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chase, Liz Magic Laser, 2009-10, performance and video installation, 9 minutes excerpted from 145 minutes. With actors Annika Boras, Andra Eggleston, Gary Lai, Liz Micek, Justin Sayre, Doug Walter, Michael Wiener, Max Woertendyke and Cat Yezbak.
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For chase Laser staged Bertolt Brecht’s 1926 play Man equals Man in the ATM vestibules of banks throughout New York City. She collaborated with nine actors, videotaping each actor’s performance separately. She instructed them to deliver their lines to the bank’s ATM machines and to its unsuspecting patrons. Laser edited the scenes to recreate the flow of dialogue according to the original script. In the final video, the characters seem to converse with one another through mechanical and human conduits. The element of estrangement in the original play is heightened through constant jump cuts and spatiotemporal shifts.
During the opening of the chase exhibition at Derek Eller Gallery (2010), Laser also staged a live performance of The Elephant Calf, a farcical play-within-a play that Brecht offered as an optional interlude to productions of Man equals Man. The exhibition included an installation of props and costumes from the production of chase as well as a theatrical set for The Elephant Calf.
Originally set in colonial India, Man equals Man is both a comedy and a disturbing social parable that recounts the dehumanizing metamorphosis of an ordinary man into an instrument of authoritarian and capitalist design. Four soldiers drunkenly vandalize a temple and one, Jeraiah Jip, is severely injured. His comrades decide they must find a temporary replacement for him in order to avoid being punished for their crime. They pick up a local simpleton, Galy Gay, and cajole him into pretending to be Jeraiah Jip, eventually manipulating him into fully adopting the missing soldier’s identity. Predating the concept of brainwashing, Brecht presents a man who relinquishes his individuality to become a war machine.Credits:
chase was developed with the collaboration of actors Annika Boras, Andra Eggleston, Gary Lai, Liz Micek, Justin Sayre, Doug Walter, Michael Wiener, Max Woertendyke and Cat Yezbak. Set and costumes for The Elephant Calf were done in collaboration with Felicia Garcia-Rivera. A playbill booklet was designed by Lauren Adolfsen. -
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Gary Lai as Mr. Wang (bonze of a Tibetan pagoda) in ‘Man equals Man’ at the Korea Town West 32nd St Branch of Citibank, NY, June 19th, 2009. Wang offers his captive soldier some beefsteak in Scene 7, Liz Magic Laser, 2009-10, production still from chase video installation, 145 minutes, digital c-print, 18 x 24 in.
Liz Micek as Mrs. Galy Gay (wife of the porter) in ‘Man equals Man’ at the Brooklyn Heights Branch of TD Bank, Brooklyn, June 9th, 2009. Mrs. Gay finds her husband at the beer wagon and he pretends to not know her in Scene 8, Liz Magic Laser, 2009-10, production still from chase video installation, 145 minutes, digital c-print, 18 x 24 in.
Cat Yezbak as the Widow Begbick (canteen proprietress) in Man equals Man at the Sixth Ave and W 18th St Branch of Chase, NY, NY, June 15th, 2009. Begbick sings about the flow of things in Scene 9, Liz Magic Laser, 2009-10, production still from chase video installation, 145 minutes, digital c-print, 18 x 24 in.
Michael Wiener as Jeraiah Jip (a private in the British Army) in ‘Man equals Man’ at the 52 Broadway Branch of Amalgamated Bank, NY, June 14th, 2009. Jip finally finds his comrades and they act like they don't kow him in Scene 11, Liz Magic Laser, 2009-10, production still from chase video installation, 145 minutes, digital c-print, 18 x 24 in.
Andra Eggleston as Galy Gay (an Irish porter) in ‘Man equals Man’ at the Seventh and 37th St Branch of Washington Mutual, NY, June 22nd, 2009. The soldiers blindfold Galy Gay and pretend to put him in front of the firing squad, Liz Magic Laser, 2009-10, production still from chase video installation, 145 minutes, digital c-print, 18 x 24 in.
chase (Max Woertendyke as Uriah Shelley), Liz Magic Laser, 2009-10, performance and video installation, production still.
The Elephant Calf (Costuming), Liz Magic Laser, 2010, production still, Derek Eller Gallery, New York. Costume Design in collaboration with Felicia Garcia-Rivera.
The Elephant Calf, Liz Magic Laser, 2010, performance and installation, production still, Derek Eller Gallery, New York.
The Elephant Calf, Liz Magic Laser, 2010, performance and installation, production still, Derek Eller Gallery, New York.
The Elephant Calf, Liz Magic Laser, 2010, performance and installation, installation view, Derek Eller Gallery, New York.
The Elephant Calf, Liz Magic Laser, 2010, performance and installation, installation view, Derek Eller Gallery, New York.
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Gary Lai as Mr. Wang (bonze of a Tibetan pagoda) in ‘Man equals Man’ at the Korea Town West 32nd St Branch of Citibank, NY, June 19th, 2009. Wang offers his captive soldier some beefsteak in Scene 7, Liz Magic Laser, 2009-10, production still from chase video installation, 145 minutes, digital c-print, 18 x 24 in.
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Liz Micek as Mrs. Galy Gay (wife of the porter) in ‘Man equals Man’ at the Brooklyn Heights Branch of TD Bank, Brooklyn, June 9th, 2009. Mrs. Gay finds her husband at the beer wagon and he pretends to not know her in Scene 8, Liz Magic Laser, 2009-10, production still from chase video installation, 145 minutes, digital c-print, 18 x 24 in.
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Cat Yezbak as the Widow Begbick (canteen proprietress) in Man equals Man at the Sixth Ave and W 18th St Branch of Chase, NY, NY, June 15th, 2009. Begbick sings about the flow of things in Scene 9, Liz Magic Laser, 2009-10, production still from chase video installation, 145 minutes, digital c-print, 18 x 24 in.
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Michael Wiener as Jeraiah Jip (a private in the British Army) in ‘Man equals Man’ at the 52 Broadway Branch of Amalgamated Bank, NY, June 14th, 2009. Jip finally finds his comrades and they act like they don't kow him in Scene 11, Liz Magic Laser, 2009-10, production still from chase video installation, 145 minutes, digital c-print, 18 x 24 in.
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Andra Eggleston as Galy Gay (an Irish porter) in ‘Man equals Man’ at the Seventh and 37th St Branch of Washington Mutual, NY, June 22nd, 2009. The soldiers blindfold Galy Gay and pretend to put him in front of the firing squad, Liz Magic Laser, 2009-10, production still from chase video installation, 145 minutes, digital c-print, 18 x 24 in.
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chase (Max Woertendyke as Uriah Shelley), Liz Magic Laser, 2009-10, performance and video installation, production still.
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The Elephant Calf (Costuming), Liz Magic Laser, 2010, production still, Derek Eller Gallery, New York. Costume Design in collaboration with Felicia Garcia-Rivera.
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The Elephant Calf, Liz Magic Laser, 2010, performance and installation, production still, Derek Eller Gallery, New York.
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The Elephant Calf, Liz Magic Laser, 2010, performance and installation, production still, Derek Eller Gallery, New York.
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The Elephant Calf, Liz Magic Laser, 2010, performance and installation, installation view, Derek Eller Gallery, New York.
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The Elephant Calf, Liz Magic Laser, 2010, performance and installation, installation view, Derek Eller Gallery, New York.
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