LIFE

by Charles L. Mee, directed by Joey Rizzolo

“Stories are not the truth of life. They are what make us feel that there is a beginning and a middle and an end and a logic, something we can affect and reasonably alter. If we behave this way it will come out well and if we behave that way it will come out badly. All that stuff that we learn from stories is really just immensely reassuring as we wander through the world and get hit by cars and get struck by lightning and fall in love without knowing what we’re doing.” -Charles L. Mee, 4.22.16

Life surrounds the world of modern art and art exhibition, to the extent that formative works of the avant-garde appear as characters. For the 2017 world premiere of Charles L. Mee's Life, HERE Arts Center was transformed into an exploded Mondrian painting, and within that painting, each of Mee's signature spectacles was treated as its own discrete art installation. The audience was free to observe action from whatever vantage they wished, experiencing the piece the way we often experience static art: in our own space and time.

Ensemble: Meg Bashwiner, Hillary Asare, T Thompson, Shelton Lindsay, Nessa Norich, Jill Beckman

Composer: Aya Aziz

Lighting Designer: Phi Kurtze

Dramaturg: Amy Jensen

Set Designer: Joey Rizzolo

Installation Artists: Balloonski, Matta Napkin, Deborah Ugoretz, Joe Basile, Kyra Sims, Justin Cornell, Tracy Moore, Katy-May Hudson, Nicole Hill, Michole Biancosino

Manager: Joe Basile

Produced by Project Y
Opened: August 31, 2017 at HERE Arts Center, NYC (world premiere)