Ray Newe discovers what you’ll get for your money.

A sequence of 6 solo performances, each made alternately by Hancock and Kelly in response to the previous piece, made by the other.

Value is an expression of belief: if we believe that such and such a company, or bank, possesses the assets it purports to possess, then, in effect, those assets exist. The moment we stop believing, the value of the company or bank collapses, and the assets in question cease to exist. A credit crunch is what happens when people suddenly stop believing in the financial system – or when we start to wonder why we believe what we are seeing on stage. Symposium Notes

Symposium programme notes:This symposium will consider questions of performance, belief, and credit.One way in which some kinds of performance distinguishes itself from other kinds – that sometimes go under the name of ‘theatre’ – is by emphasising that what it is doing is ‘real’, as opposed to the acting and pretending that goes on elsewhere. ‘Performing the Real’ was the subject of the 2009 symposium held as part of SACRED. This time we are turning away from the ‘real’ to think about the many ways in which performance is still interested in make-believe, and how make-believe itself might turn out to be part of the ‘real’.The current financial crisis has revealed how the system upon which we supposedly all depend is itself dependent upon how much we believe in it. Value is an expression of belief: if we believe that such and such a company, or bank, possesses the assets it purports to possess, then, in effect, those assets exist. The moment we stop believing, the value of the company or bank collapses, and the assets in question cease to exist.A credit crunch is what happens when people suddenly stop believing in the financial system – or when we start to wonder why we believe what we are seeing on stage. How might performance engage us in thinking and feeling our relationship to money, magic, pretending, imagination: what is it we are looking for in the make-believe world we live in? The symposium will feature: * a discussion with Richard Foreman (Ontological-Hysteric Theater); * keynote presentations from performance scholars Sara Jane Bailes, Jen Mitas, and Nicholas Ridout; * performative provocations from artists Karen Christopher and Sara Juli, also presenting work in the SACRED season; * break-out panels from a range of researchers and artists; * a Long Table discussion hosted by Lois Weaver; * the attendance of Richard Maxwell (New York City Players) and PS122 Director Vallejo Gantner; * the UK premiere of New York City Players’ ADS.

An intellectual history of contrasting ideas around the power of the arts to bring about personal and societal change – for better and worse. A fascinating account of the value and functions of the arts in society, in both the private sphere of individual emotions and self-development and public sphere of politics and social distinction

British Library Sound Archive recording and documentation of the “Performance Matters event on 30 April 2010. Evening launch event featuring Walid Raad, Irit Rogoff, Gavin Butt, Adrian Heathfield and Lois Keidan. Four of four (D1316 – D1319).

Part one of four (D1316 – D1319). British Library Sound Archive recording and documentation of the “Performance Matters Lab” event, 30 April 2010. The daytime Performance Laboratory shows experimental durational and scheduled performances by some of the PhD researchers associated with the project at Goldsmiths and Roehampton University. The day will feature responses and discussions with invited thinkers around issues of duration, transmission, materiality,process, ideas and value.

British Library Sound Archive recording and documentation of the “Performance Matters Lab” event, 30 April 2010. The daytime Performance Laboratory shows experimental durational and scheduled performances by some of the PhD researchers associated with the project at Goldsmiths and Roehampton University. The day will feature responses and discussions with invited thinkers around issues of duration, transmission, materiality,process, ideas and value.performance aesthetics, critical theory and cultural studies, Dr Gavin Butt from Goldsmiths, University of London, Prof. Adrian Heathfield from Roehampton University, and Lois Keidan of the Live Art Development Agency. performance aesthetics, critical theory and cultural studies, Dr Gavin Butt from Goldsmiths, University of London, Prof. Adrian Heathfield from Roehampton University, and Lois Keidan of the Live Art Development Agency. Fabrizio Manco, Jungmin Song, Terry O’Connor, Mathias Danbolt, R. Justin Hunt, Victoria Chalklin, Oriana Fox, Augusto Corrieri, Owen ParryPart two of four (D1316 – D1319).

British Library Sound Archive recording and documentation of the “Performance Matters Lab” event, 30 April 2010. The daytime Performance Laboratory shows experimental durational and scheduled performances by some of the PhD researchers associated with the project at Goldsmiths and Roehampton University, Dr Gavin Butt from Goldsmiths, University of London, Prof. Adrian Heathfield from Roehampton University, and Lois Keidan of the Live Art Development Agency. Part three of four (D1316 – D1319).

Artist documentation.