The Extras

Description:

The sci-fi film The Sixth Day (2000) staged the atrium at the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch as the corporate headquarters of a biomedical giant that, in addition to cloning organs and pets, was engaged in the illicit replication of humans. 

In their performance work The Extras, Szuper Gallery restaged a scene in the film where partygoers revelled while a protest took place, with demonstrators carrying signs and chanting slogans. They recruited local background actors and revisited this location to re-enact the roles of The Sixth Day extras in this scene. 

In replicating the extravagant gestures of political protesters and the clustered poses of the party guests, this performance explored how extras “live in suggestion” in the background of Hollywood films, and as a foil for the talent and stand-ins for “the people.” In cutting the principal players, the extras and the audience are gathered within a loose reconstruction, suspended together in suggested activity.

The Extras was presented as part of Set, a curatorial series produced in partnership with Artspeak that explored the concepts of rehearsal and re-enactment and its relation to social roles, institutions, and histories. 

Curated by Lorna Brown and Jonathan Middleton.