PROPOSAL

SYNOPSIS

The Verisimilitude Platitudes is a series of performances by visual artist, Gary Setzer. Integrating performance art, video art, and live sound, Setzer addresses the tenuous relationship we have with language in our attempts to relay our experiences of the world—a classic apples-for-oranges quandary. Paralleling our immersion in the landscape with our immersion in language, he portrays the mouth as a space of both lofty construction, and great discomfort. From here, process-oriented performance art and electronic compositions are merged to deliver a hybrid spectacle that recalls Marina Abramović and Joseph Beuys as much as it does Devo.

3-MINUTE VIDEO EXCERPT

FOR AN EXTENDED VIDEO EXCERPT (TEN-MINUTES) CLICK HERE.

SPECIFICATIONS AND SPATIAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE WORK

Dimensions: In the above configuration, the work needs a space that’s 8'3" high, 14' wide, and about 6' behind the rear projection screen—if these dimensions cannot be accommodated, the video can be projected on any clean white wall at a smaller scale.

Duration: Forty-five minutes tends to be the ideal length for the audience. The series is comprised of interchangeable chapters, so the duration is flexible and can be customized to fit any time slot.

Set-up Time: Set up takes a little under two hours.

Technical Requirements: I provide all of the required gear and electronics. The piece should be performed in an environment that can be moderately dark for the projection. At least two electrical outlets must be accessible.

BIO

Gary Setzer’s transdisciplinary practice incorporates performance art, video art, sound, and installation. Enlisting familiar landmarks like the body, the landscape, minimalism, and humor as entry points, Setzer lures his audience into his conceptual framework—a theoretical space centered on our compulsory entanglements with language.

Setzer received his MFA from Ohio University and his BFA from The University of Akron. His works have been included in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally. He has performed, exhibited, and screened work in venues such as the Wexner Center for the Arts, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, CICA Museum, Mobile Museum of Art, Boston Center for the Arts, Tucson Museum of Art, and the Cincinnati Art Museum. In 2012, Setzer released the soundtrack for his performance, Supralingual/Sublingual: The Tongue is the Terrain, on the independent label Pretend Records. From 2010 until 2015, Setzer was awarded the Louise Foucar Marshall Professorship. This five-year endowed chair position recognized Setzer's contributions to the field and was funded by the Marshall Foundation. He currently lives and works in Tucson where he is an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Arizona.

ARTIST STATEMENT
Click here for Artist Statement.

C.V.
Click here for Curriculum Vitae.