Five years after the groundbreaking (Re)Presenting Performance symposium, held at the Guggenheim Museum in April 2005, artists, curators, and theorists gather to discuss issues manifested in recent performance-based work mounted at the Guggenheim. Referencing topics pertaining to site specificity, live action, the place of memory, and the role of the document, these focused presentations provide an opportunity to think deeply about specific practices in contemporary art. As part of the symposium, and on the occasion of the exhibition Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance, Joan Jonas will re-present her seminal 1969 performance Mirror Piece I, newly expanded specifically for the Guggenheim’s Frank Lloyd Wright–designed rotunda.
Featured speakers include: Marina Abramović, Claire Bishop, Jennifer Blessing, Chrissie Iles, Joan Jonas, Carrie Lambert-Beatty, Susan Philipsz, Rebecca Schneider, Nancy Spector, and Nat Trotman.
Thursday, June 17, 8 pm — Mirror Piece I: Reconfigured by Joan Jonas followed by a post-performance conversation with Chrissie Iles.
Friday, June 18, 2 pm — Symposium
The Creators Project event series—a roving global celebration—launches this summer on June 26, when The Creators rolls into 80,000-square-feet of display and performance space honeycombed throughout the legendary Milk Studios in New York’s Meatpacking District.
The event is going to be a groundbreaking combination of interactive art and installations, panels, workshops, screenings, and live performances. As much as The Creators Project is a digital archive of our digital world, it is also a testament to the enduring appeal of the Real. Many of the artists within the program explore the way that digitally manipulated images, sounds, and motions converge in real time, in real spaces.
Some things at the New York event you should watch out for…
• London’s UVA (United Visual Artists) will be installing several works including their truly awe-inspiring and rarely viewed Triptych. Stay tuned to the Creators Blog for some exciting news around a customized installation of the piece.
• Nick Zinner, guitarist of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, will also be installing a major image and sound composition—new creative territory for Zinner, who has been obsessed with a particular style of documentary photography for well over a decade.
• There will also be several screenings and “performances” of Spike Jonze’s newest film, the robot love-story I’m Here, complete with a special interactive video booth where viewers will be given the chance to record messages about the film directly to Spike.
• We’re also preparing a global installation with the LA-based directorial duo Radical Friend. Stay tuned for more information on their epic vision as we near the New York launch date in June.
• LIVE MUSIC BY: Interpol, Mark Ronson, Die Antwoord, Neon Indian, The Rapture, Sleigh Bells, Gang Gang Dance, Salem, and Very Special Guests.
• DJ SETS BY: N.A.S.A., XXXChange, Lemonade, and Mira Calix.
• EXHIBITS: The Digital Flesh by Radical Friend, A Sculpture of the Album by xx, Triptych & Hereafter by United Visual Artists, My Secret Heart by Mira Calix, Rainbow Vomit by MOS Architects, Melter 2 by Takeshi Murata, A.D.A.B.A. by Nick Zinner, Cube by Muti Randolph, L.A.S.E.R. Tag by Graffiti Research Lab, O.S.S.I. by Hojun Song, Jetpack Baseball & NIDHOGG by Mark Essen, Frozen Event by Ricardo Carioba, and Shred Master Pro by Legs.
• FILMS: I’m Here by Spike Jonze, ODDSAC by Danny Perez and Animal Collective, A Room With A Cat by Peng Lei, The Face by Ray Lei, Pixels by Patrick Jean, Go Fast Connexion by Ladj Ly, and 3 films by Sun Haipeng.
Do you know Dasha Shishkin? She is a Russian printmaker who lives and works in New York. I first saw her series of three intricate drawings of cats fighting each other and loving each other at Ps1 Greater New York show in 2005. I have never been able to forget about the delicacy and movement in her work where objects are intermingled and webbed together often with very dark themes, despite their initial uplifting appearance. She has always been one of my favorite artists. 
