2025 Workshop: Dirt, Decay, and Decomposition Laboratory
A “hilarious, finely tuned absurdist” (Theatre Jones), Alex Tatarsky (they/them) makes performances in the uncomfortable zone between comedy, dance-theater, performance art and delusional streetside rant, often breaking the fourth wall and embracing humor to reveal vulnerability and humanity. Sometimes there are songs. Their live performances actively play with perceptions of narrative language and strive to be highly responsive to venue and audience. Their original solo performance pieces Americana Psychobabble, Untitled Freakout, Buttplug Gnome, Dirt Trip and Sad Boys in Harpy Land have been presented across New York City at La MaMa, MoMA PS1, the Kitchen, the Glove, the Brick, Abrons Arts Center, Gibney Dance and Playwrights Horizons. Most recently, their improvisational project MATERIAL was presented as part of the Whitney Biennial. As a curatorial fellow at the Poetry Project, Tatarsky organized a series on the poetics of rot. They are honored to have been Garden Gnome in Residence at numerous public parks, including Glen Foerd and the South Philly Meadows. Along with collaborator Ming Lin, Tatarsky is one half of the roving poetic research unit Shanzhai Lyric and its fictional office offshoot the Canal Street Research Association. Personal interests include bootlegs, hellscapes and compost.