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THE OBJECTIFICATION OF THINGS. By Michelle Ellsworth. Byron Carlyle Theater, Miami Beach. 22 November 2008.
The Objectification of Things, created and performed by Michelle Ellsworth, was a multimedia extravaganza in which we not only witnessed the lifecycle of an object-a hamburger-through birth, life, death, and resurrection, but also were challenged to consider the reality of climate change in an entirely new light. The performance conveyed serious content-such as facts on the carbon emissions produced from the production, life, and molecular breakdown of a single pound of hamburger-via modern dance, the female body, and game shows. I was deeply moved and invigorated by this strange representation of contemporary issues. The Objectification of Things is a masterful, very postmodern attempt to lead us to new pathways for perceiving information pertinent to climate change by performing this content through incongruous forms. The combination of scientific form and artistic expression resulted in an exaggerated contrast between form and content.
Objectification opened with Ellsworth center stage, a black-hooded figure, lit from above, summoning down a large wooden crate. As the crate came down, ominous music intensified its descent. The two female backup dancers hooded in deep red velvet, flanked either side of the box and opened it dramatically. Frantically Ellsworth, as high priestess/ master of ceremonies, removed layer after bizarre layer that covered the object within....