THE STRANGER GETS A GIFT SERVICE / C. Maldonado, B. Lacktorin, V. Bujeiro, K. Fojtíková & J. Serran

From 12 pm, every hour, booking required at: +420 721 445 082 or at: the.stranger.gets.a.gift@gmail.com

„The Stranger Gets a Gift Service” is a series of performances that seeks to widen the possibilities of how one relates to art by offering „devices” designed to be used by a one-person audience (the User). Artists from various disciplines have created three independent performance-installations that can be experienced by one User at a time: Amuleto, Interruptor and Reminiscencia.

Choose the one you would like to experience, make a reservation for the time that is most convenient for you, come 10 minutes before your appointment, read the User's Quick Guide and use the device.

Reminiscencia (in English)
A sound environment performance that offers a journey to awaken auditory memory.

What does sound memory embody? What can be transferred, shared or preserved by sound?

Reminiscencia is a study of sound environments. Guided through a progressive myriad of interactive binaural dimensions, the User is transported between interchangeable perspectives and responses that ultimately culminate in a singular, very personal auditory memory.

„Put the headphones on. Inform the Operators that the volume level that is comfortable for you. Listen.”

Devised by: Bethany Lacktorin, Cristina Maldonado and Verónica Bujeiro.
Performed by: Bethany Lacktorin and Cristina Maldonado.

http://vimeo.com/64225112

Interruptor (No language barrier)
A virtual environment performance that disrupts our everyday experience of dialogue and offers a one of a kind visual conversation.

How does virtual communication affect what can be expressed or shared? What role do virtual means play in the nature of our dialogues?

Interruptor is a visual device designed to create a temporary suspension in the ways we normally perceive space, time and the boundaries between „You” and „I “. The User is offered an environment to disrupt our everyday use of communication and its protocols, and to find his/her own way of having a dialogue by only using objects and images.

„When you are ready to activate this device put your hand inside the illuminated area.”

This piece was created during STANDING, artistic research residence hosted by Joao Fiadeiro and Fernanda Eugenio of AND LAB, Atelier Real, Lisbon, Portugal. Thanks to Daniel Pizamiglio (AND LAB) for the conversations during the research.

Devised by: Cristina Maldonado
Performed by: Cristina Maldonado or Jessica Serran.

https://vimeo.com/70543112>

Amuleto (in Czech)
A visual installation that offers the possibility to observe and analyze thoughts through the sense of touch.

Amuleto is a visual installation where mental objects can be touched.
Relating physically and intuitively to objects, the User explores in total privacy his/her own associations to the object’s function, significance, materiality and personal identification with it. This exploration is translated by random means into a visual story where coincidences serve as a source of hidden meanings.

„Choose the object that represents your thought more accurately. Take it and bring it to the working table.”

Devised by: Kateřina Fojtíkova and Cristina Maldonado
Performed by: Kateřina Fojtíkova

https://vimeo.com/70798054

Cristina Maldonado (MEX)
Mexican artist whose background in body movement lends a unique approach to her visual and conceptual experiments with video, sound, collage and performance. Her work unifies experimental theater, dance, participatory art, new and old media. Her topics are body, communication and intimacy. She creates experiential frames connecting installation, video and live action. She works alone or in collaboration with artists from different disciplines and has performed in Mexico, Eastern Europe, New York and Montreal.


Other performances by this artist:
What She Does, Klub Ferenc Futurista (2012), Theorem of Wanting, Roxy/NoD (2009), Fact, Festival 4+4 days in motion (2004), Study on Fact and Fragility, PQ (2010), Audio-witness, Honestly Old, MeetFactory (2010), Melodrama Mexicano, Transteatral Festival (2010).

http://whatcristinadoes.wordpress.com/
http://thestrangergetsagift.tumblr.com/

Verónica Bujeiro (MEX)
Mexican dramaturg and researcher. Her academic background in anthropology and linguistics has led to a particular way of approaching the written word for the stage. Her work is constantly seeking the connections and hidden meanings that lie situated between real life and fiction. She works with the written word and its many manifestations as an essayist, screenwriter, researcher and editor as well. Her plays have been staged and published in Mexico and the United States.

http://vbujeiro.tumblr.com/

Bethany Lacktorin (USA)
American artist who performs as improvisational multi-instrumentalist, Beseppy. She works with various electronic devices, violin, vocalizations, as well as collaborative and interactive sound sources. A freelance audio engineer for TV and Film postproduction, she has earned credit on several independent films and documentaries, recorded and released a handful of albums, and produced and performed in exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe.

http://beseppy.blogspot.mx/

Kateřina Fojtíková (CZ)
Czech artist and curator

http://artycok.tv/lang/en-us/artist/fojtikova-katerina

Jessica Serran (CAN)
Canadian artist, guide and psycho-cartographer whose work is a blend of text, imagery and social practice that together examine the relationship between personal and collective experience and the subtexts that define our experience of Self and Other. Her work relies on the notion that the art object can play a profound role in discovering, reconnecting and examining our sense of both our public and private selves.

http://jessicaserran.com/

The Stranger Gets a Gift:
Concept: Cristina Maldonado
Research, authors, performers,
Installations: Bethany Lacktorin, Kateřina Fojtíkova, Verónica Bujeiro, Jessica Serran, Cristina Maldonado.
Production: Jedefrau org, Barbara Bahalova, Quimera G.C., Roberto Montiel.
Assisted research residency: STANDING, AND_Lab, Atelier Real, Lisbon. Joao Fiadeiro and Fernanda Eugenio.