on the exposure of process: a nomadic studio practice experiment

by Dawn Kasper

a durational performance from April 4th-14th
(Normal gallery hours on Saturday and Sunday, April 9-10, 12pm-5pm, other days by appointment)

Opening Reception Performance Friday April 8th, 7-10pm

Monte Vista is pleased to announce a ten-day residency by Los Angeles-based installation and performance artist Dawn Kasper. Part of Kasper's studio practice is to create a nomadic studio in the space where she is invited to perform. Stemming from her preoccupation with process, her project proposal to Monte Vista will also serve as her press release:

For my ten-day residence at Monte Vista, I propose a new piece from an ongoing project series entitled the on series. In this new piece titled on the exposure of process: a nomadic studio practice experiment, I will investigate my relentless fascination with the exposure of process.

I perform in a calculated yet spontaneous manner, using props to punctuate my actions. Combining slapstick comedy and monologue to emphasize my thoughts and questions about one's existence, I want to ask, What is existence? or What is a physical object? I will then attempt to answer these questions while inhabiting different characters and personas, each differentiated through costume and costume changes, with all shifts taking place before the audience. Each character has a task and an action to accomplish.

The gallery space provides the forum, an open-air laboratory (of thought) if you will, creating both a theatrical space while also doubling as sculpture. I will transform this space through the use of props, musical instruments and props. Everything will be in play and everything will be mobile. I often ritualize my performance environment through the repetition of actions and words. The culmination of these actions finds my various characters physically building a sculpture that marks my study into being and process, illustrating my findings, resulting with a sculptural installation, activated by performative action.

The gallery will be open during normal hours, Saturday and Sunday, April 9-10, 12pm-5pm, and also by appointment during the week. To make an appointment, please email the artist at dawnkasperstudios@yahoo.com. Please check for updates on the Facebook event page.