Performance Artist Matt Bodett Explores Mental Health Through Shakespeare's HAMLET, Reinterpreted

High Concept Laboratories NFP (HCL), a Chicago-based arts service organization, will host the final of three performance events by 2018 HCL Sponsored Artist Matt Bodett. Titled "lost, lost," the one-night-only performance, taking place Nov. 16 in the HCL studio at Mana Contemporary Chicago, will address Bodett's lived experiences with schizoaffective disorder through the lens of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Utilizing a ten-part video installation, original sculptural works, and an immersive, live performance, Bodett moves the audience through a 45-minute, multisensory event that examines the conditions of mental health in unfamiliar social and psychological contexts.

"Shakespeare's Hamlet is one of the many great works of art that, over time, has defined the conditions of familiarity that make it easy to dismiss those suffering from invisible disabilities," said Billie Howeard, artistic director of HCL. "Matt Bodett is a deeply committed artist and disability activist, and his work in lost, lost presents a truly original reinterpretation and reclamation of the classic tragedy in a brutally honest and experiential context."

Attendees at lost, lost will also received a limited-edition publication, uniquely designed for the event. Featuring original essays from Chicago-based writer Courtney Graham; Sasha Durakov, a member of the Belli Research Institute; and art and writing from Matt Bodett, the collectible book examines the role of language in schizophrenia, and the need for improved and transparent dialogue about mental illness.

The event is the final of three performances from Bodett's multimedia series, "We are, we are," supported by HCL along with 3Arts, a Chicago-based nonprofit that helps artists finance new creative work.

$10 suggested donation.

Note: This performance will contain depictions of suicide and occasionally unsettling subject matter. Attendees may contact the artist (matt@mattbodett.com) or HCL (info@highconceptlabs.org) with questions or concerns.

For more information about lost, lost and other upcoming performances at HCL, visit highconceptlaboratories.org/calendar/.

Matt Bodett is a performance artist and disability activist, exhibiting his work widely and promoting the telling of personal stories, centered openly on those whose lives are directly affected by mental illness. Matt Bodett exhibits his work and performances internationally, with a performance next fall at the Freud Museum in London. Locally, Bodett has performed at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater, Victory Gardens, the Poetry Foundation, Intuit: the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Gallery 400, and many other venues. Learn more about Matt Bodett and his work, and arrange for studio visits and viewings, at mattbodett.com.

High Concept Laboratories NFP supports artists and facilitates dialogue between artists, audiences, and staff members. This increases access and transparency to the artistic process and fosters transformational experiences in an environment of experimentation and discovery.

HCL is supported in part by the generosity of The Chicago Community Trust, The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Irving Harris Foundation, The City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, The Illinois Arts Council Agency, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation, The Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, The Martha Struthers Farley and Donald C. Farley, Jr. Family Foundation, N.A., The Norwottuck Charitable Trust, The Samuel J. Baskin Charitable Trust, Mana Contemporary Chicago and individual donors.

For more information, visit highconceptlabs.org.

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