PERFORMANCES FOR PETS: Workshop for Humans

What are the similarities and differences between human and non-human audiences, is the performer inherently subordinate, i.e. working ‘for’ the audience, how does the audience gain agency?

We will share our interest in the position of pets as cultural producers and consumers, as artists, performers and emerging audiences. Domestic pets read humans mostly through our body language. A typical pet spends at least as much time, if not more, looking at humans than looking at members of their own species. In “Performances for Pets” we mimic and reflect the pets’ body language back at them. A reversed version of this situation might be a parrot addressing humans in human language, however removed from its original meaning the gestures become more abstract. In this workshop we will introduce some practices that we share with pets.

What are the similarities and differences between human and non-human audiences, is the performer inherently subordinate, i.e. working ‘for’ the audience, how does the audience gain agency?

Krõõt Juurak and Alex Bailey have been dealing with performances for pets since 2014. In addition to exploring our companion species’ tastes and humour, the project also address the fact that entertainment provided by pets working from home is often not recognised as actual work. In an aim to return at least part of this favour, Krõõt Juurak and Alex Bailey ended up devising Performances for Pets, individually adapted to the interests of dogs, cats and other species based on preliminary briefings by their owners. Although Performances for Pets is created solely for appreciation by pets, their human owners and friends are invited to join and view the performance though the eyes of the pet. Performances for Pets has already been performed over 90 times to pets in Zürich, Erlangen, Brussels, Bristol, Tallinn, Berlin and Vienna.

Anyone with an interest in art for animal audiences is welcome. There will be a dog on spot (if you are allergic). Performances for Pets is co-produced and co-curated by The Blob.