ÉLIAN MATA + DANA DUGAN

Élian Mata
FORÊT

In calm and darkness, a naked micro-society of human beings materializes. The physiologically disparate tribe lies strewn across the floor in fetal crouches. Their eyes are closed. Ever so slowly, they unfold, come to life and instinctively gather to form a magma of entangled bodies. As these tableaux progress, the sense of well-being deteriorates. Nudity is no longer tolerated. Clothing appears, but these airy sculptural garments only serve to sexualize the flesh, hiding nothing. By exposing the natural body’s raw power and vulnerability, this performance concrète reimagines the birth of humanity through a sociological lens.

Dana Dugan

MEATmarket + (trans)FIGURation

This artist-scholar defies traditional notions of circus performance and audience encounters. In the first of two politically charged studies, we circle her, gazing down at her as she dangles like a carcass. In counterpoint to the sinister sounds of Bach on banjo, she claws for her humanity, slowly folding and unfolding. For her second piece, as an anthropomorphized molting cicada, she manipulates a delicate parachute like a living sculpture. Her grotesque aesthetic embodies feminist discourses on dehumanization, violence, motherhood, aging, and obsolescence. A stirring and meditative encounter.