110 MARCH 2016 PORTFOLIO
A VOLCANO
Eyes are a surprise
Lava plus Knives a dream
Fireisspelledwithr
Knifeisnotspelled with A
So is business.
The UNITED STATES is a knife.
Artist Theater Program began in Los Angeles in 2011
as a one-night film and video exhibition in a black
box theater. Since 2014, it has evolved into live
collaborative performances. Last November, its most
recent iteration, titledLava plus Knives, was presented
at Roulette in Brooklyn as a commission for Performa 15.
This portfolio collages imagery from three of the
work’s scenes—Erika Vogt’s “Eros Island: Knives
Please Rise” and Shannon Ebner’s “Typography of
a Volcano” and “Volcanoes and Crime.” The images
here appeared on two-sided movable backdrops, with
the letterAin different typographic styles on one side
and the knife drawings on the other. Vogt’s knives are
based on political cartoons. TheA’s Ebner selected*
act as indefinite articles to Vogt’s object-based imagery.
The two sides of the panels are mutual supports, much
like ideological extremism and business. A knife. The
United States is a knife.— Erika Vogt in collaboration with Shannon Ebner*from lineto.com