HALFLIFE, 2014

Shasti O'Leary-Soudant - Buffalo, USA

Performance Art

In a narrative worthy of sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick, Shasti O'Leary-Soudant creates a theatre of spectacle based on the notion of contagion. The artist empowers one hundred glowing ”carriers” to disperse throughout the city and “test” willing participants for the HALFLIFE "virus" with invisible UV reactive ink markers, peaking in a mass convergence on the Square.

HALFLIFE comments on the presence of fear in society around apocalyptic events, but also on human connection, in both desired and inescapable forms.

Shasti O’Leary-Soudant is a multimedia artist, designer and writer. She has one child, one spouse, one house, one incorporated business and no pets. In her art practice, she uses a wide range of media and material to talk about hidden forces, immersive experiences, transformation, vanity, sexuality and the ways in which we edit the self in reaction to culture, politics and emotion. She has travelled extensively, exhibited internationally, speaks fluent second grade French, and lives, works and teaches in Buffalo, NY.

Schedule

7 pm: Dispatch Virus Carriers from HALFLIFE Portal.
12 am: Carriers and all "infected" participants converge on the HALFLIFE portal (Nathan Phillips Square) for mass Quarantine and Cure event, occurring between Midnight and 1am.
1 am: Quarantine Release: cured participants and Carriers disperse throughout city.
7 am: HALFLIFE is contained.

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Nathan Phillips Square

100 Queen Street West (located in the North East corner of Nathan Phillips Square)

This project is outdoors.