Grotesque Alphabet
Artist: Paulina Olowska
Performance Consultant and Choreography: Jessie Gold
Performers: Leila Awadallah, Alexandra Bodnarchuk, Emily Michaels King, Milo Sachse-Hofheimer, Elliana Vesely
Drawing on puppetry, theater, and dance, Paulina Olowska uses movement to explore the performative aspects of written language. Her newly commissioned performance is inspired by Roland Topor, the French-Polish poet known for his absurdist writings and drawings.
Referencing Topor’s typographic design for an alphabet, dancers carry letter-shaped pillows and arrange their bodies into words to visualize his poems. This performance in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden’s Cowles Pavilion coincides with the launch of the third installment of Olowska’s magazine Pavilionesque. In this richly illustrated issue, artists and writers use the poet’s works as a starting point to speak on the topic of the grotesque.
Presented as part of the exhibition The Paradox of Stillness: Art, Object, and Performance.