Performers in the installation, Division of Ancestral Deeds, at Anchorlight. Photography by Sally Van Gorder.
The Division of Ancestral Deeds
by Stacey L. Kirby
Gallery Installation on view by appointment*
Closing Performance December 7 during Winter Open House
* Schedule your appointment using the calendar below
Division of Ancestral Deeds is an interactive performance and installation that explores our connections to ancestors and lineage, both individually and collectively. Kirby delves into family histories—spoken and unspoken—generational trauma, and the diverse interpretations of truths passed down through ancestral lineage. As a culmination of the summer project residency, Kirby invites visitors to step into a new installation which includes her working studio and a visual journey into her project-based research. Visitors can also become participants in Kirby's research through interactions with ‘division agents’ during scheduled performances.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Kirby is a queer, white-bodied, self-appointed civil servant from North Carolina who creates socially-engaged interactive performance art. Her performative interactions set within site-specific installations utilize bureaucratic forms, postures and language in vintage office environments to engage participants and community performers in questions around civil authority. Through humor and satire, Kirby reinvents the bureaucratic process in alternative, private and public spaces to elicit diverse dialogue about identity, community and human rights in the United States. Kirby's work takes place in traditional art spaces and alternative public spaces such as restrooms, billboards and protests. Developed over the past 20 years, in more than 200 performances, with over 300 community performers and 10,000 participants, Kirby’s work evolves with the physical and historical setting, political climate and participants’ involvement at each location