Goodnight Sweet Thing
Directed & Adapted By Cristine Brache & Sigrid Lauren
Starring: Emily Allan, Betsey Brown, and Joshua Weidenmiller
Sound Design and Composition by: Ryan Woodhall
New York, NY – The official launch of Cristine Brache's second book of poems, Goodnight Sweet Thing (aP, 2024), comes to life in an avant-garde performance art piece like no other at 42n on May 11, 2024. This performance art piece—oddly billed as a theater adaptation of Brache's book of poems—is an exploration of power dynamics, mortality, and the female psyche. Starring Emily Allan, Betsey Brown, and Joshua Weidenmiller, the 30-minute live performance will captivate and challenge its audience, invoking introspection and dialogue long after the final curtain falls.
Sigrid Lauren, renowned for her audacious approach to performance art, collaborates with artist and filmmaker Brache to create a 30-minute live performance that intertwines poetry, movement, and live music score by Ryan Woodhall. Through three simultaneous tableaus, the artists delve into themes of nostalgia, mortality, and societal constraints, inviting viewers to reflect on their own experiences and perceptions.
The first tableau pays homage to female wrestlers of the late eighties, exploring physicality, objectification, and empowerment. The second tableau features a woman undergoing psychoanalysis, highlighting power dynamics and the female psyche. Finally, a 1960s-era inspired prom motif channels the spirit of girl groups of the time.
As the performance progresses, boundaries blur, and roles interchange, creating a mesmerizing tapestry of shared consciousness. Live music accompanies the entire piece, adding an immersive layer of emotion and depth.
Brache’s book, Goodnight Sweet Thing will be available for purchase at the event.
Visit https://goodnight.metalabel.com/ for more information and to purchase tickets.
About the Directors:
Cristine Brache is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and filmmaker based in New York City. Her work, which spans encaustic painting, sculpture, and film, often explores constructs of the female body and psyche, mortality, nostalgia, and solitude. Select solo exhibitions include those held at anonymous gallery (New York); Fierman gallery (New York and Puerto Rico); Locust Projects (Miami); and Anat Ebgi (Los Angeles). She has exhibited internationally at galleries and institutions like Berlinische Galerie, Perez Art Museum Miami, and ICA Miami. Her films have screened in festivals like the Florida Film Festival (Orlando); Miami Film Festival (Miami); and Slamdance (Park City). Her work has been critically reviewed in places like Artforum, The New York Times, and The New Yorker. Brache's short film, entitled Carmen, won the Knight Made in MIA Short Film Award at the Miami Film Festival (2023). Her forthcoming second book of poems, Goodnight Sweet Thing will be published by anonymous publishing in Spring 2024.
Sigrid Lauren is a New York-based performance artist whose work has been presented at renowned institutions and events worldwide. She is known for her exploration of control, consumerism, and societal conditioning through live performance and collaborative workshops. Her performance works have been presented at places like The Broad Museum, Guggenheim, Andrea Rosen Gallery, SIGNAL, Performa, Queens Museum, Miami Art Basel, and Frieze NYC. Her movement direction & choreography have expanded into collaborations with Mugler, Peter Do, CFGNY, SOPHIE, Drew McDowell amongst others. She is one half of performance art duo FlucT with Monica Mirabile. Sigrid hosts a monthly workshop in NYC entitled, how to throw a body away.
About the Performers:
Emily Allan is a writer and performer from the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Her two woman show Slash, written and performed with Leah Hennessey, was a hit at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and called “quite possibly the end of civilization” (LB y The Guardian). They have also collaborated on the site specific play Star Odyssey at MoMa Ps1, and the film Byron and Shelley: Illuminati Detectives, for the Biennale de l'image en mouvement 2021 at the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève. Most recently they co-directed John Early: Now More Than Ever for HBO. Emily’s album Clanging will be released on all platforms in 2024.
Betsey Brown is an actor/filmmaker born, raised, and based in Manhattan. She stars in THE SCARY OF 61ST (dir. Dasha Nekrasova) which won the GWFF Best First Feature Award at Berlinale. She also stars in ASSHOLES (dir. Peter Vack) which won the inaugural Adam Yauch Hornblower Award at SXSW, and plays the title role in Vack’s upcoming sophomore feature, WWW.RACHELORMONT.COM (http://www.rachelormont.com/). She's been on television shows such as The Carrie Diaries (THE CW), and Forever (ABC). She also stars in Lilliya Scarlett Reid’s short film debut, BITS, which premiered at SXSW this year. Her debut short film as a writer/director/actor, SHEGETSEY BETSEY won the Audience Award for Best Experimental Short at the New Orleans Film Festival. Her feature directorial debut, ACTORS, won the audience award at Fantastic Film Festival Australia, and played to sold out audiences in movie theaters internationally. It is available to stream at http://actors.movie
Joshua Weidenmiller has traveled the world performing in musicals, on cruise ships and with internationally celebrated recording artists. Since moving to NYC he has worked with Mabou Mines, Ryan McNamara, CHERYL art collective and was part of comedic dance group Varsity Interpretive Dance Squad. Most recently he performed the role Blue in Ryan McNamara’s Kinetic Grace at the Guggenheim through their Works and Process program. This summer he will be on tour in the UK with recording artist Bright Light Bright Light.
About the Producers:
Olivia West Lloyd is a filmmaker based in New York. Her debut feature film SOMEWHERE QUIET, premiered in competition at Tribeca Film Festival 2023 and was acquired by Vertical. Her short film, DEAD MALL, screened at festivals internationally and before being released online by Alter. In addition to her work as a writer and director, Olivia works as an independent producer and production manager. Her production credits include SHIRLEY (Sundance), and MADELINE’S MADELINE (Sundance/Berlin). Olivia graduated with highest honors from Princeton University with a degree in Art History and Creative Writing.
Metalabel is a new space for releasing, selling, and exhibiting creative work. A platform where people can release digital work, physical work, music, art, videos, publications, podcasts, performances, and combinations of all of the above.
Metalabel is supported by a small, egalitarian team spread around the world.
We’re brought together by a shared purpose to build a new model for creative work.
About our Partners:
anonymous is a platform for contemporary art, public art, and community involvement. The gallery is committed to presenting ambitious projects featuring international emerging, mid-career, and historically significant artists.
The gallery operates between New York City and Mexico City with the goal of developing alternative networks for creative discourse between Latin America, the United States, and the international community. The gallery is devoted to artists experimenting in a variety of media, poetry and performance, and will continue a mission of giving voice to those marginalized; showcasing a variety of artists from different generations, genres and backgrounds.
Blade Study is a contemporary art gallery in New York's Lower East Side, founded in 2020 by Brooke Nicholas and Ian Glover.
Publisher’s Note:
anonymous Publishing (aP) is a newly established independent publishing initiative from anonymous gallery. With the goal of furthering dialogue, discovery and documentation, aP will work with gallery artists and collaborators to produce distinctive editions. aP endeavors to create editions that transcend classification, evolving into immersive experiences that invite the public to engage deeply with the content.
About the Venue:
42n is a studio and creative space in Chinatown NYC. It aims to be a nexus for artists of all kinds to meet, grow, learn, conduct business, and more. Founded in 2021, it is already home to a diverse group of multidisciplinary artists who collaborate on both commercial and personal projects.