Clytigation: State of Exception
Michelle Ellsworth makes solo performance work, performable websites, drawings and videos.
Artist BioIn a 4’x4’x7′ faux sod-covered box, Michelle Ellsworth demonstrates her “over-the-counter counter-terrorism” protocols for avoiding surveillance, interpersonal drama and death. Using an ancient text and modern technology, Clytigation investigates the impact of wars on bodies and legal protocols while examining the gap between emotional intention and physical execution. A mobile device-friendly website and a choreography-generating exercise bike both accompany the performance, and help technologize and outsource this embodied experiment.
From the Journal
Michelle Ellsworth is an artist unlike any other. Her quick, anxious speech dares you to keep up with her, and her art practice is just as ingenious and prolific. The premiere of her Creative Capital project, Clytigation: States of Exception, is a perfect example. A multi-media performance that allows the visitor to wander a theater space at will, Clytigation injects a dose of technology into the Greek myth of Clytemnestra. Writing for Artforum, Claudia La Rocco said that Michelle is “doing some of the most engrossing explorations of how the body and technology coexist and collide.” Suffice it to say that the performance must be experienced in person to really get a sense of how she’s actually accomplishing this; and luckily for New Yorkers, it’s coming to the Chocolate Factory November 11-14.
Michelle Ellsworth
Boulder, CO
Michelle Ellsworth makes solo performance work, performable websites, drawings and videos. In 2011 she was awarded the USA Knight Fellowship, and her work has been commissioned by and performed at Diverseworks, On The Boards, The National Performance Network, Dance Theater Workshop and Danspace Project. Ellsworth has taught master classes throughout the U.S., and in Ireland and Costa Rica. Her drawings and spreadsheets have been published in CHAIN, and her screen dances have been seen in Europe, Mexico and throughout the U.S. Ellsworth is currently working on a 7” recording with experimental drummer Sean Meehan and teaching at the University of Colorado Boulder.