An experimental performance written, directed, and designed by Isla Hansen, Tucker Marder, and Christian Scheider, commissioned by the Guild Hall Center for the Visual and Performing Arts.
As the global elite prepare to abandon their bodies and upload themselves into the virtual beyond, a malfunctioning Empathy A.I. is mistakenly assigned to assist with the procedure, but instead unwittingly inspires a bodily-bacchanal for the ages.
Count down to your imminent immortality and prepare to abandon your body, uploading your consciousness into the virtual beyond. Your final night of bodily delights? It's an extravagant gathering of the future global elite; technologists, trans-genetic hybrids, cyborgs and a menagerie of autonomous networked pets and appliances. The safeguard to your eternal future? An awkward, malfunctioning A.I. named Eenn, whose attempts to navigate the social mores of our last night on earth inadvertently trigger a bodily bacchanal unlike anything you have ever seen. Party goers’ antics and anecdotes spin into nostalgic vignettes of embodied times, rendered surreal in dance, music, puppetry, lavish costumes and visual phenomena. Meanwhile, however, Eenn has stumbled upon a vulnerability in the upload process, revealing the brutal lie in the grand promise of technological transcendence.
Location: Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY
First Performance: August 31, 2018
Additional evenings: September 1-2; September 4-8
Closing afternoon performance: September 9
Isla Hansen, Tucker Marder, Christian Scheider
Isla Hansen, Tucker Marder, Christian Scheider
Isla Hansen, Tucker Marder
Jon Campolo and Chase Ceglie accompanied by Ian Holden
Jack Turpin
Sebastian Paczynski
Joe Brondo
Morgan Lavandowska
Silvio Espana
Bonnie Comley and Stewart F Lane
Ellen Myers
Christina Isaly Liceaga
Chris Daftsios as EENN
MG Fredrick as Map, Fridge, Knee and Food Processor
Matthew Van Gessel as Levinson
Alan Ceppos as Sha-Wen the 6th Shaliban
Lydia Franco Hodges as Chef Claudette 4.0
Shelby Jackson as Amit Tusk
Mollie Wise as Pricilla Wain
Theodore Bouloukos as Artur Rodchenkov
Sylvia Channing as The Gate
Desiree Kennedy Mitton as Daphne Stupack
Susan Stout as Alexa Vivian Bowers
Juliet Phillips as Jambo, the Knife, and the Peeler
Ellen Myers as Tillie Tusk
Carlos Lama as Harlan ‘Horse’ Orion
Jamar Jones as ‘Colt’ Orion
Gigi Lama as ‘Pony’ Orion
Jodi Ester as Mary ‘Mare’ Orion
Keith Cornelius as Brian Smith-Goldstein
Terrence Fiore as Colonial Corredander
Sarita Kiembock as Carina Cassandra Garcia
Jake Talmage as Garbage Disposal
Lola Lama as Vacuum
Andjela Krsikapa as Mystery Gymnast.
Kathleen Marder and Charlie Marder
Mica Marder
Adrian Madlener
Jake Talmadge
Mark Simmons
Shawna Martel
Amy Sanders
Keith Cornelius
Jodi Esther
Juliet Phillips
Johannes Golden
Georgia Suter
Andrea Grover
Josh Gladstone
Sebastian Paczynski
Jennifer Brondo
Joe Brondo
Kevin Preller
Nick Starri
Elise Trucks
Kristen Curcie
Anthony Quartaro
Lisa Weston
Nick Starrantino
Patrick Dawson
Corey Jane Cardoso
Nina Yankowitz
Barry Holden
Barbro Golden
Dean Goden
John Landes
Barbra Slifka
Maria Bacardi
Molly Channing
Toni Ross
Alexandra Lotsch
Bonnie Grice
Mitchell Rosenthal
Thomas Geismar
Lukas Weinstein
Catherine Van Milders
Kenneth V Handal
Mary Francina Golden
Jo C Kovach
Mercedes Ruehl
Madeline Wise
Deirdre Guest
Mariah Whitmore
Valerie diLorenzo
Katharine Abrams
Shola Farber
Nicolette Jelen
Larry Carlson
Donald Savelson
Heather Macadam
Jason Weiner
Amy Schafer
Micheal Pinto
Marissa McNaughton
Saskia Fredrich
Hope Sandrow
Pamela Lee
Jasper Creegan
Nina Channing
Terrance Fiore
Lauren Rodrigue
Yuka Silvera
Dominique DeCock
Amy Kirwin
Nancy Benfield
Mollie Wise
Margarett Garrett
Bruce Wolosoff
Alan Ceppos
Bernhard Kiembock
Sarita Kiembock
Janine Weller
Esther Barazzone
Ann Hathaway
Robin Reed
Emma Hansen
Janet Hansen
Max Gerschman
Parker Fishel
Ally Cuervo
Jeremy Whelan
Chandler McWilliams
Ella Engel-Snow
Matty Davis
Taylor Hotvet
Brenda Siemer
Kathleen and Charlie Marder
Elaine and Stan Hansen
Marders
Channing Daughters
Bay Burger
Panera Bread
Rowdy Hall
Springs Farm
Kimco Realty
Organic Krush
Almond Restaurant and Market
Bridgehampton National Bank
Canal Cafe
Ibis Basquez
Javier Mendoza
Denis Ortiz
Freddy Mejia
Isla Hansen is an artist working to reinterpret and complicate the relationship between the
human body and technological progress. She is an Assistant Professor at UCLA Design Media Arts.
Her solo and collaborative installations, systems, and performances have
been exhibited at the Columbus Museum of Art, MOCA Cleveland, the Hammer Museum,
Miller Gallery, and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. Isla received her BA from Columbia
University and her MFA from Carnegie Mellon University.
islahansen.com
Tucker Marder is an artist and filmmaker currently living in Los Angeles. Working in a wide
range of mediums including puppetry, documentary and landscape design, Tucker’s work
uses humor and absurdity to promote an exuberant environmental ethic. He has exhibited at
the National Aviary, Phipps Botanical Garden, the Museum for Insects and the San Fransisco
Independent Film Festival. Tucker’s performance “STAMPEDE!”, comprised of over 200 live
Crested Runner Ducks and large motorized abstract puppets premiered as part of the 2015
Parrish Road Show. Tucker is a recipient of the Frank Ratchye Grant for Art at the Frontier
and in 2016 was named a Redford Center Grant Honoree. He received his MFA from
Carnegie Mellon University in 2016 and has been an artist in residence at Robert Wilson’s
Watermill Center and SymbioticA at the university of Western Australia. Tucker is the founder
of the Folly Tree Arboretum, a collection of rare and unusual trees intent on showcasing
nature’s sense of humor.
tuckermarder.com
Christian Scheider is an independent filmmaker, theatermaker and actor living between Los Angeles and the east end of Long Island. As a theatermaker, Scheider co-adapted, produced and directed Ray Bradbury’s short story The Murderer and Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Galápagos into fully staged productions. For film, Scheider co-directed the documentary The Tree Prophet about self-identified climate prophet David Milarch which is currently premiering at the San Fransisco Independent Film Festival. Acting in film, Scheider co-starred with Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche in the feature film Words And Pictures directed by Fred Schepisi. On television, Scheider guest starred on ABC’s Forever starring Ioan Gruffudd. When last at Guild Hall, Scheider appeared with Victor Slezak in Steve Hamilton’s production of RED about the painter Mark Rothko. Currently, Scheider is co-writing, directing and producing with frequent collaborator Tucker Marder the feature comedy film Animal Party about humananimal rituals all over the world. Recently, Animal Party was selected by the Redford Center as part of their 2016 grants development program.