#coil 2016

Past Versions of the Present Future in niv Acosta’s DISCOTROPIC

Photo by Justin Fulton Iterations of niv Acosta’s DISCOTROPIC, a performance that “explores the relationship between science fiction, disco, astrophysics, and the black American experience,” have been shown at venues as diverse in feel as the Kimberly Project and New Museum. This version, part of the 2016 COIL Festival, brought us to the basement of Westbeth, a labyrinthine building that has…

Minor Threats: Chris Thorpe & Rachel Chavkin’s Confirmation at The Invisible Dog, COIL Festival 2016

Photo by Maria Baranova I haven’t thrown a dildo in the mailbox for Oregon, but I’ve belatedly followed the white militia’s armed occupation of a wildlife refuge and the ensuing conversations around who is labeled a terrorist, and how race and gender – in both sly and slap-you-in-the-face ways – shapes the narrative and physical treatment of these men. One person’s terrorist is another’s patriot.…

“COIL 2016 attacks the very concept of boundaries and of limits. The boundaries between ideologies, life and death, the contemporary and historic, human and machine, light and darkness, audience and performer. Limitations of time, identity, age and geography disappear. The work we will see this year deals with evolutionary transformation – personal, social and artistic.

I am proud that the program includes so many artists whose work has never been seen in New York. It is our most ambitious festival, ever, and the very last outside of our home at 150 First Ave.” – Vallejo Gantner, Artistic Director