The saying goes that “art imitates life.” This weekend, Syracuse’s ArtRage gallery will show audiences the endless possibilities of expression when art is alive.

ArtRage Gallery and the Building Company Theater will present “NOT NORMAL: Art in the Age of Trump” on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Six artists from the Syracuse area will take the gallery’s stage each night to perform responses to President Donald Trump’s decisions and policies on the one-year anniversary of his election.

Stephen Cross, Building Company Theater’s artistic director and Sarah Schieffelin, a Syracuse University senior and Building Company employee, have a common history with the production. In March, a producer in New York City approached Cross about performing in his performance art showcase.

Schieffelin, one of Cross’s students, was perfecting a physical theater piece in her SU Department of Drama class. Although not originally meant to be a performance regarding Trump, the piece was easily tweaked to become a response to politics at the time. Schieffelin and Cross traveled to the city, where Schieffelin performed in the original “NOT NORMAL” showcase.

Cross said he knew immediately he wanted to bring a “NOT NORMAL” performance to Syracuse.

“It was so successful at the end of it that there was no reason it couldn’t be transferred into another community,” Cross said. “I remember saying, ‘this feels like a healing process.’”

While more traditional art is usually hung on a wall and admired passively, performance art is active and makes mixing the two interesting, Cross said. The “NOT NORMAL” event will showcase what performance art can be – singing, dancing, acting, poetry and physical theater pieces.

“Performance art,” said Cross, is “theater where the actor has a little more control over what is created.”

Most of the works that will be presented are original, Schieffelin said. Some have even been created specifically for “NOT NORMAL.” The artists partaking in ArtRage’s event are diverse both creatively and experience-wise.

There are one or two student performers involved, and Schieffelin said this is their first time performing outside of an academic setting, but rather in a more artistic setting.

Schieffelin said the event is a way to bring sometimes-isolated local artists together for a few evenings of solidarity. “NOT NORMAL” will also unify the city and SU in performance, which Schieffelin admits does not happen very often.

“I hope that these pieces are a catalyst for dialogue around the issues that will be brought up regarding Islamophobia, race, sexual harassment, etcetera” Schieffelin said. “I hope that they’ll be not only validating, but also something that will make us, as a community, have a discussion about these things.” 

The performance art pieces act primarily as diverse, healing works that artists in the community have prepared to express themselves at a time when they feel diversity is not being embraced. Building Company Theater and ArtRage will put on the show that will give people who are concerned by the direction the country has gone since the last election, a place to congregate.

Cross added that the odds of only half the population coming to ArtRage are high since more than half the population voted to elect Trump.

The performances are open to everyone, and hopefully will serve as a platform for dialogue and thoughtful consideration of the state of the country.

“It’s no good to sit in a room and talk to your friends and neighbors. You have to talk to everybody,” he noted.

Cross said his ultimate goal for “NOT NORMAL” is that audiences will walk away feeling like they are not alone.

“That’s the scariest thing, when you feel you’re not part of a communal voice” Cross said. “You can talk about this stuff, but ultimately being able to visualize it and express it, I think, gives a different perspective.”

Published on November 5, 2017 at 9:00 pm

Contact Chloe: cfmathie@syr.edu