“The tour aims to revivify the eyes and the body and the ears by looking at the prosaic world of the museum. So when the audience, at last, is set in front of a single work of art, the intention is to see better, to see more, to see anew, to see for yourself.” – Annie-B Parson of Big Dance Theater
A carefully choreographed viewing of art. On a journey toward a single work of art, visitors encounter acts of movement, text, sound, throughout the museum, including walls, doorways, paths, corners and objects. With the audience wearing headphones and led by a docent, this performance takes the form of a unique museum tour: one that provokes audiences into a new way of seeing. As headphones focus the mind, and instructions guide you with the precision of choreography, a personal, physical relationship to art begins with elements of misdirection, movement, confession and music.
Beginning in the museum’s main lobby and winding all about the Menil Collection’s unique campus of buildings and satellite installations, This Page Left Intentionally Blank deconstructs the role of the docent and the museum audio tour, subverting how visitors observe art in a museum. Walls are no longer simply walls: a parade of changing perspectives invades the in-between spaces of the museum as visitors are led toward this single artwork—what will happen and how will you respond once you get there? Will you be prepared to confront this work of art, already set deep in your imagination by the journey there? Are you ready to see anew?
Created by Big Dance Theater, Tei Blow, and Suzanne Bocanegra
Free admission. Get your free ticket here. For more information on the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts’s festival, CounterCurrent visit countercurrentfestival.org.