Writer, choreographer, and director Jack Ferver will discuss and perform an excerpt of their new upcoming solo work Is Global Warming Camp? and other forms of theatrical distance for the end of the world. The event will take place in Marc Swanson’s exhibition A Memorial to Ice at the Dead Deer Disco, on a stage purposely built for Ferver inside the installation. The two artists have previously collaborated on the 2015 performance Chambre and the 2012 performance Two Alike. In Is Global Warming Camp? and other forms of theatrical distance for the end of the world, Ferver explores the journalistic distance of the queer, weaponizing theatricality for vantage points ranging from intimate to cold in viewing our overwhelming global failures.

The performance is free with museum admission; purchase museum admission here. Museum admission is always free for MASS MoCA members. Not yet a member? Become one here.

The world premiere of Is Global Warming Camp? and other forms of theatrical distance for the end of the world will take place in September at MASS MoCA, Ferver’s first full live performance since 2019. Please check back for dates.

Please note: this performance contains adult content, and will take place inside the exhibition with no seating (except for those who need it) and low lighting.

About the Artist
Jack Ferver is a New York-based writer, choreographer, and director. Their genre-defying performances, which have been called “so extreme that they sometimes look and feel like exorcisms” (The New Yorker), explore the tragicomedy of the human psyche. Ferver’s “darkly humorous” (The New York Times) works interrogate and indict an array of psychological and socio-political issues, particularly in the realms of sexual orientation, gender, and power struggles. Their visionary direction blurs boundaries between fantastic theatrics and stark naturalism, character and self, humor and horror.

Ferver’s works have been presented at the New Museum; New York Live Arts;  The Kitchen (NY); Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (IL); and Théâtre de Vanves (France); among others. Ferver’s work has been critically acclaimed in The New York Times, Le Monde, Artforum, The New Yorker, and more. Ferver teaches at Bard College in Theater and Performance and for the graduate Vocal Art Program. They have also taught at NYU Tisch, SUNY Purchase, and have set choreography at The Juilliard School. As an actor they have appeared in numerous films and television series and plays. They are currently working on a solo work to be presented in collaboration with the visual artist Marc Swanson at MASS MoCA and a new play with the playwright Jeremy O Harris.

Photo by Matthew Leifheit