Object/Fetish

2009 2010 2011 Object/Fetish Artist Talk, Baltimore

Staging the Suspension of Disbelief in Every Day Life

How does fantasy fuel the way we interact and perform with objects in our daily lives?

Why do some people fall in love with inanimate objects like buildings, bridges, or other structures?

Where do sex toys and animism intersect?

In Object/Fetish, we explore the underpinnings of the suspension of disbelief and how objects are and can be fetishized in everyday life.

CONTENT

In Object/Fetish we examine media from the margins of what is traditionally thought of as puppetry and object theater for the consumption of theatrical audiences in areas that include:

  • masking
  • furrie fandom
  • object sexuality
  • the rise of artificial companions

FORMAT + AUDIENCE

I have presented Object/Fetish as both a 30 minute and a 3 hour artist talk with classroom discussions. I am currently creating an expanded version of  Object/Fetish, creating that could work for a 10-15 session semester-long class.

This material is suitable for undergraduate and graduate-aged students. If you would like to see footage from my presentation at the University of Connecticut or an example curriculum, please contact me.

HISTORY

April 30, 2011
H&H Arts Building
Transmodern Festival
Baltimore, Maryland

April 27, 2011
Maryland Institute College of Art
Baltimore, Maryland

March 13, 2011
Club Sapien
International Festival of Animated Objects
Calgary Animated Object Society
Calgary Alberta

April 1, 2011
Puppetry + Post-Dramatic Performance
University of Connecticut 
Storrs, Connecticut

November 18, 2010
Cotsen Center
for Puppetry + the Arts
California Institute for the Arts
Valencia, California

Related
December 27, 2011
Puppetry International
Uncanny Valley of the Dolls
an interview with Allison de Fren