Inverse Performance Art Fest Returns

Inverse Performance Art Fest Returns
ON THE COVER Courtesy Photo Through the use of an interdisciplinary practice, Justin Zachary investigates the relationship between his mother and father as a means of commutation through video and performance. He and 20 other performance artists will be featured at Inverse Performance Art Festival in Fayetteville and Bentonville, Thursday, March 30 through Saturday, April 1.

ON THE COVER
Courtesy Photo
Through the use of an interdisciplinary practice, Justin Zachary investigates the relationship between his mother and father as a means of commutation through video and performance. He and 20 other performance artists will be featured at Inverse Performance Art Festival in Fayetteville and Bentonville, Thursday, March 30 through Saturday, April 1.

An avant garde performance art festival will be returning for its second year to host 21 different performances from 29 artists throughout Northwest Arkansas.

Returning for its second year, Inverse is organized by Cynthia Post Hunt and Emma Saperstein of San Luis Obispo, Calif. There will be three full days of performance in Northwest Arkansas from Thursday, March 30 through Saturday, April 1.

The festival seeks to “elevate the medium of performance” in the region through a variety of performances with diversity of content and duration, while highlighting the local arts scene. The festival is also free to the public, thanks to the support of several local businesses, cities, organizations and individuals.

“We want the community to grow and exchange ideas, conversation and dialogue,” Post Hunt said. “If we put a price on that, I think that’s limiting us and creates an expectation. If there’s no transaction involved, you might come with an open mind. I think it’s a better experience if we can continue to provide this for free.”

If you’re curious to what is performance art is, there’s not exactly a definitive answer. Performance art is essentially the relationship or engagement between a performing artist(s) and the audience in a fine art context. The performance itself can be interactive, improvisational, or scripted. Most performance art involves space, time and the performer’s body. It’s also often interdisciplinary, sometimes involving video, technology, sound or props.

Courtesy Photo Hector Canonge’s work incorporates the use of new media technologies, cinematic narratives, performance, and socially engaged art to explore and treat issues related to constructions of identity, gender roles, psychogeography, and the politics of migration. He will perform at the Faulkner Performing Arts Center at the University of Arkansas on Thursday, March 30 at 3 p.m.

Courtesy Photo
Hector Canonge’s work incorporates the use of new media technologies, cinematic narratives, performance, and socially engaged art to explore and treat issues related to constructions of identity, gender roles, psychogeography, and the politics of migration. He will perform at the Faulkner Performing Arts Center at the University of Arkansas on Thursday, March 30 at 3 p.m.

Inverse is a key participant in the already existing and thriving art community of NWA, and exists in part due to the community’s generous support.

“All of our venues are essentially partners,” Post Hunt said. “We have a really great community supporting us.”

Events will be held on Thursday, March 30, at the University of Arkansas Jim & Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center from 8am – 5pm and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art from 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.

The performances at Crystal Bridges are paid events, but can be made free if registered online at www.inverseperformanceartfestival.org.

Events on Friday, March 31, will be held at Foxhole Public House from 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. and at 21c Hotel Museum Bentonville from 4 p.m. – 10 p.m.

On Saturday, April 1, performances will be held at the University of Arkansas Art & Design District from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. The festival will end with a performance at Feast Gallery from 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Post Hunt originally hailed from Chicago before moving to Fayetteville in 2014. She has performed and shown work locally at Backspace, the Bank of Fayetteville, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Fayetteville Underground, Lalaland, the Shed, Stage Eighteen, and Two25 Gallery.

Courtesy Photo Jil Guyon is an award winning visual and performing artist based in New York City. In “Desert Widow,” she explores the dark recesses of the female psyche through the merger of solo performance with large scale video projection, music, and silence. She will be performing at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art on March 30 at 7 p.m.

Courtesy Photo
Jil Guyon is an award winning visual and performing artist based in New York City. In “Desert Widow,” she explores the dark recesses of the female psyche through the merger of solo performance with large scale video projection, music, and silence. She will be performing at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art on March 30 at 7 p.m.

Saperstein, who resides in San Luis Obsipo, Calif., is currently the curator of the Harold J Miossi Art Gallery at Cuesta College and the Global Portal Curator at the public art initiative Shared_Studio. Her experience includes serving as studio manager to internationally recognized artist Titus Kaphar, a variety of curatorial projects in Dallas, Texas, and involvement in the thriving alternative arts and publishing community in Chicago, specifically with ArtWing Contemporary, Public Media Institute, and Lumpen Magazine.

While there’s inherent challenge in curating a festival when a partner lives in a different timezone, Post Hunt said her and Saperstein have been able to make it work.

“Having a partner in something is its own unique mindset, but it gives you a stability that’s really helpful,” she said. “We’re both very collaborative people and it makes a lot of sense that we work together.”

There is another iteration of Inverse in the works to be held in California later in 2017, Post Hunt said.

For more info about the artists and the performance schedule, check out www.inverseperformanceartfestival.org.


Photo Courtesy of Kristopher Johnson John Chiaromonte, of Mountain Home, will perform a 6 hour durational piece beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 1 at the University of Arkansas Art and Design District.

Photo Courtesy of Kristopher Johnson
John Chiaromonte, of Mountain Home, will perform a 6 hour durational piece beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 1 at the University of Arkansas Art and Design District.

Inverse 2017 Performance Artists

Emerson Sigman — Chicago, Ill.

Ion Yamazaki — Tokyo, Japan

Hector Canonge — New York, N.Y.

Paul Rucker — Seattle, Wash.

Lorene Bouboushian & Kaia Gilje — New York, N.Y.

Darryl Lauster — Arlington, Texas

Jil Guyon — New York, N.Y.

Elizabeth Fok & Ally Bortolazzo — Santa Barbara, Calif.

Patrick Ford — Hong Kong, China

Laurence Myers Reese — Norman, Okla.

Jessica Borusky — Kansas City, Mo.

Prison Story Project — Fayetteville, Ark.

Flounder Lee — Dubai, UAE

Amber Eggleton — Huntsville, Texas

Angeli — New York, N.Y.

Justin Zachary — San Antonio, Texas

John Chiaromonte — Mountain Home, Ark.

Tom Maio — Boston, Mass.

Esther Neff — New York, N.Y.

Erin Peisert and Jared Mimm — Shanghai, China

Sharon Mansur — Winona, Minn.

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