BODILY FUNCTIONS 2007

4th - 6th October - 3 Days of Live Art in Cork

Granary is delighted to once again host and curate Live Art Events in the venue and at off-site locations during October. This year we are indebted to Lois & Daniel of the Live Art Development Agency for their wonderful contribution that is Live Art Unpacked. This year's event features artists from the U.K, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in three days of eclectic performance, discussion and performance enabler. Bodily Functions 2007 is supported by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaion.

Thursday 4th October

PUBLIC GOOD by John Drummett 1pm - 5pm UCC Campus (also running on Friday 5th)

"The work {is} a live performative process which would delve into the social fabric and develop a public dialogue questioning how shared codes of conduct mark public space.
The physical focus of the process would be a free standing structure made of a metal frame, fitted together to make a single box frame or room, measuring 3m x 3m x 2m high. The frame would be ‘decorated’ with a body of objects used in street based acts of public celebration and remembrance. These would be fixed to the frame, the walls of the structure would be made of sheets of clear plastic.
The purpose of the structure is to provide a temporary and intimate enclosed space in which to critically consider with the public, questions of public and civil conduct in the context of public space. The key questions which this site responsive process will pose are; how does community identity inform how we behave in public, how does place affect what we do and how are implicit codes of public conduct made visible or legible in the architecture of public urban spaces.
Throughout the work ‘public conduct’ would host informal discussions and acts of public writing involving myself and interested visitors to the event. Summaries and phrases from these discussions would be written onto the array of objects adorning the structure. These objects would include plastic flowers, paper streamers, ribbons, bunting and small flags; the regalia of street based celebration and remembrance. The work would begin with a set of short statements and key words already in place on these objects and on the plastic walls." - JD

TREINTAYCUATROPIÈCESDISTINGUÉES&ONESTRIPTEASE Irish Premiere of a New Film by La Ribot 1pm Granary Theatre

Film document on the Distinguished Pieces

Special Presentation for Bodily Functions with kind permission of La Ribot

"This film attempts to offer a documentary version of a long production process that began in
Madrid in 1991 with the “striptease show” Socorro! Gloria! and concluded with the deployment of
the three series of distinguished pieces (1993, 1997, 2000) in successive presentations of
Panoramix (2003) in London, Geneva or Paris. Although the goal was the tangible preservation of
an ephemeral work, the film was inevitably destined to evolve into something more; just as the
book La Ribot (2004) brought the artist’s creative constants and compositional interests to the
printed page, so the film also offers a new projection of her preoccupations in a format that has
already captured her interest in other recent works – digital video." José A. Sánche

INTIMATE ACTIONS by Ben + Holly 6pm Granary Studio

Ben and Holly-romantic but not in love, intimate, but not physically. Ben and Holly are interested in the intimacy that surrounds the mundane, the domestic routines between people sharing the same spaces and lives. The intimacy that is at times evasive, controlling, powerful and not particularly pleasurable.

Ben and Holly invite their audience to a performance that prods and pokes at the mundane rituals that bind us together with the people in our lives; the strange life of couples, the dysfunction, sexual tension, the simultaneous closeness and distance of everyday domestic actions. They aim to take these ordinary actions and subvert them into actions of intimacy, allowing an exploration of this unique relationship to unfold before your very eyes!

“It……. wakes you up to what you feel; about yourself and others, about life (the meaning of…), the universe, and the great cosmic stew that we all find ourselves in.”  (Cassie Werber, TotalTheatre magazine)

Join Ben and Holly at 6pm and witness a performance that’s not rehearsed or defined, but questions the collaborative practice and the human condition in all its honesty, allowing for daily difference, changing mood, and the unexpected to happen.

Seeing Ben and Holly perform is like watching your Mum and Dad reading in bed. There’s a familiarity you cannot avoid.

Veiling of the Mind by Sandra Minchin 7.30pm Granary Theatre

‘Veiling of the Mind' is a video/performance of explicit sexual images back projected onto frosted glass. During the duration of the performance the sexual areas of imagery will be blackened out and censored by the artist.

The artist will be dressed totally in black, the only part of her exposed will be her breasts and vaginal area, which will appear fragmented from the rest of her body. At the end of the performance she will censor herself.
This work is a direct response to the artist's personal experience of Middle Eastern censorship. 

Lust, sensuality,sexuality and shame.

Love Is... by Anatomy_of 9pm Granary Theatre

Speechless…
Sometimes, I find it hard to articulate.  I fight to get the words out, only to find them falling & disintegrating at my feet like broken crockery in a violent row…
Hold me, just a little.

I am muted by your touch, tender thoughts stolen by my bitter tongue.
I know you are there, I feel you near but I cannot face the softness of your skin.
Hold me, just a little, until the blackness leaves my heart.

I know I ache for, long for, need & desire your presence, right here, right now – I can’t do this alone.

Stay with me, need me – I can’t do this alone.

Friday 5th October

ICONOGRAPHIA by hancock and kelly live - 2pm Granary Theatre

In the fold between flesh, between hearts, and between breaths; two bodies are
wrapped in a second skin, a skin that will change their economy and shed their
dreams. Iconographia is a text that flows and ebbs, that begs, borrows and steals,
and ultimately exchanges power for dust.
Iconographia is a durational performance installation, exploring questions of cultural
value and skin.
Over a four-hour period, the entwined bodies of a naked performer and a dead pig
will be bound, covered, and sealed in gold-leaf. A shimmering spectacle, the
performance takes place on the edge of a religious encounter, a morbid fantasy, and
a fading film-still.
'A stunning image that has stayed in my mind
and is constantly changing and asking more and more...'
- greenroom audience member, on Iconographia
Since 2001, Richard Hancock and Traci Kelly have collaborated on a body of
challenging works that question the possibilities for exchange and dialogue between
the artists, and the artists and their audiences. The resulting performances are a
series of visceral, intimate, and queer events, both moving and spectacular.
In 2003, Hancock and Kelly began exploring a shared fascination with the politics
and poetics of contamination; sharing saliva, milk and breath. In 2005, they began
an enduring game of ‘performance chess’; an ongoing series of solo performances,
each made in response to the other’s work. In 2006, Traci Kelly was permanently
tattooed with the wallpaper pattern from Richard Hancock’s childhood home. In
2007, Richard Hancock was buried alive beneath the weight of their audiences’
memories and 175kg of coal.
Hancock and Kelly have performed and exhibited works across the UK, Europe, and
Mexico. Their work has been featured in publications by Angel Row Gallery, Dance
Theatre Journal, Western European Stages, and their 2004 collaboration with
photographer Manuel Vason forms part of ‘Encounters’, a major recent publication by
Arnolfini.
Bodily Functions 2007 marks Hancock and Kelly’s first performance in Ireland.
www.hancockandkellylive.com

Nigel Rolfe - 8pm Granary Theatre

I Can't Stand But Up For Falling Down

Nigel Rolfe’s practice as an artist making live works spans some thirty years or more. He has worked in North and South America, in the Far East and throughout Europe. He was the first artist to work in this way in Ireland and developed liveworks since 1974 in Dublin and Cork and throughout the country. Also the first artist here to use video, he has become a senior figure in performance history. In the 1980’s he made a seminal work“The Rope” where he repeatedly bound his head in a ball of twine. He has continued to work live and is well known as an Academic and teacher.  

Most recently he has made live drawings with conjoined but sometimes-disparate elements juxtaposed together, bound by realtime but before an audience. Often using text and sound they are interwoven layers brought together by the artist there and then. Political events and cultures are a source of critique and stimulus and usually elements used are directly sourced from the events of life. Physical but metaphorical the body acts as a conduit and transmitter, actions repeat and emphasise, extremes expose and confront limits.

He never describes work beforehand and prefers not to title work either until the appointed time for the work.

Plus PUBLIC GOOD by John Drummett 1pm - 5pm UCC Campus

PLATFORM by Various Artists. 

Granary presents a series of Platform performances by Irish based live and performance artists including; Linda Conroy & Annette Persson. 

‘Platform’ showcases emerging artists from Ireland & encourages diversity and innovation in the artform.  Platform Artists represent a cross section of contemporary live art work.

More Artists will be added, please keep an eye on the notice board in the Granary &/or log on to www.granary.ie for details & times.

Trophy Wife by Linda Conroy

Linda studied at Waterford Institute of Technology and graduated in 2006 with a BA in Art and Society, specialising in Performance Art. 

She completed her Higher Diploma in the Crawford College of Art & Design, Cork in 2007. 

With ‘Trophy Wife’  she wants to explore the changing role of women in domestic life.

SHAVE by by Annette Persson

is a living installation in which the artist continuously performs the mundane ritual of shaving.

The piece deals with perceptions of gendered bodies and identity.

Saturday 6th October

LIVE ART UNPACKED by The Live Art Development Agency 2pm - Granary Theatre

Starting at Twelve Noon Live Art Unpacked comprises three major events:

Video Screening of 'Live Art in the UK - A Sampler' - 12pm - 6pm Looped in Granary Studio

Drawing on the Agency’s Study Room resources and documentation of its many projects, the Live Art Development Agency offers a diverse range of screening programmes of contemporary Live Art practices for presentation as exhibitions or as theatrical screenings within international festivals and events. The screening programmes are curated and compiled in close collaboration with host partners and are tailored to respond to their artistic aspirations and curatorial approaches. The work on the Live Art Sampler DVD has been selected by the Live Art Development Agency for BODILY FUNCTIONS 2007, 3 Days of Live Art in Cork.

The DVD contains a selection of practices by UK based artists that range from street interventions; through gallery installations and theatre presentations; to documents of research, reinterpretations of performance works for camera, and works made especially for television. The screen programme will include work by Robin Deacon, Pacitti Company, London Fieldworks, Howard Matthew, Jordan McKenzie, Silke Mansholt, Stacy Makishi and Joshua Sofaer among others.

Everything You Wanted To Know About Live Art But Were Afraid To Ask - 2pm - 6pm Granary Theatre

'Everything...' is a day of information and advice aimed at students, recent graduates, emerging artists and anybody who is interested in finding out more about Live Art. 'Evertything...' includes an introduction to the Live Art sector, a sense of how things work, practical information about what's on offer and opportunities to access guidance, advice and expertise through presentations by Lois Keidan and Daniel Brine and experienced local artists and curators such as: Aideen Barry, Michelle Browne, Sarah Tuck, Amanda Coogan, Anne Ffrench etc.

A performance of The Performance Pack - 6.30pm - Granary Theatre

The Performance Pack is a performance enabler, an educational resource and a limited edition artwork. The Performance Packtakes the form of an entertaining illustrated lecture about performance, and especially the relationship between performance and fine art. The Performance Pack features the work of Matthew Barney, Joseph Beuys, George Chakravarthi, Robin Deacon, Forced Entertainment, Franko B, Ronald Fraser Monro, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Rebecca Horn, Tehching Hsieh, Zhang Huan, Oleg Kulik, La Ribot, Richard Layzell, Stacy Makishi & Vic Ryder, Piero Manzoni, Howard Matthew, Paul McCarthy, Bruce Nauman, Hayley Newman, Carolee Schneemann, and Cindy Sherman.

Commissioned by the Live Art Development Agency and Tate Modern, and conceived and created by Joshua Sofaer, The Performance Pack draws on documentation of contemporary practices and works which have been informed by performance in Tate’s permanent collection and beyond. The Performance Packis an excellent introduction to contemporary performance practices for curators, collectors, educationalists, artists, students, and advocates.

Performed by Tony McCleane-Fay with the assistance of Lois & Daniel.

The Live Art Development Agency provides an extensive portfolio of Resourcess, Professional Development Schemes, and Projects and Initiatives for the support and development of Live Art practices, and discourses in the UK and internationally. Live Art Unpacked a new initiative that extends the Agency’s work into a diversity of international contexts, and furthers collaborations with partner organisations and artists.

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BODILY FUNCTIONS 2005

2005 Live Art Events

Residencies
Cork artist Aideen Barry was in residence in July creating new work and showing existing work. whatgoesaroundcomesaround was staged in the Theatre and involved the artist performing inside a giant wheel set in a vat of ink. Storm Reader took place on the Lough in Togher. This was a family piece involving the artist on a boat and over one thousand pinwheels or windmills. Franko B was in residence for the month of September and staged and showed a number of works throughout the city. These included Oh Lover Boy at the Crawford Gallery and Why Are You Here? (Aktion 893) in the Granary Theatre. Franko worked from the Backwater Artists Studios in Cork.

The 2005 Live Art Programme was made possible through the support of Cork 2005, the British Council, the Arts Council and UCC.

Future events
It is anticipated that Granary will once again hold a Live Art Symposium, this time in October 2007, where artists and companies from Britain and Ireland will come together to create, show and discuss their work.

Bodily Functions 2007 will take place from 4 - 6 October 2007 and is supported by the Arts Council.

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Click here to download Bodily Functions Symposium and Platforms (PDF 449Kb)

Click here to download Bodily Functions Programme (PDF 548Kb)

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