"Call for Participants: Participants Sought for Herring’s Task Performance"
2008-03-03 until 2008-04-01
Frye Art Museum
Seattle, WA, USA

The Frye is recruiting 35 participants for Oliver Herring | Task, a dynamic performance by New York-based artist Oliver Herring and organized by the Frye, The Seattle Public Library, On the Boards and Tacoma Art Museum. The performance will take place at The Seattle Public Central Library on Saturday, June 28, from 10 am to 5:30 pm. This daylong improvisational performance brings together a group of participants of diverse ages, professions and backgrounds to create a unique artwork. The performance begins with Oliver Herring providing written tasks for participants, who then perform those tasks on stage using an array of simple props. After these initial artist-assigned actions are completed, participants invent and write down their own tasks, placing them in a “task pool” to be selected and performed by fellow participants on stage.

Inherent to the Task performance is its unpredictability: the artwork is created by the ideas of those on stage, as well as the relationships formed with one another. Therefore, the nature of the tasks depends on the participants’ decisions and how they use the props. 

Applications are now being accepted for Seattle Task participants. Applicants, who must be at least 14 years old, should possess:

- An interest in creating, interpreting and executing tasks over the course of a day;
- An interest in exchanging creative ideas and developing a sense of community through the arts;
- A willingness to work with a group of 35 people while an audience observes and photographers document the process;

Availability from 9 am to 7 pm on Saturday, June 28. A brief orientation session with the artist precedes the performance. The performance will last eight hours total, with two breaks. Food and beverages will be provided throughout the day. Participants are also invited to attend a reception after the performance and discuss their experience with the Task audience.

Applications will be available and posted on the Frye Art Museum website on Feb. 1, 2008, and will be accepted through April 1, 2008. Completed applications and/or questions should be sent to: task@fryemuseum.org.  

Participants will be selected by Oliver Herring, and will be notified by the Frye by May 1.  Participants will be required to sign a waiver. Opportunities for individuals interested in volunteering (not performing) during Task will be posted on the partner websites in May and June.

Herring has staged Task performances at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (2006); Plaza de Toros in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (2003), the Former Federal Security Bank in Lake Worth, Fla. (2003); L’Ecole Supérieur National des Beaux Arts, Paris (2002);  and the Masonic Temple at the Great Eastern Hotel, London (2003). The upcoming Seattle Public Library performance will be the first staged indoors, and first involving multiple organizations.

Related Links:

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