Effort Economy at TXST

Effort Economy at TXST

Aug 26–Dec 13, 2019

A satellite version of our recent exhibition Effort Economy is on view at Texas State University’s Sabinal Hall Gallery. Learn more about the Photography Department at Texas State. Visit the exhibition at 205 Pleasant St, San Marcos, Texas, TX 78666. Call (512) 245-2611 for gallery hours and parking instructions.

August 26, 2019 – December 13, 2019
Texas State University, Sabinal Photo Gallery

Featuring Julie Favreau, R. Eric McMaster

Reflecting on dancer and theorist Rudolf Laban’s ideas related to effort and movement, this exhibition features artists who utilize choreography in some form. Movement and the body are essential to the works in the exhibition, with artists considering the design and sequencing of movement as it relates to dance, sports, daily life, eroticism, and more. Other ideas presented through this exhibition include internal rhythm and time as forces to which we connect our bodies, and our drive for interconnectivity to one another in both the material and immaterial world.

Laban introduced the term “effort” in the context of modern dance theory as a mental impulse where movement originates. He designated four factors of motion–space, weight, time, and flow–that embody effort. The combination of these factors generates the dynamic of movement. Laban also defined basic actions relating to effort: to press, to flick, to wring, to dab, to slash, to glide, to punch and to float.

Effort Economy considers the varied definitions of the terms “effort” and “economy” in combination with one another, presenting the viewer with different contexts where our movements are calculated, sometimes with parameters fabricated or designed by the artists. Artists consider how the expenditure of energy can be optimized, futile, emotional, healing, sensual, and mundane, and how it creates new aesthetic languages.