"The Ancient Practice of Shit Disturbing" | Critical Tactics Lab | THURS 9/18, 7pm
Tal Beery
Critical Tactics Lab: "The Ancient Practice of Shit Disturbing," A discussion with Sean Devlin |
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Across the globe we find old stories about characters who travel between opposing spaces. Without invitation they find their way into the realm of the gods, returning to the world of mortals having acquired some gift to share. The Trickster crosses imposed boundaries and reshapes culture in the process. As our climate destabilizes and communities yearn for transformation, people are recognizing the ancient responsibility to break boundaries and cross borders. Sean Devlin is part of a network of artists that launched ShitHarperDid.com, an online campaign targeting the Canadian Prime Minister that went viral during Canada’s 2011 federal election. He currently serves as its Executive Director. He has been coordinator and thought stylist for numerous Yes Lab actions and his workshops help artists and activists channel their Trickster spirit. Thursday, September 18 This event is free and open to the public. A photo ID is required to enter NYU buildings. This is a wheelchair accessible venue. The Critical Tactics Lab (CTL) is the Hemispheric Institute’s permanent forum for discussion and research on the practices and methods of contemporary and historical political action. Drawing on the work of Yes Lab and the Creative Activism Series and the Institute’s ongoing work with political artists and activists from the Americas, the CTL’s mission is to promote and strengthen critical reflection about the tactics and strategies of political movements, as well as the multiple processes and modes of analysis through which these are arrived at. Through lectures, workshops, courses, and other modes of assembly—and with an emphasis on laughter and embodied practice—the CTL seeks to provide a space in which the expansive affinities of critical practice and action can be made visible and strengthened. The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics is a collaborative, multilingual, and interdisciplinary network of institutions, artists, scholars, and activists throughout the Americas. Working at the intersection of scholarship, artistic expression, and politics, the organization explores embodied practice—performance—as a vehicle for the creation of new meaning and the transmission of cultural values, memory, and identity. Anchored in its geographical focus on the Americas (thus “hemispheric”) and in three working languages (English, Spanish, and Portuguese), the Institute’s goal is to promote vibrant interactions and collaborations at the level of scholarship, art practice, and pedagogy among practitioners interested in the relationship between performance and politics in the hemisphere. |
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