Photo Flash: First Look At Immersive Play FOUND at the cell

Nancy Manocherian's the cell has joined forces with Mason Holdings and Sister Sylvester (Founder, Kathryn Hamilton) to present Found, a unique and wholly immersive theatrical experience that allows guests to step into the world of fine artist, Mikel Glass. Directed by Kristjan Thor, the theatrical installation will play performances Wednesday, September 25 through Thursday, October 31, 2019. Tickets are now on sale.

Enter the whimsical, irreverent, and epic world of artist Mikel Glass as the cell launches its first ever immersive theatrical experience, Found. Collaborating with renowned theater companies, Mason

Holdings and Sister Sylvester, Found explores an explosion of art, found and transitional objects, mysterious cocktails, and the wonders to discovered within our imaginations. Found is a revolutionary new way to consume the arts.

Audience members will be fully enveloped in an alternate universe from the moment they approach the cell townhouse, enlisting them as vital parts of the art they are stepping into. Utilizing every space on all four stories of the venue, audience members will be gently guided through the multi-disciplinary, full- sensory installation by an array of dynamic characters. Equal parts surreal, ironic, nostalgic, and profound, Found will pull you into the world of art in a way you never thought possible.

Humans, jellyfish, and bacteria will unite in a single organism on a petri-dish stage, when internationally renowned cyborg theater artist, Sister Sylvester adds her singular brand of entertainment to the mix for three special performances, October 24, 26, and 31, 2019. Utilizing real DNA from the lost dolls in Glass' installation, Sylvester will mix a cocktail unlike any you've ever had before.

"The usually sleepy art world is in a full-fledged slumber as its participants are weighed down by the same existential burdens plaguing outside-the-bubble society," said artist Mikel Glass. "We're walking around like zombies, and I'm going to do my part by switching off personal filters, getting truthy, and trying to remind people that consuming art can be an active, dynamic and fun experience. I have no idea what people will think, other than they're seeing something different than they've experienced before."

"Kira and I are excited to have reached a major goal in our quest to unite various artistic disciplines," Nancy Manocherian, Founding Artistic Director of the cell says. "We hope this reflects the greater goal of uniting people within, and particularly, outside the arts."

"The Cell, Mikel Glass, and Mason Holdings were all carrying different parts of the same story and, miraculously, we found each other," said Tracy Weller, Founder / Artistic Director of Mason Holdings. "This is sort of alchemy that gives artists faith and audiences joy."

Mikel Glass is an internationally respected multi-media artist, based Hell's Kitchen for more than twenty-five years. He believes that an artist's responsibility is to document the zeitgeist in which he is steeped. As such, he spent the first several years documenting the plight of the homeless and addicted; and has always re-purposed found objects from his surroundings to create paintings, kinetic sculptures and installations. These interests culminated in a 2009 mid-career retrospective entitled The Discarded at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center. As HK gentrifies, Mikel has turned his attention to observing the art world. In 2012 he created Fair at (Art) Amalgamated in NYC, which exposed the mechanics of the art market, using the art fair paradigm as the vehicle of exploration. In the past few years he founded and curated a series of multi-media pop-up shows in New York, culminating with the (un)SCENE, which combined the spirit of a Happening with the aesthetics of a museum installation.

Performances of Found will play through Thursday, October 31, 2019 with several showings nightly. A complete performance schedule can be found online at thecelltheatre.org. Tickets for Found are $25 with a $50 VIP experience which includes a private session with the artist. Special performances, featuring Sister Sylvester, will take place on Thursday, October 24, Saturday, October 26, and Thursday, October 31 with a special ticket price of $15.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit thecelltheatre.org.

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