, the piece examines comprehensive states of “performative consciousness,” investing “performative” presence within multiple spaces/times. It is a strategy for Being. Here. Now.

Within a residency structure I conduct performance research by carrying out and documenting several public “micro-interventions” that are carried out on the roadside around the locations where I am working and living. These are then edited into a video loop which becomes the backdrop for a 20-minute stage performance: projected video accompanies repetitive action (such as skipping), and is punctuated by live narration (anecdotal bits of text related to being in transit/in transition). Still rough around the edges, the video work indicates a hasty editing process, but the point isn’t to make a perfect, polished work, it is rather to underscore an urgency in production and presentation; to visually embody the disjointed process of “arriving.” See more images on my flickr page.

Roadside Attractions Performance History

• November 2010: OBORO, Montreal, QC, as part of the HTMlles festival
• August 2010: PAVED Arts, Saskatoon, SK, as part of the solo exhibition, Roadside Attractions: From A to B and Back Again
• May 2010: Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, Montreal, QC, as part of the OFFTA festival
• June 2010: OCAD, Toronto, ON, as part of PSi 16 – Performing Publics
• March 2010: The KuLe, Berlin, Germany, as part of the series Performer Stammtisch
• February 2010: Teatro Arka, Sardinia, Italy, as part of the event, Spatializing the Local
• August – November 2009: Centre Daïmon, Gatineau, QC, solo residence & performance
• December 2008: Studio XX, Montreal, QC, as part of the Femmes branchées series
• November 2008: Phoenix Auditorium, Gabriola, BC, as part of the Poetry Gabriola Festival
• October 2008: Leeds Met Gallery & Theatre, Leeds, UK, as part of the conference, Playing in Urban Places
• May 2008: Centre d’artistes Vaste et Vague, Carleton-sur-mer, QC, as part of the residency, Tout un monde : stratégies d’existence

Quite Time at the Intersection Of-, January & June 2010

Quiet Time at the Intersection Of- is a work about memory, relationships, and fabulation – liberally crossing fact with fiction to produce a kind of photo-album of collected pasts. Nostalgic and eerie, the performance becomes a portrayal of spontaneous human encounters sitting comfortably at the interval between art and life. See more images here.

When Parts of You Are Still Arriving, October 2009

This performance was produced in collaboration with Christian Richer for Open Source Gallery, in Brooklyn, NY. Again examining similar themes to the first “When Parts” performance (see below) and to the “Roadside” series (see above), the emphasis was again put on trying to recreate a disjointed sense of presence and “self” – while being “at home.” See more images here.

When Parts of You Are Still Away, March 2009

This performance was produced for the Edgy Women Festival, as part of their annual “Edgy Challenge.” Being given one object, a sound, and set of directives, each participant created a piece in the space of three weeks. With such a strong resemblance to the methodology I have been using for the Roadside Attractions performances, I decided to work with similar themes, this time putting the emphasis on a disjointed sense of presence and the “self” – while being “at home.” See more images here.