Actua 1

a live-film performance piece from Object Collection

Written by Kara Feely and Travis Just
Performed by Eric Magnus, Tavish Miller, Daniel Allen Nelson, Deborah Wallace, and Travis Just

ACTUA 1 constructs an event that both happened and did not. An exercise in futility and concentration, the piece is named after Actua One, a lost film from the May ’68 uprisings. Performers pace restlessly in the main gallery of the Invisible Dog Art Center, as they spout slogans for a missing revolution. Actors propel themselves out of stagnation and boredom through complex object procedures and mental tasks. Speeches, music, activities, and radio are projected into the gallery’s back room via video cameras and microphones, where the audience can watch from a comfortable distance. The action is both intimately proximal and telepresent. ACTUA 1: an absent performance for five performers—the soldiers from Godard’s “Les Carabiniers” performing Allan Kaprow on public access.
May, 2013: Invisible Dog Art Center, Brooklyn
September 23, 2011: Presents Gallery, NYC