THIS AND THAT Returns at HERE Arts Center Next Month

What is THIS? What is THAT? - THAT imagines the creation of the universe. Video equipment comes to life by the cranking of tripod knobs, zooming in and out, maneuvering visual feedback loops, dissolving images together and apart, creating an abstract video puppetry before our eyes. No pre-recorded video, no tricks. THIS is about people - their romantic sense of longing, loss, alienation and near miss... a cowboy sleeps under the stars, a family puts their child to sleep for the night, a crooner serenades his lover, a jazz pianist fantasizes while he plays. Hand shadow vignettes, inspired by Henry Moore sculptures, morph from one scene to another.

The Institute for Useless Activity has committed itself to the principles of 1) finding what is theatrically interesting through research and experimentation, 2) using/abusing any technology at hand and 3) avoiding slickness by discovering the poetry in simple objects. The work is not meant to be "useful" in a political or social sense, but playful and naive-curious and full of wonder.

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