SITE/less and Defibrillator Gallery present
unstuck
$10 tickets on EVENTBRITE > www.eventbrite.com/e/unstuck-tickets-865479692057

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.

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.

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.

Artist bios
Ále Campos aka Celeste has shown their work at the Hyde Park Arts Center, NO NATION, Comfort Station, Heaven Gallery, Ruschwoman, Jude Gallery, Roots & Culture, Elastic Arts (Chicago), Lane Meyer Projects (Denver), Collar Works (Troy, NY), September Gallery, The 405 Project (Hudson, NY), Kunsthalle Darmstadt (Germany), SS Gallerie (CDMX), BMOCA (Boulder, CO) and Pamplemousse Gallery (Richmond, VA). They received the 2022 James Nelson Fellowship Award at School of the Art Institute and the City of Hudson’s 2021 Tourism Board Grant. They are a current BOLT artist-in-residence at the Chicago Artists Coalition and a lecturer in performance at SAIC, and they are active in Chicago’s drag and nightlife community.

Kuba Falk, intermedia artist and performer, creates and interprets “bodytales,” performative actions realized in various formats, through which he combines work with text and interests, especially from the areas of ecofeminist thought, mythology and rituals. Falk also creates sculptural objects and installations that reference nature and music for his performances. Falk has presented his actions worldwide at Grace Exhibition Space, NYC; Baryshnikov Arts Center, NYC; WeHo Prose Arts, LA; The Watermill Center, Long Island; Art in Nature Festival, Austria; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; National Museum in Krakow; Grey Space Gallery, The Hague; Performance Crossings Festival, Prague; Carbonarium Festival, Kiev; and others across Europe and Americas.

Michelle Kranicke is artistic director of Zephyr, the experimental dance company she founded in 1990, and co-director of SITE/less performance space. She has received artist residencies at Djerassi Artist Ranch, Woodside, CA and Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY; a commission by the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events; an artist residency at Defibrillator Gallery, Chicago; an artistic associate and curatorial resident award from Links Hall, Chicago; and a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist award. Her work has been presented by Defibrillator Gallery, The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, DCASE and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; 9×22 Dance Lab, Minneapolis; Triskelion Arts, Brooklyn; Mulberry Street Theatre, Cunningham Dance Studio, New York; The Art & Culture Center of Hollywood, Florida; North Dakota State University, Fargo; Margaret H’Doubler Theatre, Madison; and more.

Carole McCurdy is a Chicago artist whose movement-based work addresses grief and anxiety, duty and resistance, and the absurd mysteries of embodiment. She has performed at the Chicago Cultural Center, Epiphany Dance, Links Hall, Hamlin Park, High Concept Labs, Defibrillator Gallery and Movement Research (NY). She received a 2016 Lab Artist award from the Chicago Dancemakers Forum and was a Fall 2016 Sponsored Artist at High Concept Labs, Chicago. She created and directed an ensemble piece, WAVER, with support from CDF, HCL and 3Arts Chicago and more recently created Just Passing Through (2021–22), a video, installation and performance shown at Roman Susan gallery.

Sal Moreno is a creative technologist and artist based in Chicago who engages with creative computation, sound, performance and new media. He experiments with free-drumming and emerging technology to dismantle the regimented traditions of marching band and its origins in Western military and music ideologies. His fluency with game engines and motion capture allows him to develop animations, visual effects, particle systems and generative sounds to re-envision the representation of the human body in virtual spaces. He has shown work at Ars Electronica, EXPO Chicago, Mana Contemporary and virtual platforms. He received the 2021 Excellency in New Media Award by the New Media Caucus. He is an educator at UIC Chicago, Northeastern Illinois and UC Irvine.

Official Website

More events on this date

Tags: Ále Campos, Bun Stout, Carole McCurdy, Chicago, David Sundry, Defibrillator Gallery, Jasmine Lupe Mendoza, JOSEPH RAVENS, Kuba Falk, Liquid City Motors, Melina Gaze, Michelle Kranicke, Sal Moreno, SITE/less, unstuck, West Town