Object/Fetish:
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.
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:
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- masking
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- furrie fandom
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- object sexuality
- the rise of artificial companions.
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.
PRESENTATION HISTORY
- April 30, 2011 – H&H Arts Building, Transmodern Festival, (Baltimore, MD)
- April 27, 2011 – Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore, MD)
- April 1, 2011 – Puppetry & Post-Dramatic Performance – An International Conference on Performing Objects in the 21st Century, University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT)
- March 13, 2011 – Club Sapien, International Festival of Animated Objects,
Calgary Animated Object Society, (Calgary Alberta) - November 18, 2010 – Cotsen Center for Puppetry and Arts,
California Institute for the Arts (Valencia, CA)
RELATED
- December 27, 2011 – Puppetry International – Uncanny Valley of the Dolls – an interview with Allison de Fren