Performance: shawné michaelain holloway
part of Refiguring the Future
205 Hudson Gallery
205 Hudson Street, 2nd Floor Flex Space
New York, NY
March 28, 7pm
Free and open to the public
_.Scheduled(VariableRatio):secondary-conditioned-immediateReinforcement(s)-handlerSearch1_DrillAndPracticeVERSION2.exe, is an interactive experiment in operant conditioning to articulate the structure of intimacies inherent in behavioral training.
In a training session for a human puppy and her handler, positive and negative reinforcements are enacted in a circle between audience members and the performer. Engaged together through a system of exchange, they mutually agree on how to choreograph the giving and receiving of a reward. As rewards and punishments offer potentially precarious and playful communication, this choreographic transfer of power is an act of BDSM. Through this temporary relationship, called “pick-up play,” viewers witness a visceral dance that asks questions about how consent is communicated, what qualifies as violence, and how desire can manifest.
