Published: Jan. 14, 2015
Art for Michelle Ellsworth

Associate Professor Michelle Ellsworth's performance "Preparation for the Obsolescence of the Y Chromosome,"Ìýpart of the , has been featured in the .Ìý

"Preparation for the Obsolescence of the Y Chromosome"Ìýattempts to prepare (both on a micro and macro level) for the end of men.ÌýSimultaneously committed to conservation and archival efforts, Ellsworth works in the tradition of folklorist Alan Lomax.ÌýÌýUsing web technology, replacement apparatus (including a male gaze simulator), choreography (including gratitude-inspired token gestures), and the latest data from the Whitehead Institute at MIT, this work both combats and fuels rumors about the implications of the Y Chromosome’sÌýreputed shrinkage.

Featuring artists from across the US with a concentration of New York makers and a small selection of international artists, offers audiences local, national and international perspectives on the complicated and wondrous world we inhabit.ÌýThrough visceral, visual, and text-based explorations of perception, sensation and attention, the artists of American Realness are exposing issues and questions about identity, form, ritual, death, history, pop-culture, cooperation and the professionalization of art making in an American-focused, globally-minded context. American Realness exposes the cracks in the façade: of the practice of art making; of the construction of contemporary society; of our increasing inability to slow down and really see, hear and think. American Realness is an opportunity to reclaim the reins and rewrite the narratives.

Ellsworth is also co-director of dance in the .