The Artist’s Institute

With the Tip of a Hat is an evening of short videos by artists who are curious about the lives of objects. In these works, light-bulbs, eyeglasses, plastic toys, refrigerators, mechanical arms, Oreo cookies, radios, screen savers, leather chairs, and vegetables all have things to do and places to go.

Stuart Sherman and Alex Hubbard’s everyday objects become spectacles; condiment bottles and handbags dance with Phyllis Baldino’s carefullymanicured hands; and string, plastic bags, and packing tape succumb to the gravitational pull of Trisha Baga’s bedroom. Technology’s image/object machines play the lead roles in videos by Michael-Bell Smith, Mark Leckey, and Hannah Sawtell. And B. Wurtz tries to talk about the importance of humans, but his objects keep getting in the way.

When all is said and done, one thing is clear: these are not performances with objects, but the display and presentation of their performative dimension.