Tonight is Not a Dress Rehearsal: New Humans installation and Judith Butler lecture @ SFMOMA

May 11, 11:06 AMSF Art ExaminerMarisa Nakasone

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Multimedia performance artist, Mika Tajima (who also performs collectively as New Humans) will create a site-specific film, performance, and sculpture installation in the Schwab Room and the Phyllis Wattis Theater at SFMOMA as part of the museum's Live Art series. From May 10-12, Tajima will transform the Schwab room into a film/sculpture/performance set; with collaborator and film maker, Charles Atlas, filming and editing the event in real time for viewing in the Phyllis Wattis Theater.  (Pictured above: Mika Tajima at a performance/installation at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.  Via the Honolulu Academy of Arts Blog).

Via SFMOMA:

For SFMOMA, Tajima's set will consist of her sculptural objects (which double as scenery flats) and the accoutrements of film production, including lighting gear, dolly tracks, and sound equipment. In keeping with many of her previous installations, the panel-like modular structures made specifically for this project will be layered with prints of abstract patterns and graphic renderings by Tajima—this time echoing the iconic architecture and motifs of SFMOMA's Mario Botta–designed building. The sculptures function as both literal "flats" and as flat representations of the museum's spatial geometry.

(Pictured above: top--installation at Honolulu Academy of arts, via their blog; middle--installation at Center for Opinions in Music and Art via their website; bottom--image of Tajima at work at the Whitney).

**Judith Butler, a celebrated cultural critic and philosopher best known for her work in gender studies,  will be delivering an experimental lecture as part of the evening performance tonight (7:30 PM; free to public), .  In addition, the Golden Gate Toastmasters (a public speaking association) will deliver speeches that explore the nature of repetition and mirroring through a dialogue with the myth Echo and Narcissus.

***Tomorrow night's event (May 12) will include a noise performance by New Humans.