Dear Colleagues,

I would like to inform you about a new print publication from Ugly Duckling Presse. "Emergency INDEX" is an exciting project to archive a wide variety of performances as described by their creators, and also to develop tools for indexing these projects via keywords. I have been discussing with the series creators exactly how this indexing will take place and I think it is a fascinating issue that raises important questions about the relationship between performance, documentation, and language.

As you can see from the more detailed information below, the editors have put out an open call for descriptions of performance works created and performed in 2011. These descriptions should come with a photograph or image of the performance and must be written or directly approved by its creator(s).

We are particularly concerned to reach out to marginalized or difficult-to-document performances genres such as political/activist performance, advertising, community-based projects, and performances in a therapeutic context. Please consider submitting descriptions of your own performances and/or passing this information along to others who might wish to do so.

Warmly,

Ben Spatz

Artistic Director, Urban Research Theater

Doctoral Student, CUNY Graduate Center

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Ugly Duckling Presse hereby introduces Emergency INDEX, a new print publication documenting performance events, in the words of their creators.

Based on the assumption that performance practice transcends disciplines, Emergency INDEX documents performances of every kind, from any genre, and for any purpose. It is an ambitious attempt to create a durable, print document of the “state of the field” of performance, as practiced by actual works.

Performances are documented by the creators themselves via an image and description of the piece. Descriptions do not represent the experience of each performance work, but address the structural or tactical aspects of the work.  The descriptions are also indexed by keywords. The index links disparate works, and is itself a document of the language used to describe performance.

Emergency INDEX is modeled after the “Artist’s Chronicle” of the now-defunct art magazine High Performance (1978-1997). In the pages of High Performance, in the 1970s, early performance art defined itself through actual works, as reported by the artists who made them. Emergency INDEX proposes that performance, a field that has exceeded its origins in theater and visual art, is being practiced in various disciplines, using wildly different logic, tactics, structures, and materials. INDEX is an attempt to document and disseminate the variety of performance being made today.

The inaugural volume of Emergency INDEX is forthcoming in 2012. To capture changes and advances in the field, a new volume of INDEX will be published yearly.

The editors are currently accepting submissions describing performance works created and performed in 2011. Additionally, if you are interested in participating in an editorial capacity, or making the printed volume of INDEX available at your school, library, or art center, please contact the editors.

See the website for more information: www.emergencyindex.com.