Aesthetics Project: an iterative art and performance project

Podcast, Episode #1, 2022

Performance Lecture, 3/14/23, 7:30PM-10PM @ KHFRESH23 (San Francisco), RIPE co-production with Performance Primers

Performance Lecture, 4/23/23, time TBD @ SE Cooper Contemporary, in tandem with the exhibition House March by Alina Tenser (Portland, OR)

Performance Lecture, 7/8/23 & 7/9/23, 5pm @ Performance Works NW (Portland, OR) 

Exhibition 11/17/23 - 1/6/24 @ Paragon Art Gallery (Portland, OR)

Our “Aesthetics Project” interweaves sculptures with spoken text and choreography in a performance lecture that explores the mysterious connection between Aesthetics and Intuition. We began this project with a focus on sensory processing, asking: How do aesthetics support (or derail) our processes of self-regulation and self-determination? What causes us to seek out certain forms of stimulation, e.g. hues of color or sensations of texture? How do these inclinations help us draw near to and develop affinity with one another? 

We know these questions will not lead us to concrete answers but, rather, more fractals of thought undergirding this project. As we broach the subject of aesthetics, we aim to uplift the importance of Context while also troubling art institutional emphasis on Community Impact. We maintain that sensory autonomy—the ability to honor and explore one's own sensory needs and desires—is an essential step in naming, refusing, and even subverting coercive power dynamics that touch every aspect of life. Ultimately, our project gives credence to the ineffable significance of aesthetics in both art and day-to-day existence.

This project has been supported and sustained by Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s Creative Exchange Lab Residency, Performance Works NW, Water in the Desert, and The Chocolate Factory Theater.