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And

Gary Stevens

Photo by Minna Thornton
2002

And was a continuous performance designed for and adaptable to different galleries or large public spaces. It had a cyclical structure with short breaks for the performers throughout the day.

The cycle was approximately 40 minutes long and was made up of different phases of action and speech. The ten performers repeated casual poses and encounters with one another, breaking at various moments in the action and repeating different fragments and phases. The performers were spread throughout the space, dressed in their own clothes and indistinguishable in appearance from the spectators who share the space.

And was developed with an Artsadmin bursary and later funded by the Arts Council of England. First performed at the South London Gallery, May 1997 and at the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, 1998. Subsequently developed with local performers for Desviaciones Dance Festival, Madrid, October 2000; Theatre de L’Usine, Zoo, Geneva; Arsenic, Centre d’Art Scenique Contemporain, Lausanne; Haus Kronstruktiv, Zurich, Switzerland, 2002; and again in Brazil for 11° Panorama Rioarte de Dança, Centro de Arte Helio Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2002.

“For seven hours each day, Stevens’ team are locked into repeat performances of a 35-minute sequence of minutely choreographed tableaux vivants that turn the participants into a conscious installation… the closer you look, the more you become distracted by the detail, the “and another thing” of it all. With their faces firmly impassive, the effect can be comic, like watching an aerobics class of malfunctioning Stepford Wives. But there sweating mannequins retain enough traces of their humanity to lend them the forlorn dignity of Beckett characters. You may just find your feet refusing to leave the gallery.”

The Independent

Originally performed at the South London Gallery by Peter Arnold, Kirsty Alexander, Brian Lipson, Graeme Miller, Florence Peake, Jan Pearson, Philippa Stanton, Gary Stevens, Michele Smith and Jeremy Stockwell

Subsequently performed at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford by Emma Benson, Ian Bourn, Gareth Brierley, Rachel Capell, Tamzin Griffin, Amanda Hadingue, Liz Kettle, Alice Blackley, Michael Sherin and Barnaby Stone

Performed in Madrid by Miguel Angel Altet, Susana Casenave, Amalia Fernandez, Cesar Guerra, Jorge Horno, Kontxi Lopez, Monse Penela, Raquel Ponce, Veronica Regueiro and Gregorio Viera

Performed in Switzerland by Carine Barbey, Tobias Beyer, Diane Decker, Sophie Dubrocard, Louise Hanmer, Sarah Jagge, Urs Jucker, Christophe Jaquet, Dorian Rossel and Stephane Vecchione (Zurich performers from the Theater Neumarkt)

Performed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by Alcione Silva de Carvalho, Alex Monteiro, Ana Gastelois, Andre Vidal, Beto Pacheco, Claudia Muller, Claudio Lacerda, Claudio Ribeiro, Daniel Valentim, Daniela Mattos, Edson Luiz Farias, Fauller Freitas, Fernanda Avellar, Georgia Goldfarb, Gustavo Barros, Lilyen Vass, Luca Loureiro, Martha Moreira Lima, Micheline Torres, Priscila Teixeira, Stela Guz and Thiago Granato

Photo by Minna Thornton
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