In Spite of Myself

Nicola Gunn is about to take self-absorption to the next level.
Nick Spunde
Published on October 07, 2013

Overview

All art is arguably an exploration of the artist’s ego, but performance artist Nicola Gunn seems determined to take this to a new level with her Melbourne Festival show, In Spite of Myself.

It is framed as a show within an exhibition. The exhibition is a fictional retrospective about Gunn herself, entitled Exercises in Hopelessness: Nicola Gunn (1979 – present). The audience are free to peruse it as if at a gallery for an hour or so before the performance begins, setting the stage for a surreal self-referential parody of the arts world.

Gunn, a veteran of the festival circuit, won a Best Experimental Performance Award at the 2012 Melbourne Fringe Festival for Hello my name is…, a show which left a slew of reviewers saying they couldn’t really describe what it was other than amazing. Featuring video art, live performance, a parody lecture and accompanied by an arts forum picnic on October 12, In Spite of Myself looks set to garner a similar response.

Information

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