Myriam
Laplante

Myriam Laplante works with performance, installation, video, painting, sculpture, drawing, etc. – a bit of everything. She has been collaborating with the performance collective Black Market International since 2001. She has been teaching performance at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome since 2014.
Her work has been shown in squats, galleries and museums in Europe, North America and Asia.

Course content:
History, production and documentation.
A theoretical section will cover the various forms of performance, with presentations of videos and photographs on the history of performance from the Dadaists to Fluxus and the present day. During group discussions, we will seek to analyse issues related to performance: how to move from image to action; what it means to be here, now; how to choose an object; how to calibrate the use of technology; how to document a performance; etc.
In the practical sessions, students will explore performance through the perception of time, space and the viewer: fundamental elements of this ephemeral means of expression, which is very different from installation, sculpture, painting or video. Both individual and group activities are planned: exercises in concentration, in controlling the body in space, and in controlling the passage of time, in order to be able to perform an action as effectively as possible.
Each week, students will be required to create a new performance in class according to guidelines, e.g., performing a task, using objects, etc. Each performance will be followed by a group discussion to reflect on the experience as both performer and spectator.
Active participation is required for the entire duration of the lectures. For the final examination, students will present a video performance and a written conceptual/technical description of the project.