Chelsea programme notes:In a world consumed by identity crises and at the same time dominated by advertising, how might a humble being begin to claim back space?Director Richard Maxwell: “ADS captures and refines questions I have been thinking about for a long time. What is presence? What does absence provide? What is it about performance that I like? What is it about people that I like? ” ADS offers participants an opportunity to publicly state their beliefs with one stipulation: Be sincere.”Boundary-pushing…suggests…you can create humane, affecting works of theater without the literal presence of human beings.” – Charles Isherwood, The New York TimesConceived and directed by Richard Maxwell for New York City Players

Value is an expression of belief: if we believe that such and such a company, or bank, possesses the assets it purports to possess, then, in effect, those assets exist. The moment we stop believing, the value of the company or bank collapses, and the assets in question cease to exist. A credit crunch is what happens when people suddenly stop believing in the financial system – or when we start to wonder why we believe what we are seeing on stage. Symposium Notes

Symposium programme notes:This symposium will consider questions of performance, belief, and credit.One way in which some kinds of performance distinguishes itself from other kinds – that sometimes go under the name of ‘theatre’ – is by emphasising that what it is doing is ‘real’, as opposed to the acting and pretending that goes on elsewhere. ‘Performing the Real’ was the subject of the 2009 symposium held as part of SACRED. This time we are turning away from the ‘real’ to think about the many ways in which performance is still interested in make-believe, and how make-believe itself might turn out to be part of the ‘real’.The current financial crisis has revealed how the system upon which we supposedly all depend is itself dependent upon how much we believe in it. Value is an expression of belief: if we believe that such and such a company, or bank, possesses the assets it purports to possess, then, in effect, those assets exist. The moment we stop believing, the value of the company or bank collapses, and the assets in question cease to exist.A credit crunch is what happens when people suddenly stop believing in the financial system – or when we start to wonder why we believe what we are seeing on stage. How might performance engage us in thinking and feeling our relationship to money, magic, pretending, imagination: what is it we are looking for in the make-believe world we live in? The symposium will feature: * a discussion with Richard Foreman (Ontological-Hysteric Theater); * keynote presentations from performance scholars Sara Jane Bailes, Jen Mitas, and Nicholas Ridout; * performative provocations from artists Karen Christopher and Sara Juli, also presenting work in the SACRED season; * break-out panels from a range of researchers and artists; * a Long Table discussion hosted by Lois Weaver; * the attendance of Richard Maxwell (New York City Players) and PS122 Director Vallejo Gantner; * the UK premiere of New York City Players’ ADS.

followed by post show discussion with Karen Christopher

This item is part of the Study Room Guide: On Falling by Amy Sharrocks (P2249)

Sacred archive. Documentation on DVDs ref D1396-D1421.

Part of Sacred Season at the Chelsea Theatre, 28 April – 10 May 2008 (For full programme see REF. P1132).

Part of Sacred Season at the Chelsea Theatre, 28 April – 10 May 2008 (For full programme see REF. P1132).

Part of Sacred Season at the Chelsea Theatre, 28 April – 10 May 2008 (For full programme see REF. P1132).

Chris Dobrowoski reveals his increasingly bizarre attempts to escape art school and the whole art world.

Part of Sacred Season at the Chelsea Theatre, 28 April – 10 May 2008 (For full programme see REF. P1132).Video documentation, part 2 of 2. For 1 see REF. D1061.End missing.