Agent Bodies: digital catalogue
Agent Bodies questions the various ways that contemporary creative practices engage with themes of human agency, performance, identity, and the body. This exhibition…
Agent Bodies Finissage
RMIT Gallery presents a finissage event for Agent Bodies, including a lecture by Dr. Edward Colless and rant by artist Sam Petersen.
About this event
RMIT Gallery are pleased to invite you to the closing celebration for Agent Bodies, an exhibition that explores how the body is represented, investigated, and considered in contemporary creative practices.
For our farewell to Agent Bodies, please join us at RMIT Gallery on Saturday the 6th of August at 2:00 PM for a lecture by Dr. Edward Colless and a performative rant by exhibiting artist Sam Petersen.
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SAY WHAT?!
A lecture from Dr. Edward Colless at RMIT Gallery
The ‘performative’ is a key part of our spoken rituals. It is the wedding vow or the oath taken in court to tell the truth, both sealed with the utterance “I do.” By saying “I do” you do, indeed, “do” it. Submitting to the legal and moral or religious demands of the event, you don’t just describe but enact the very thing you speak of.
Compare this to performance art, in which the body doesn’t represent an act—it presents it. Unlike the actor on stage or on screen, a performance artist performs a ritual vow. No matter how transgressive or playful, performance requires a strange sort of sincerity.
In this talk, we will explore the motivations and implications of the ‘performative’ and how artists and others chase authority and agency within its strange ways.Dr Edward Colless is the editor-at-large for the Art+australia journal and A+a publications. He previously worked as the Senior Lecturer in Art at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, lecturing in art and cultural history, aesthetics, cinema studies, and design with practical teaching in performance. Colless writes across art criticism and journalism, book and film reviewing, fiction and travel.
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You Need Us
A rant by artist Sam Petersen at RMIT Gallery
You Need Us expresses the many aspects of Petersen’s life. Mainly the ableism Sam faces on a moment-to-moment basis. You Need Us is a deeper dive into that world.
Please arrive 10 minutes early to ensure entry to the performance.
Trigger warning: Financial hardship through society’s ableism and swearing.Sam Petersen is a visual artist, writer and performer, who says of their work: “I’m interested in what can be done with one’s identity and the space around it. Both body and mind, touching everyday feelings between the rational, the playful and the political. Of course, this is often to do with my disability and my sexuality. My work has been focused on access, and the lack of it — to places, people’s minds and opportunities.”
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Secure your free ticket here
Please read our COVIDSafe Guidelines before attending this event. Mask wearing and social distancing is highly encouraged.
Image: Installation view of Sam Petersen Just Sit 2022, as part of Agent Bodies 2022, RMIT Gallery. Photo by Tobias Titz.
Please note that by attending this event you may be recorded or photographed to be used across our educational and promotional content. If you do not want to be recorded or photographed please let our team know and we will do our best to accommodate for your request.