NEW YORK—The Paula Cooper Gallery is pleased to present Absolute Event, a video installation by Liz Magic Laser. The work will be produced on site during live performances at 197 Tenth Avenue, open to the public, on November 14th and 16th. Performances will begin promptly at 7PM. The video will be on view through November 30th.
In Absolute Event, two actors (who are former congressional staffers) perform a dialogue in which a political strategist coaches a politician from behind the scenes of a situation room. The script combines material from Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac, current American political rhetoric and interviews conducted by Laser with political and public relations strategists. The gallery will be transformed into a control room and a situation room, incorporating elements from a disco nightclub. During the performances, live-feed videos are produced, edited and projected while audience members are invited to participate in the action.
Liz Magic Laser (b. 1981, New York) lives and works in Brooklyn. She earned a BA from Wesleyan University (2003) and an MFA from Columbia University (2008). She attended the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture (2008) and the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program (2009). Her work has been exhibited internationally, most recently at the Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster, Germany (2013), Mälmo Konsthall, Mälmo, Sweden (2012); the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (2012); The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (2012); Performa 11 Biennial, New York (2011) and MoMA PS 1, New York (2010). She was the 2013 Armory Show Commissioned Artist. Laser is the recipient of grants from Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation Grant (2013), the Southern Exposure Off-Site Graue Award (2013), New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship (2012), the Times Square Alliance (2010) and the Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art (2010).
The script for Absolute Event was written by Liz Magic Laser in collaboration with Sofia Pontén; Actors: Gary Lee Mahmoud and Daniel Abse; Production Manager: Lucia Hinojosa; Set Design in collaboration with Andrea Huelse; Costume Stylist: Felicia Garcia-Rivera; Technical Director: Irwin Seow; Director of Photography: Laura Cooper; Audio Engineer: Tristan Shepherd; Research Assistant: Rachel Zaretsky.
For more information, please contact the gallery: (212) 255-1105 or
info@paulacoopergallery.com
