Off the wall: Shelf life

Carnegie, Jan/Feb 2003

A more recent addition to the performance scene is Big Art Group, founded in 1998 by Caden Manson. Made up of young actors, filmmakers, designers, and visual artists from all over the United States, Big Art Group will bring its piece Shelf Life to The Warhol. A combination of video projection and performance, Big Art Group calls its work "real-time film."

Shelf Life features a quartet of young people: James, Wendy, Max, and Frankie. In the story, the female Frankie becomes the object of desire of the other three characters. Emoting jealousy, rage, and betrayal, the actors work in front of stationary cameras that project their actions onto a screen. Watching the screen, the audience sees a movie; watching the performers, the audience sees the making of the movie. The Dance Insider magazine described the troupe's approach as, "A loud, reeling example of pop culture eating itself. The work delivers the instant gratification of the contemporary and the commercial."

Now in its third season, the Off the Wall series is a collaboration between The Andy Warhol Museum and New York's P.S. 122, a national pioneer in presenting performance art. All shows begin at 8 p.m. and are followed by meet-theartist receptions. Tickets are $15; $10 for students. The series media sponsor is City Paper.

by Big Art Group, Friday, February 8