Join Watermill Alum, Carl Lawrence as he reflects on power of performance as it relates to the colonial functions of historical archives.
Viewpoints is The Watermill Center’s year-round conversation series, granting artists and art enthusiasts the opportunity to gather and discuss creative themes vital to the contemporary moment. Hosted at both its East End campus and in NYC, Viewpoints engages with the community through intriguing dialogue, artist talks, and lectures that span across disciplines.
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Carl Lawrence is a Seattle-based artist, director, and organizer whose work oscillates between performance, installation, and visual art. Within his work, he wields theatre, club culture, and visual art as experiential strategies to locate meaning and solidarity in the contemporary world. He has presented work locally and nationally at venues such as The Watermill Center, On The Boards, ITINERANT Performance Art Festival, Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA), Olson Kundig, and Base: Experimental Arts + Space. His most recent work entitled ✞aaaa✞, which premiered in March 2019, was called a “spectacular demonstration of multidisciplinary work” by Seattle Dances. He is also the Co-Director and Co-Founder of festival:festival, a free visual and performing arts festival that presents and supports underrepresented artists and cultural workers in Seattle. Through festival:festival, Lawrence advocates for economic justice for artists and cultural workers with the intention of building a more vibrant and sustainable arts economy in Seattle.
Drawing upon two seminal American historical texts “Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp” (1856) by Harriet Beecher Stowe and “Blake; or the Huts of America” (1859) by Martin Delaney, Watermill alum Carl Lawrence will explore the legacy of the Civil War within the American historical imaginary. In a weaving of historical images, documents, and song, Lawrence will invite the community to reflect on the polemical power of performance as it relates to the colonial and imperial functions of the archive. This presentation will offer a glimpse into his research for a new performance piece, which he is currently developing.
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Image © Juan A. Franco Ricardo
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