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BRECKENRIDGE — If you happen to be taking a walk in Breckenridge next week, you may just accidentally stumble into a real, live piece of performance art, right there on the sidewalk.
If you do, just know that it's really performance artist/photographer Robert Ladislas Derr, who will be giving a rendition of his performance art piece "Chance" in Breckenridge starting Wednesday.
"Chance" is described by Derr as a "psychogeographical walk," a phrase which makes sense once you see exactly what he's doing. The performance actually starts during the "Meet the Artist" reception, when gallery visitors will be given dice to roll. Thirty dice rolls are recorded to serve as Derr's map for his walk, which takes place the following day.
Visitors are invited to come back the next day and watch, as Derr will proceed on his walk according to the dictates of the dice throws. A "one" means walk one block, a "two" means to spin in place, "3" means to turn left, "4" means to turn right, "5" means to stand in place and "6" means to walk backwards.
But the walk, which takes place over a time period of 45 minutes, is actually rather more complicated than that, due to the fact that Derr will be clothed entirely in mirrors and will carry two video cameras.
If you do, just know that it's really performance artist/photographer Robert Ladislas Derr, who will be giving a rendition of his performance art piece "Chance" in Breckenridge starting Wednesday.
"Chance" is described by Derr as a "psychogeographical walk," a phrase which makes sense once you see exactly what he's doing. The performance actually starts during the "Meet the Artist" reception, when gallery visitors will be given dice to roll. Thirty dice rolls are recorded to serve as Derr's map for his walk, which takes place the following day.
Visitors are invited to come back the next day and watch, as Derr will proceed on his walk according to the dictates of the dice throws. A "one" means walk one block, a "two" means to spin in place, "3" means to turn left, "4" means to turn right, "5" means to stand in place and "6" means to walk backwards.
But the walk, which takes place over a time period of 45 minutes, is actually rather more complicated than that, due to the fact that Derr will be clothed entirely in mirrors and will carry two video cameras.
Derr's first psychogeographical walk took place in Dublin, and was based on James Joyce's "Ulysses" - a novel which recalls the lives of its characters as they take place during one single day.
"After Joyce wrote 'Ulysses,' he said it could serve as a map of Ireland long after Dublin had disappeared, it so encapsulates it," Derr said. "So for four days I walked the route from the beginning of Chapter 10, where all the characters meet in Mountjoy Square, to the end of the chapter. And that's how I created the walk.
"While I was walking, I had two video cameras - one front and one back - and wore a mirrored suit to represent the dichotomy of not being seen, while still both receiving and reflecting images.
"Unfortunately, after the sun came out," he added, "I began to look like a walking disco ball."
In spite of this unexpected mishap, Derr said that the idea of the mirrored suit resonated with him as being metaphoric of the way a stranger visits a city new to him.
"That's when I began to think about how one navigates through a city where one hasn't been before, and I got the idea to allow gallery visitors to roll the dice and come up with my direction," he said.
"After Joyce wrote 'Ulysses,' he said it could serve as a map of Ireland long after Dublin had disappeared, it so encapsulates it," Derr said. "So for four days I walked the route from the beginning of Chapter 10, where all the characters meet in Mountjoy Square, to the end of the chapter. And that's how I created the walk.
"While I was walking, I had two video cameras - one front and one back - and wore a mirrored suit to represent the dichotomy of not being seen, while still both receiving and reflecting images.
"Unfortunately, after the sun came out," he added, "I began to look like a walking disco ball."
In spite of this unexpected mishap, Derr said that the idea of the mirrored suit resonated with him as being metaphoric of the way a stranger visits a city new to him.
"That's when I began to think about how one navigates through a city where one hasn't been before, and I got the idea to allow gallery visitors to roll the dice and come up with my direction," he said.
When he isn't wearing mirrored suits and wielding video cameras, Derr is an assistant professor of photography at Ohio State University. He has given five previous performances of "Chance," the most recent one in Rosario, Argentina.
Derr said that his first glimpse into the realm of psychogeography was provided by the works of Guy Debord, a French situationist in the late 1950s, who banded together with a group of colleagues dismayed by the pervading influence of American pop culture during the rebuilding of Paris after World War II. In order to combat this, Debord and his cronies initiated their own new ways of exploring Paris, which consisted of irrational, idiosyncratic walks through the city - walks which in themselves became the harbingers of performance art.
Since this is Derr's first visit to Breckenridge, he says that he has absolutely no preconceived images of how he's going to experience things here.
"In my artwork, I try to elicit an interaction with the viewer by getting them involved; I like to destroy the traditional aspects where the viewer is passive instead of being a participant," he said. "So it's natural for me to make the viewers an integral part of my work. I'll use the gallery as a chance to interact with these strangers, and they in turn will roll dice and become instrumental in my route while I try to capture the whole essence of Breckenridge."
Derr said that his first glimpse into the realm of psychogeography was provided by the works of Guy Debord, a French situationist in the late 1950s, who banded together with a group of colleagues dismayed by the pervading influence of American pop culture during the rebuilding of Paris after World War II. In order to combat this, Debord and his cronies initiated their own new ways of exploring Paris, which consisted of irrational, idiosyncratic walks through the city - walks which in themselves became the harbingers of performance art.
Since this is Derr's first visit to Breckenridge, he says that he has absolutely no preconceived images of how he's going to experience things here.
"In my artwork, I try to elicit an interaction with the viewer by getting them involved; I like to destroy the traditional aspects where the viewer is passive instead of being a participant," he said. "So it's natural for me to make the viewers an integral part of my work. I'll use the gallery as a chance to interact with these strangers, and they in turn will roll dice and become instrumental in my route while I try to capture the whole essence of Breckenridge."
<b>Breck performance art</b>
• What: Robert Ladislas Derr will perform his work "Chance"
• When: Thursday, starting at noon
• Where: In Breckenridge beginning outside the Tin Shop, located at 117 E. Washington Ave.
• Also: The Meet the Artist reception and "Chance" dice-rolling is Wednesday from 4-6 p.m. Derr's open studio hours are noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, starting Sunday through Feb. 5.
• What: Robert Ladislas Derr will perform his work "Chance"
• When: Thursday, starting at noon
• Where: In Breckenridge beginning outside the Tin Shop, located at 117 E. Washington Ave.
• Also: The Meet the Artist reception and "Chance" dice-rolling is Wednesday from 4-6 p.m. Derr's open studio hours are noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, starting Sunday through Feb. 5.
