Sara Cwynar: Down at the Arcade

Performa 2021 Biennial New York City presents Down By the Arcade, a live performance by Sara Cwynar.

Sara Cwynar manipulates found imagery from commercial advertising, investigating how popular imagery infiltrates our consciousness as well as our ever-changing ideals of beauty. For her first live performance, Cwynar will illustrate how image and language are used to create false social and political realities––online and in real life––to address the overwhelming media bombardment that we experience in contemporary society. Audiences will enter the familiar setting of a retail establishment––with its display vitrines and wall-size photo backdrops––and encounter visual extravaganza akin to Cwynar’s photographs, complete with video monitors, pulley systems, conveyors, and other analog methods of transporting images. Cwynar will author an original script, delivered by the artist herself in a lecture-style performance, assembled from commercial jingles, theoretical tracts, and Internet slang. Through a stream of consciousness performance of different tasks leading to the construction of a new image, audiences will become both viewers and consumers.

Performance Dates and Times:
Oct 15, 8:00 pm—9:00 pm
Oct 16, 8:00 pm—9:00 pm
Oct 17, 2:00 pm—3:00 pm

LIVE STREAM: October 15, click here to watch live. 

Curated by Job Piston, Performa Associate Curator at Large

For any questions or accessibility needs please email the box office: boxoffice@performa-arts.org