Liz Magic Laser in not a performance group but a single performance artist who was born with this extraordinary name. She graduated from the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program and received her masters from Columbia University. She has won numerous grants and awards. Her work has international acclaim with major exhibitions at Performa 11, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, and MOMA. Recently, she presented her new work at the brand new gallery, Various Small Fires. She showed I Feel Your Pain, Flight, and The Digital Face.
For the evening of the reception, Laser had an actress named Katie Simone Nehra perform the piece, Preview. This was an interactive work of art that focused on movie trailers with common theme, losing ones’ identity. The performance lasted approximately six minutes. This also debuted at another location, Recess Inc. in Manhattan, New York.
The exhibition had photographs and video throughout the gallery space. The most eye-catching video of all was I Feel Your Pain from her latest commissioned performance at Performa 11. This was edited and filmed in an actual movie theater along with an audience.
Another work of art that was presented was Flight. This piece was part of the MoMA PS1 which featured 6 performers. They recreated scenes from American film classics: 28 Days Later, American Psycho, and Vertigo.
Liz Magic Laser was an unexpected brilliance. The performance was strong and captured the audience in a fresh new way. Although, her work focuses on pop cultural American references, it surprises the audience by stripping the masquerade and the hyper aesthetics. Instead, her work is about the rawness of what is actually happening upon our screens. She makes us reexamine what we are watching.
– Tiffany Trenda
Please see our video of Liz Magic Laser’s performance at Various Small Fires.
