A Pseudo-Scientific Performance by Laura Bernstein

BRIC Biennial artist and director Laura Bernstein, with select performers and actors, will present A Speculative Performance Presented by The Institute of Super-Species Research and Experimentation. In this performance art piece, a group of distinguished pseudo-scientific specialists assemble to conduct and report their research on a series of strange and miraculous beasts reminiscent of those described and illustrated within Pliny the Elder’s Natural History written 77-79AD. Drawing from the fantastical worlds of medieval bestiaries while employing the methods of 20th century behavioralists and circus performers, the group of specialists work toward imagining alternatives for surviving in a climate that no longer supports our current human physiology.

The specialists Nikki Calogne, Simone Kearney, Hanna Novak, Emily Reilly, Emily Taibleson and Paola Di Tolla are all performers and artists in their own right with distinct and authentic practices and were commissioned by artist and director Laura Bernstein to produce content under the auspices of their assigned characters. 

This program is taking place in conjunction with the BRIC Biennial: Volume III, South Brooklyn Edition, on view through April 7, 2019. Come a little early at 6pm to see the performance The Future is Bright by Katya Grokhovsky!

Laura Bernstein’s work has been included in exhibitions at NURTUREart and the Long Island University Humanities Gallery, both Brooklyn; The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY; Vox Populi and Icebox Space, both Philadelphia, PA; ACRE Projects, Chicago, IL; and Franz Josefs Kai 3, Vienna, Austria. She has received fellowships and residencies including the Sharpe Walentas Studio Program, Brooklyn; The Bronx Museum of the Arts’ Artist in the Marketplace program; The Lighthouse Works Fellowship, Fishers Island, NY; the Vermont Studio Center Residency; and the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship. Most recently, she is a 2018 grant recipient of The Franklin Furnace Fund. Bernstein holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania.

This work was made possible, in part, by the Franklin Furnace Fund supported by the Jerome Foundation and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council.

Venue Information:

The Stoop at BRIC House is a public cultural gathering space featuring free, drop-in programming, and offering a place to sit, observe, and participate in multi-disciplinary work.