Material Performance

Limited to 12 students
This class considers the aesthetic, conceptual and
practical aspects found at the intersection of
text (whether from drama, literature, web,
journalism, original texts, or other sources) when
using material elements such as puppets or
constructed objects as
integral elements in performance. We will examine
traditional / populist forms, such as humanettes,
ventriloquism, and hand puppetry, picture
performance, including the traditions of Punch and
Judy, Blue Blouse and Constructivist performance.
We will also examine contemporary work including
Visual/ Performance Art, Fluxus performance, Agit
Prop, digital doppelgangers, and related forms.
Students will create short works in response to
their engagement with these forms. Viewings of
works across disciplines will be integral to these
investigations, highlighting the cross-medial
intersection of contemporary object performance
with other forms.
While conceiving and adapting new work, using
low-tech methods, students will consider the use
of performing objects as a part of a unified
scenographic and directorial approach. Students
will examine the ways in which the use of puppets,
objects, masks, and other material forms can
unlock a text or create a world. Through viewings,
readings, assignments, and in-class projects,
students will explore issues such as scale,
composition, ambiguity, manipulation/focus, and
the relationship of performer to objects and
puppets, while examining the historical use of
performing objects as an essential theatrical tool
of the avant-garde.
For their final projects, each student (or
collaborative team) will propose a short object
performance-based work to develop in the final 4
weeks. During this development time, class time
will be allotted for work on the projects, as well
as for critique of working progress. The viewings
will be chosen to relate to each student's final
projects. The class will culminate in a
performance of works in-progress or finished
works.
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Note: If waitlisted, see instructor at course
signup.