Britt Lorraine: Panopticon
May 19 – June 23, 2018
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
The panoptic mechanism arranges spatial unities that make it possible to see constantly and to recognize immediately. In short, it reverses the principle of the dungeon; or rather of its three functions—to enclose, to deprive of light and to hide—it preserves only the first and eliminates the other two.
-Michel Foucault
One day while choreographing, the image of me kneeling before a metronome became present in my mind. I have pondered this image and carried that moment with me for fifteen years, knowing that it was the impetus for a work I would someday create. I began to form this idea of the metronome as an omniscient, panoptic entity that reigns over my time in life. The choreography for PANOPTICON is derived from the study of critical moments and central figures in my life. In order to attempt to get to the essence of a subject, I will represent each with only three gestures—a difficult attempt to eliminate extraneous movement. For example, how do I choreograph the essence of “Mother” in just three movements?
The stripping away of the extraneous is simultaneously an act of revealing. The process of revealing is a theme in the work as I offer what is usually unseen. Journal entries, choreographic studies and research for the work will be on view, acting as homage to a theatrical backdrop. The staging of the work is illuminated through a path laid by floor tape in the gallery during the performance. Although removing is an act of revealing, if repeated, an accumulation occurs. I see my time and work at Sala Diaz as a type of living “hive.” Cyclical in nature, I will not only perform on opening night, but will return to the space at various times throughout my five-week exhibition to continue my performance; essentially, returning to work on my hive.*
BRITT LORRAINE
* Additional performances will be announced on the Sala Diaz website, via email, FaceBook and Instagram
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Britt Lorraine (b. 1978) is a performer and choreographer. She earned her B.F.A. at Southern Methodist University (Dallas) and her M.F.A. at the University of Iowa (Iowa City), and studied at the Martha Graham School of Dance (New York City). Lorraine is a 2012 Artist Foundation of San Antonio grant recipient for her reconstruction of Ballets Russes’ Rite of Spring, RITE, an eight-hour performance, won the 2012 Best of Contemporary Art Month award in San Antonio. She has collaborated in numerous works with her life partner Kristy Perez as Saintlorraine, including their first work we are a handful at the McNay Museum in 2010, and giving to get at the 2013 San Antonio CAM Perennial bite like a kitty, curated by Bill Arning. Currently, their work VERTEX is on exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston as part of Right Here, Right Now: San Antonio organized by Curator Dean Daderko and Assistant Curator Patricia Restrepo.
PRESS
Foucault News https://michel-foucault.com/2018/05/23/britt-lorraines-panopticon-exhibition-2018/
San Antonio Current https://www.sacurrent.com/ArtSlut/archives/2018/05/17/britt-lorraines-panopticon-exhibition-formed-over-15-years-opens-this-weekend
