Closing Week For “Goat Island” at the Chicago Cultural Center

Last week, the goat island archive hosted a 3-day workshop in celebration of the group's history and traditions, which have been highlighted in new performances at the Chicago Cultural Center. I was invited to document this experience and take part in the exploration of the goat island archive, which first formed in 1986.

My experience at this workshop was rich and rewarding. Each day brought new conversations and participants into the space, as we responded to the prompts and materials generated by the goat island archive. While some participants, such as myself, had only recently learned about the goat island archive, each participant was given the space to use their skills and add to the legacy of the performance art group.

For the past two months, as a staff photographer for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, I have been photographing the new goat island performances. I really enjoyed having a new opportunity to interact with these performances and the goat island archive exhibition. I also enjoyed meeting new people, who were artists, makers, and thinkers in their own right, who brought a lot of passion and incite into the space. Our interactions and conversations resulted in a public performance on Saturday, May 15th, at the Chicago Cultural Center.

You can find my photographs of the workshop below. You’ll also find photographs from the past goat island performances that I took over the past two months.

Further Reading:

SAIC News - The Goat Island Archive Exhibit

Chicago Tribune - Live Art in Chicago Today (Art Institute, MCA Chicago and Cultural Center raising their game)

Goat Island Workshop

Performance Documentation

Featured Artists: hancock & kelly, BadCo, Vlatka Horvat (Third Hand), Ryan Tacata, and Ian Hatcher (not pictured: Erin Manning, Augusto Corrieri, Robert Walton, Judith Leemann, and Jefferson Pinder). Performative Lecture by Stephen Scott-Bottoms. Curated by Nicholas Lowe and Sarah Skaggs. Hosted at the Chicago Cultural Center Sidney R. Yates Gallery and Exhibition Hall in collaboration with the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE).