7 Up Performance Night at Dinnerware Artspace

This image drawn on post-it notes is part of Jorge Porrata's eportfolio. He'll be performing tomorrow with a number of other artists for the 7 Up Performance Night at Dinnerware Artspace.

I knew Jorge as a positively charged human being before I knew him as an artist. As a teacher in the department, I would regularly see him at meeting and parties - always spreading love somehow: wearing a genuine, huge smile; laughing; playing with someone's child; kissing his partner; telling a story...

Finally this semester I saw one of his installations. It invited one to sit down and look through a book of drawings. In them was a story about leaving Cuba: whimsical, sad, hopeful, dreamy, longing...all the things that diaspora is. When I closed the book I was disappointed that the "journey" had to end so soon.

I don't know much about performance art, but if Jorge's ten minutes are as rich as his drawings, I'll be satisfied.

More event details below.

Featured Artists
Simon Donovan
Jorge Porrata & Laura Milkins
David Gilmore
Natalie Nguyen & Dave DeSoucey
Hilary Meehan
Michelle Winowiak
Anne Pollack & Capoeira Mandinga

Each of the 7 artists, or duets, will have up to 10 minutes to perform

Monday, December 3rd @ 7pm
$3 suggested donation
Dinnerware Artspace
264 E. Congress St.

What is performance art?

Performance art has its roots in ritual, but resides on today’s cutting edge of cultural values. Each performance is a staged situation. There is no bill of sale. It is not a protest against the art market, yet it is free from the glut of material production. Performances are interactive experiences for both the performer and the audience. Some are deliberately amusing, but there is no way to anticipate what reactions might take place. Through its ephemeral nature, performance art is a way of producing something and nothing at the same time.

This is the first in a series of performance art to be held at Dinnerware Artspace.
Special reception after the last performance at the new Griffonage Studios, 270 E. Congress.