SITE/less And Defibrillator Gallery Present UNSTUCK Artists Pushing Traditional Artistic Boundaries

Michelle Kranicke, founder/artistic director of Zephyr and co-director of SITE/less, and Joseph Ravens, founder/artistic director of Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery, are collaborating to present “unstuck,” a live art exhibition of work by artists who are pushing against their traditional artistic disciplines to discover new ways of expressing themselves. The one-night-only event takes place Saturday, April 27 at 7 p.m. at SITE/less, 1250 West Augusta Boulevard, Chicago.
 
Curators Kranicke and Ravens worked together in 2011 on a project that explored the nuanced relationship between dance and performance art. More than a decade later, they continue to delve into the ongoing dialogue between these two disciplines, inviting artists who, with various approaches, consider the human body a foundational element when giving form to time and space. 
 
“unstuck” takes place within the current unconventional structure designed by David Sundry, SITE/less architect and co-director.

The evening includes two works-in-progress: Dead Letters by Carole McCurdy, a segment of her ongoing Death Cleaning project, a performance and video piece about disposing of material possessions while alive to spare others after you die. In this segment, McCurdy scuffles with a lifetime of love letters and paper ephemera—and is utterly outmatched. Kranicke's preliminary study for a new work entitled Ballad of a Dying Hapsburg continues her investigation of ephemeral material, an integral element in her practice since 2010, as movement partner, body covering, mask and elusive floating object. In this study, her continued research into ephemerality will inform a meditation on empire, passing—a fall from grace.

Also on the program are onto a skin, highly reflective (improvisation IV), a direct response to the SITE/less stage construction by Ále Campos in collaboration with Bun Stout, Jasmine Lupe Mendoza, Melina Gaze and Liquid City Motors; Free Drumming, a work using technology, new media and free drumming by sound artist Sal Moreno; and Deep Moon, Pluto a performance piece by Polish artist Kuba Falk about the body entangled with technology, vulnerable male sexuality, voyeurism, openness and transformation through exposure and subordination. Falk's work is made possible in part by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Poland. Note: This work contains nudity.

“‘unstuck' presents artists who have freed themselves from traditional disciplines to thrive in the spaces between them,” said Kranicke. Ravens added, “They resist the pull of those disciplines to discover something special, unexpected and liberating in the spaces between art forms—where they become unstuck.”

“unstuck” takes place Saturday, April 27 at 7 p.m.
at SITE/less, 1250 West Augusta Boulevard, Chicago.
Tickets are $10 and available at siteless.org or eventbrite.com.
All programming is subject to change.  

About SITE/less

SITE/less, an experimental architecture, movement and research center, aims to rethink the connection between movement and architecture and deepen the relationship between the viewer and the venue beyond the typical model and how the organization of those venues inevitably limits and conditions the curatorial practice. SITE/less does not exist in a traditional “finished” state, but rather continues to evolve and grow with time, functioning as an incubator, a laboratory, a physical structure, a dance and a place where distinct art forms can speak directly to each other. In addition, SITE/less aims to facilitate connection with the public and promote social interaction by creating an atypical arena hosting non-art events, such as community meetings and pop-up dinners.

About Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery

Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery is a roving venue founded in 2010 as one of only a handful of organizations worldwide with a focus specifically on Performance Art. An international platform known for bold and courageous programming that aims to provoke thought and stimulate discourse surrounding experimental time-based practices, DFBRL8R actively contributes to global dialogues concerning conceptual, ephemeral or immaterial expressive forms. Based in Chicago but presenting projects when and where opportunities arise, DFBRL8R energetically bridges local and global communities while raising awareness, appreciation and respect for the discipline of performance art.

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