How do archives perform? What might it mean for art institutions to take seriously the embodied and communal nature of performance art in their practices of archiving and museological display? Renowned international performance theorists and artists explore and reflect on Dobkin’s celebrated 30 year practice. 440 col. illus
How archives perform and live performance is archived.
Emerging from the first retrospective exhibition of performance art icon Jess Dobkin, this book reflects on the internationally acclaimed artist's playful and provocative practice as a performer, curator, and community activist. At the same time, it grapples with a vital question for art and performance studies: How do archives perform?
More than a discrete showing of a single artist's work, the exhibition, including its new staging in book form, is a large-scale research experiment in performance curation that investigates how art institutions can address the embodied and communal nature of performance art in their practices of archiving and museological display. In Jess Dobkin's Wetrospective, copublished with the Art Gallery of York University, renowned international performance scholars and artists dive into this exploration alongside exhibition curator Emelie Chhangur, performance theorist and dramaturg Laura Levin, and Dobkin herself. These contributions are visually aided by a riot of full-color photographs, providing unparalleled access to Dobkin's celebrated artistic productions from the last thirty years.
'Wetrospective celebrates over thirty years of Dobkin's compelling practice, from cabaret performances to unannounced interventions. [Jess Dobkin’s Wetrospective] restages the exhibition in print. Designed by Lisa Kiss, the oversized volume features full-bleed colour images on almost every page, as well as writings by Chhangur, editor Laura Levin and a large cast of colleagues. It also includes illuminating drawings and writings by the artist.
Jess Dobkin is hands-down my favourite Canadian Performance Artist. Her work is bold, thoughtful, resonant, and accessible - deftly balancing confrontation with comedy. Jess Dobkin’s Wetrospective: Constellating performance archives is the first comprehensive survey of her work, clearly produced by all involved as a labour of love.'
-- Dave Dyment, Artists' Books and MultiplesLaura Levin is associate professor of theatre and performance at York University (Toronto) and York research chair in art, technology, and global activism. She is director of Sensorium: Centre for Digital Arts and Technology and the Hemispheric Encounters Network, and author of Performing Ground: Space, Camouflage, and the Art of Blending In.
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