*** UPDATED NOTE 6 SEPTEMBER 2021 - AS WE ADJUST TO THE RAPIDLY CHANGING VICTORIAN
COVID-19 LOCKDOWN SCENARIOS, REGRETTABLY TEMPERANCE HALL WILL BE CANCELLING OUR
UPCOMING PROGRAMMING AT MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL 2021.
STAY TUNED TO OUR SOCIALS AND WEBSITE FOR FUTURE UPDATES.
Co-Curated by Temperance Hall Artistic Director, Phillip Adams and Artistic Associate, Luke George, the Week 3 program features works by Melbourne independent artists Thomas Woodman and Benjamin Hurley. A double bill of new solo works by independent artists that ascribe to media fixation and a queer exploration of self-identity.
A DEAD-END IN ITSELF
Thomas Woodman presents: A dead-end in itself, a contemplation of how to interpret information in a world where the outlets for dispersing such information continue to proliferate. The work departs from the elusive claim made by artist Chris Burden during ‘Poem for L.A.’, a TV advertisement from 1975 – “Science has failed / Heat is life / Time kills”. Actions and images circulate within a fractured multi-modal network.
MY LIFE WOULD BE BETTER IF
Benjamin Hurley presents: My Life Would Be Better If, a queer exploration of self-identity depicted through slapstick humour and irrational decision making. The work unfolds as a stream of consciousness, firing a loose cannon of thoughts, inviting an authentic experimentation of process and provocations. The repetition of the phrase 'My Life Would Be Better If' acts as a way of conjuring personal affirmations in this sarcastic but sometimes all-too-real response to living within a western society.
“Two works that offer polemic views of choreographic practices, trans-materiality, the intermeshing of corporeality and materiality in the development of interdisciplinary choreography. Popular culture runs a muck. A steady diet of Americana western pop art, meets the life and times of being queer in western society.”
– Phillip Adams, Artistic Director Temperance Hall
TEMPERANCE HALL PRESENTS: THOMAS WOODMAN AND BENJAMIN HURLEY
A dead-end in itself and My Life Would Be Better If (double bill)
PERFORMANCE DATES
Wed 13 - Sat 16 Oct 7:30pm (CANCELLED)
LOCATION
Temperance Hall
199 Napier Street, South Melbourne
DURATION
75 mins, with interval
ACCESSIBILITY
Wheelchair accessible
TICKETS
Ticket holders will be contacted regarding refunds. If you need to follow up on this process please contact the Melbourne Fringe Box Office on 03 9660 9666.
This COVIDSafe event was registered with the Department of Jobs Precincts and Regions (DJPR). To view the safety checklist for A dead-end in itself and My Life Would Be Better If please follow the link below:
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Temperance Hall's Melbourne Fringe Festival program has been generously supported by our wonderful patrons, Creative Victoria, The Australian Government RISE Fund, The City of Port Phillip, Working Heritage and Yal Yal Estate. 
THOMAS WOODMAN
Thomas Woodman is a Melbourne/Naarm-based dancer and choreographer, who completed a BFA with Honours at the VCA (2019). As a performer, he has worked with Antony Hamilton, Russell Dumas, Shian Law, Hermann Nitsch and Jo Lloyd. Thomas’ choreographic work is concerned with multiplicity, human and non-human exchange, and the function of imagination. He has presented The Water Disappears Eventually (2019) and Rain (2017), and recently began developing we fly together.
BENJAMIN HURLEY
Originally from Alice Springs/Mparntwe, Benjamin Hurley is a gender-fluid Melbourne/Naarm based independent dancer, choreographer and teacher who graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2016. His most notable collaborations include; Phillip Adams BalletLab, Strange Fruit, Deanne Butterworth, Lee Serle, Emma Riches, Isabelle Beauverd and Arabella Frahn Starkie, whom he has engaged in an ongoing collaborative nature with for many years. He has performed locally and internationally in festivals including Dance Massive, Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Venice Arts Biennale and M1 CONTACT Singapore. He has presented works at Temperance Hall, Trades Hall, TreloarLand, and Strawberry Fields Music Festival.
Image captions:
Top: Benjamin Hurley is pictured mid-performance, lying on their side next to a large multicoloured blob of glitter slime, Benjamin is lit in a pink lighting wash. Photo by J Forsyth
Left and right: Thomas Woodman is pictured laying on the floor, with a black and white wall clock worn as a mask over their face, costumed in a navy boiler suit, surrounded by miscellaneous computer hardware items. Photo by Emma Riches
Temperance Hall acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land in which we dance and create, the Bunurong Boon Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation, and pay our respect to Elders both past and present and, through them, to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.