Curated August 18, 2014 event, "'This Literally Happened': A Night of Storytelling," at e-flux as part of e-flux staff summer series, "Summer Mondays at e-flux," 2014. Introduction of the performers was itself a performance, with a text of semi-embellished biographies.
Performative text of semi-embellished intros of each performer, written and read by Chloé Rossetti:
Heather Guertin is a painter and writer, and has performed standup comedy in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Moving between these media, she addresses human nature’s tendency toward self-actualization through various methods. Preparation and rehearsal are followed by the creative act with potential for mistakes and improvisation.
Heather turned to comedy and writing in order to stop her journey of self-actualization from becoming too self-involved. She will often practice her standup and readings in front of a mirror over and over again in order to not be alarmed at the sound of her own voice. The most dramatic feat that Heather has ever accomplished onstage was her recent heart attack during her early 2014 reading of her 2013 novella, Model Turned Comedian, at Whitechapel Gallery in London. Heather slumped to the ground somewhere between Chapters Two and Three and actually died for a few minutes. After the paramedics came and Heather was resuscitated and taken away, the reading was considered over and the audience applauded. There is a great write-up of this reading in Artforum’s summer issue, which can still be found in some stores. The reviewer, Yve-Alain Bois, was very impressed, and really enjoyed the [quote] “absurd interplay of form and content.”
Heather’s upcoming solo exhibitions include Brennan & Griffin in New York in September and Proyectos Monclova in Mexico City. Last year, Guertin published a novella, Model Turned Comedian, with Publication Studio and Social Malpractice Publishing.
Next we have Sophia Cleary. Born into the gothic subculture’s first and oldest intentional community in the US, Gothtown, situation near New Brunswick, New Jersey, Cleary’s interest in performance was galvanized by a trip to Jersey City to see Cirque du Soleil’s Saltimbanco when she was just 12 years old. After appearing in many high school productions and hosting her own Youtube video blog from 2001 to the present, Cleary was accepted to Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, in 2009, to study video and performance. From there she attended Marlboro College in Vermont, before completing her Masters in Performance Studies at NYU Tisch in 2011.
Sophia is the founder and coordinator of the works-in-progress series REHEARSAL and is co-editor of Ugly Duckling Presse’s performance annual publication, Emergency INDEX. She has worked with Neal Medlyn, Ann Liv Young, Dynasty Handbag, Bob Flanagan, Vanessa Anspaugh, Marina Abramovic and Ulay, Joseph Beuys, Andrea Fraser, Alexandra Bachzetsis, Divine, James Lee Byars, Shirley Temple, and the Kate Bush Dance Troupe. Additionally, Sophia has presented her work at various New York venues, including the Center for Performance Research, Danspace Project, and Dixon Place.
Sophia’s latest project is playing drums in Penis, a feminist punk band co-founded with Samara Davis.
Finally, we have Allison Brainard. Allison is an artist living the dream in New York City. Three quarters Irish, one-eighth Italian, and one-eighth Unicorn, Allison hails from Boston, Massachusetts, birthplace of the American Revolution, the Red Sox, and New Kids on the Block.
Following in the footsteps of fellow Bostonian Natalie Portman, Allison has pursued a career in performance as humorous as it is rigorous. Her work blurs the boundaries of experimental dance, theater and performance, and she always has a sense of humor. Some of her more daring and humoring performance feats include making out with a mirror while balancing on the chest of a European gigolo; speed-dating while submerged in a bathtub of conversation hearts all printed with the phrase “LOL”; and French-kissing every third person in line to vote for her favorite Brooklyn City Councilman, Darlene Mealy, at the 2013 City Council elections.
In the past, Allison has worked and collaborated with Marina Abramovic, Ryan McNamara, Patty Chang, Martha Rosler, Lauren Conrad, Dolly Parton, Terrence Ko, The Fabulous Wonder Twins, Susan Sarandon, and Carolee Schneemann. She has performed in many venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn including Abrons Art Center, Judson Church, and the Bruce High Quality Foundation University, or BHQFU.