 Students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill head for a TASK party held there in March. |
CONTACT: Tory Olson, 515-271-1834, tory.olson@drake.edu
Drake University will host a TASK Construction Party, a unique experiential event for motivated students, faculty and staff on Monday, April 12.
The event, which is free and open to all students, faculty and staff, will take place from 1-9 p.m. in room 303 of the Harmon Fine Arts Center, 2505 Carpenter Ave. Attendees are invited to participate or view and may come and go at any time during the party.
Contemporary artist Oliver Herring invites institutions to organize and implement TASK parties, which are improvisational events with simple structure and very few rules. The parties create a complex, ever shifting environment where individuals are encouraged to express themselves through chaotic and purpose driven interpretations of tasks.
The TASK structures rely on the same basic infrastructure: a designated area, a variety of props and materials and the participation of people. Participants must follow two rules:
- Write down a task on paper and add it do a designated “TASK pool”
- Pull a task from the pool and interpret it
“TASK’s open-ended, participatory structure creates almost unlimited opportunities for a group of people to interact with one another and their environment,” Herring said. “In theory, anything becomes possible.”
The TASK party will help connect individuals with one another through what is around them, while allowing people to express and test their own ideas in an environment without failure and success. In Herring’s words, “TASK always is what it is.”
For more information contact professor Benjamin Gardner 515-271-3166 or professor Angela Battle, 515-271-3831.