The Artists: Performance Art (Rosenthal, Dresher, Coates)

This tape compiles three profiles of performance artists: A Creative Synthesis: George Coates Performance Works (10:00), The Performance World of Rachel Rosenthal (16:00), and Paul Dresher Ensemble (08:00). The two LBMA-produced tapes use interviews with the artists to illuminate documentation of performances that combine singing, movement, costume, music, projection; the Paul Drescher Ensemble originated when performers working with Coates decided to branch off and explore different strategies.This tape compiles three profiles of performance artists: A Creative Synthesis: George Coates Performance Works (10:00), The Performance World of Rachel Rosenthal (16:00), and Paul Dresher Ensemble (08:00). The two LBMA-produced tapes use interviews with the artists to illuminate documentation of performances that combine singing, movement, costume, music, projection; the Paul Drescher Ensemble originated when performers working with Coates decided to branch off and explore different strategies. Both groups, however, stress the centrality of collaboration to their processes. Rachel Rosenthal directed her self-portrait, with post-production at LBMA. She autobiographically recounts her transient experiences of emigrating from France to Portugal to Brazil to the U.S., and offers evidence of her power and singular wit as a performer. “The oscillating tension between being an artist and an asshole is killing me,” she quips. Her performances explore themes of identity and masquerade, aging, and mortality.