HANDS OFF

Due to the process-based nature of the Session program, this project will undergo constant modifications; the features of this page provide accruing information on the project’s developments.

Recess and Performa will present HANDS OFF, a world premiere by NYC-based artist Molly Lowe. HANDS OFF will be developed as part of Recess’s signature program Session, which invites artists to use Recess’s public space as studio, exhibition venue and grounds for experimentation. From October 11 – November 11, Lowe will workshop the project at Recess at Pioneer Works. The project will culminate in two Performa 13 performances at {TEMP} Art Space.

An ensemble of characters whose bodies are exclusively comprised of fingers are the agents in this absurd and otherworldly performance. Extrapolating from our contemporary technological and psychological landscape, Lowe imagines a future in which humans have devolved into base creatures: fingers with no hands, and digits that only know how to grab, push, and destroy.

Try as they might establish contact, Lowe’s ‘finger-beasts’ are chained to a revolving set that is part obstacle course and part carousel.

Lowe’s intricate, hand-made costumes and set isolate the creatures from one another, revealing her restless characters’ inner states as they search for contact and bodily sensations.

The performance tracks the mental and physical states of these creatures as they strive to escape isolation and tear down the physical walls that separate them. Yet they break through successive barriers only to discover an ultimate division that elicits a crescendo of struggle.

HANDS OFF is a Performa Premiere co-curated by Recess and Performa. The performance is co-presented with Recess at {Temp} Art Space.

Session invites artists to use Recess’s public platform to combine productive studio space with dynamic exhibition opportunities. Sessions remain open to the public from the first day of the artist’s project through the last, encouraging sustained dialogue between artists and audiences. Due to the process-based nature of Session, projects undergo constant revision and the above proposal is subject to change.