The Clayman Institute for Gender Research

Leslie Hill and Helen Paris are Associate Professors of Drama and Artistic Directors of the London-based performance company, Curious. Formed in 1996 Curious has developed a reputation for its edgy, humorous interrogations of contemporary culture and politics, work that has been called as smart as it is seductive. Curious has produced over 40 projects in a range of media including live performance, installation, publication and film. Each project starts with a question and the subsequent investigation involves intimate, personal journeys alongside public research and enquiry. The work of Curious has been shown in 17 countries, commissioned and produced by organizations such as Artist Links Shanghai, Arts Council England, the Sydney Opera House, Tanzquartier Vienna, Le Couvent des Recollets Paris, the National Review of Live Art Glasgow, Guling Street Avant-Garde Theater Taipei, The Royal Shakespeare Company, the Institute for Contemporary Art London, and the British Council Showcase at the Edinburgh Festival.

As part of the Clayman salon Hill and Paris will talk about their work with Curious, including current research on proximity and intimacy in performance. They will also screen their 20min film Sea Swallow’d, made in collaboration with director Andrew Kötting*. Sea Swallow’d charts the choppy waters of gut feelings, capturing the flotsam and jetsam of impulse, desire and fights to the death. Shot as a series of lapping and flowing, irregular chapters, which borrow their titles from Moby Dick, the film is image and urge driven.

Curious is produced and managed by Artsadmin, London. www.placelessness.com

*Kötting will be a SiCA-sponsored visiting artist at Stanford in Fall 2012.

This event is free and open to all.