Performances invisibles

About

 

PERFORMANCES INVISIBLES (2015-2016)

 

PERFORMANCES INVISIBLES (INVISIBLE PERFORMANCES) is the third solo project by conceptual artist Steve Giasson. It was made possible by DARE-DARE Centre de diffusion d’art multidisciplinaire de Montréal, as part of their program “Micro-interventions in public spaces”.

This vast project was staggered over a full year, from July 7, 2015, to 7 July 2016. It consisted of 130 Invisible Performances.

Performances invisibles (Invisible Performances) first took the form of conceptual statements, that is, written ideas of works describing minimal or enigmatic gestures (mostly taken from everyday life and art history) that can be then be executed in public or private spaces, although they can stand on their own as well.

These statements were discreetly executed by Steve Giasson without any public present (hence their “invisibility”). These Invisible Performances were carefully documented by two collaborators, Daniel Roy and Martin Vinette.

They were also published online on the dedicated website www.performancesinvisibles.com (or www.performancesinvisibles.dare-dare.org) twice a week, on TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS, in French, English and Spanish, as well as on DARE-DARE’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/DARE-DARE/288421161197406?fref=ts) along with documentation of the performances based on the statements.

This project was realized in collaboration with DARE-DARE Centre de diffusion d’art multidisciplinaire, Montreal, Tribalsolutions.ca. and the Doctoral Studies in Art Practice program (Université du Québec à Montréal).

Synthesis exhibition for Ph.D. research (Doctorat en Études et pratiques des arts, Université du Québec à Montréal).

 

NOUVELLES PERFORMANCES INVISIBLES (2016-2021)

 

NEW INVISIBLE PERFORMANCES is the eighth solo project by conceptual artist Steve Giasson. It was made possible and programmed by Le Lieu, centre en art actuel (Québec City), and will be presented over a full year: May 1, 2020 – April 30, 2021.

Adopting the same protocol established during the first iteration of INVISIBLE PERFORMANCES, this project will consist of a hundred new actions also based on conceptual statements.

These statements will be (or have been) executed secretly by Steve Giasson, and documented by Martin Vinette.

The conceptual statements and documentation produced will be published on the Facebook page of Le Lieu https://www.facebook.com/inter.lelieu/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nouvellesperfinvisibles/ twice a week.

As a teaser for the project, Steve Giasson conceptualized and executed eleven New Invisible Performances [numbers 131, 135-139, 142, 143, 145, 147 and 148] in April 2018, as part of Tout contexte est art (Galerie UQO, May 2 - June 8, 2018), an exhibition curated by Jean-Michel Quirion. As part of this project, he was granted a residency at DAÏMÔN between April 3 and May 2, 2018. These New Invisible Performances were documented by Daniel Roy.

NOUVELLES NOUVELLES PERFORMANCES INVISIBLES (2025-2026)

DARE-DARE is delighted to present Steve Giasson's new project entitled NOUVELLES NOUVELLES PERFORMANCES INVISIBLES (New New Invisible Performances). This project will mark the 10th anniversary of PERFORMANCES INVISIBLES, a vast body of work comprising more than 250 actions to date, initiated with DARE-DARE in 2015-2016 and relaunched with Le Lieu, Centre en art actuel in 2020-2021. 

 

NOUVELLES NOUVELLES PERFORMANCES INVISIBLES  will consist of some fifty minimalist performances based on conceptual statements. These new actions will be performed in public and private spaces without an audience (hence their “invisibility”). Images of the actions (photos and videos) and statements in several languages (French, English, Spanish) will be unveiled twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday, for six months (November 2025–May 2026) on:

With NOUVELLES NOUVELLES PERFORMANCES INVISIBLES, Giasson will continue his work of conceptual and plastic asceticism. He will deconstruct his practice as much as possible in order to rethink it in relation to his identity as a white, gay, cisgender, North American man with a PhD, and therefore inevitably privileged, AND the historical, political, socioeconomic, and ecological context in which we live.

Giasson will also revisit our era, which, in addition to being marked by the climate crisis and the resurgence of fascism, “cries ‘Carnage’ and unleashes the dogs of war,” and will propose forms of political engagement outside of traditional activism.

The actions will be reenactments of pre-existing works. The “stuttering” title of this project—NOUVELLES NOUVELLES PERFORMANCES INVISIBLES (NEW NEW INVISIBLE PERFORMANCES)—mocks our insatiable and collective thirst for novelty and can be understood in this sense.

[1] « Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war » in William Shakespeare, Julius Ceasar, scène 1, acte 3 (1599).

INVITATION

 

Now, you are invited to perform these conceptual statements, at any time and any place. No prior authorization is required.

We invite you to send documentation of these performances (pictures, videos, audio tracks, texts, etc.), so that it can be presented with the corresponding statements: SEND CONTENT

 

SPECIAL THANKS

The artist would like to thank warmly for their unfailing support, their generosity and friendly attention:

Daniel Roy, Martin Vinette, Patrice Loubier, Anne Bénichou, David Tomas, Suzanne Paquet, Pierre Gosselin, the Doctorat en Études et pratiques des arts (UQAM), all the team from DARE-DARE Centre de diffusion d'art multidisciplinaire de Montréal and in particular Julie Fournier Lévesque, Martin Dufrasne, Geneviève Massé, all the team from DAÏMÔN, and in particular Martine H. Crispo, François Cambe, Michael Caffrey et Diane Charland, all the team from Galerie UQO, and in particular Jean-Michel Quirion et Marie-Hélène Leblanc, all the team from d'AXENÉO7, Hugues Loinard, Simon Vézina et Tribal Solutions, Sophie Préfontaine, Sophie Lapalu, Julia Roberge Van Der Donckt,  Emmanuel Galland, Tania Perlini, my mother Andrée Boivin, Nathalie Boivin, Karl-Alexandre Turgeon-Boivin, Jean-François De La Rosa Boivin, Jean-François Xavier De La Rosa Leclair, Bryanna De La Rosa Leclair, Èva De La Rosa Leclair, Roxanne Leclair, Marthe Boivin and my family, Louis-Philippe Alain, Pierre-Marc Beaudoin, Geneviève Bordeleau, Carl Therrien, Jonathan Houle, Christina Rogov, David Manseau, Anne Pominville, Karina Roy, Kathleen Hayes, Mathieu Grandmaison, Julie Bergeron, Isabelle Choquette, Marion Defaut, Quentin Lannes, Michael Nardone, Monique Piché, Yves Vinette, Billy Vinette, Vicky Vinette, Virginye Vinette,  Jiří Kovanda, Philip Davenport, Tony Trehy, Derek Beaulieu, Robert Fitterman, Kenneth Goldsmith, Vanessa Place, Craig Dworkin, Christian Bök, Darren Wershler, Sina Queyras, Ola Stahl, Hermann Zschiegner, Thomas Geiger, Mikko Kuorinki, Philip Newcombe, Martijn in 't Veld... and all the people among you who will go along with the game.

 www.stevegiasson.com 

Steve Giasson  acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. https://conseildesarts.ca

Steve Giasson also thanks the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for its financial support. https://www.calq.gouv.qc.ca

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