Works-in-Process Performance

New Buds: MK Tuomanen and Harmon dot aut

August 14, 2024
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

A performer crawls on all fours while wearing a black and white spotted cow jumper and a cow mask created from cardboard.
MK Tuonamen’s “Consider the Cow.” Photo courtesy of the artist.

Explore the intersection between performance and visual art with an evening of new works-in-process by Philly and Minneapolis-based trans theater artists.

GravyLand

In this nascent communal performance and transmedia piece, non-binary and autistic playwright, musician, and visual artist Harmon dot aut (they/she) traces the shared connections among neuro- and gender diverse experiences. For Harmon, who describes their self as AutiGender, the very act of speaking requires constant, focused labor—they form words and sentences by translating their innate synesthetic language of shapes, colors, frequencies, and fractals. In “GravyLand,” Harmon reaches out after a decade of being housebound, inviting us to connect across this communication divide.

Consider the Cow

In this work-in-progress, playwright and performance artist MK Tuomanen navigates the maze of parenthood through a trans lens. From top surgery to intersex bulls to minotaurs to Doja Cat to the inherent grief of loving a child, Tuomanen drags you to the center of the labyrinth and back again.

Co-presented with The Bearded Ladies Cabaret in conjunction with John Jarboe: The Rose Garden.

Event Information

August 14, 2024
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

The Fabric Workshop and Museum
1214 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107

The Green Room, Second Floor Gallery

 

Free (suggested $5 donation) | Advance registration encouraged*

Register

*Limited walk-up tickets may be available on the day of the event.

Content Transparency

GravyLand contains descriptions of psychiatric hospitalization, as well as mentions of rape, abuse, and violence. Consider the Cow contains descriptions of surgery and the kidnapping of a child.

Museum Hours

Please note that the rest of the museum, including The Rose Garden exhibition, will be closed during this event. To plan your visit to the gallery, please reserve timed tickets during our regular museum hours.


About the Participants

A spherical ornament reflects an environment around it while appearing to hold a portrait of Harmon dot aut, a white person with coiffed hair.Harmon dot aut (they/she) is a non-binary, autistic playwright, filmmaker, singer/songwriter, actor, and visual artist based in Hudson Valley, NY. Their performative work explores trauma, sexual violence, mental illness, alter personalities and humor as a way to open space for truth-telling and to build resilience. An excerpt from Harmon’s play, SPACE, appears in the anthology, WE/US: Monologues for Gender Minority Characters (Smith & Kraus, March 2023). Harmon is the recipient of the 2023 Venturous Playwright Fellowship (PWC) for Tornado Tastes Like Aluminum Sting and 2019 Visionary Playwright Award, Theater Masters, New York, NY.

Learn more at harmondotaut.com

A portrait of the trans theater artist MK Tuomanen, a white person with light eyes and short pink-dyed hair. They are outdoors and smiling slightly while looking at the camera.MK Tuomanen (they/them) is a solo performer who takes the imagination on a fast drive through time and space. MK is an Associated Artist with the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, a member of Applied Mechanics Theater Company, a Jerome Fellow, a Haas Award Recipient, an amateur witch and a sometime punk drummer for The Bandits, as well as the director of Rose: You Are Who You Eat (Guggenheim Works And Process, Under the Radar, FringeArts, Woolly Mammmoth).

Learn more at mkplays.com


Support

Major support for John Jarboe: The Rose Garden has been generously provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

Major support of FWM is provided by the Marion Boulton “Kippy” Stroud Foundation. FWM receives state art funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional support is provided by Agnes Gund and the Board of Directors and Members of The Fabric Workshop and Museum.