LASER Talk Series Features Patricia Olynyk Of Washington University At J. Wayne Stark Galleries
Olynyk discussed her research project “The Mutable Archive: A Cure for Immortality,” which features live performances and short films about human stories.
On March 18, Patricia Olynyk joined the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts for the latest installment of the LASER Talk Series at the J. Wayne Stark Galleries in the Memorial Student Center. She is the Florence and Frank Bush Professor of Art and director of the Graduate School of Art at Washington University in St. Louis.
Olynyk discussed her research project “The Mutable Archive: A Cure for Immortality,” which features live performances and short films about human stories. She commissioned writers, artists and performers to create narratives about subjects in the “Hyrtl Skull Collection” in Vienna and Philadelphia. The exhibition includes skulls with biographical information attached. The narratives were performed live and compiled into a video.
“We live in an era of storytelling,” Olynyk said. “We understand that nothing has a single flat identity, and that’s what the piece is trying to evoke.”
In a Q&A session, Olynyk discussed how she selected the artists for her project and producing theatrical performances as forms of storytelling.
Hosted by the Institute for Applied Creativity, the LASER Talk series will continue in the fall.
