Monday 17 September - Saturday 22 September 2007

International Workshop Festival and Chelsea Theatre present
Love Art Lab
with Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens

What happens when former porn star, sexologist and performance artist Annie Sprinkle falls madly in love with experimental artist, professor and sexy dyke playboy Elizabeth Stephens? Find out as the International Workshop Festival joins forces with the Chelsea Theatre to bring Annie and Elizabeth’s Love Art Lab to London.

Elizabeth Stephens is an inter-media artist who works in sculpture, video installation, photography, web based media, performance art and home renovation.  Her most recent works include the bronze sculptural installation, The Academic/Porn Star Panty Collection; the road trip performance piece Wish You Were Here; as well as her ongoing collaboration with Annie Sprinkle in the Love Art Laboratory. 

Annie Sprinkle was in a former life a proud prostitute, porn actress and pin-up model. Then she became a full time performance artist and toured one-woman shows about her life in the sex industry all over the USA, and to many other countries. She has written several published books, her most recent being Dr. Sprinkle’s Spectacular Sex - Make Over Your Love Life (Penguin).

Elizabeth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle are exploring Love as Art.
This is the Love Art Laboratory.  www.loveartlab.org

Performances:
EXPOSED: Experiments in Love, Sex, Death, and Art

Annie and Elizabeth have created a unique theatre/performance art show about their relationship exploring artificial insemination, breast cancer treatments, queer weddings, art experiments, aging, sexuality and more.

‘As a response to the war, anti-gay marriage sentiment and the politics of breast cancer, we invite everyone to a genuine celebration and critical public exploration of the deepest realms of romantic, sexual and familial love to bring about positive social change.’

Workshops:
EXTREME KISSING
The Pleasures, Politics and Art of the Kiss 
with Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens

“The practice of exhibiting love is a powerful antidote to violence and engenders both hope and healing.”  Love Art Lab

Stephens and Sprinkle will lead this unique and special workshop exploring kissing as conversation, as political intervention, as altered state, as erotic meditation and as performance art.
Bring a buddy to kiss for two hours straight - a friend, lover, or any willing collaborator. Or come solo and take a chance that you will find such a person at the workshop, or even out on King’s Road.

The first hour of the workshop will be in the theatre where you’ll receive instruction, and we’ll set our intentions. Then Stephens, Sprinkle, and all participants will emerge onto the Kings Road for a two-hour-long public Kiss-in. The last half hour will be back at the theatre for feedback and closing. (This can make you feel highly euphoric, so don't plan to drive right after the kiss.)

Sat 22 September 12.00 - 15:30

I ♥ FREE LOVE
with Tim Redfern aka Timberlina and Luke Dixon

In the build up to the performances of EXPOSED and while Annie and Elizabeth are rehearsing their show, queer artist Tim Redfern and Festival Director Luke Dixon will lead three afternoon workshops exploring sex as performance, performance as sex, erotic artistry and more besides. The workshops will lead to the creation a series of mini-performances as curtain-raisers to each performance of EXPOSED. If you want to share the bill with Annie and Elizabeth, create art works, or explore sex and performance, these are the workshops for you.

Tim Redfern aka Timberlina is one of London’s leading queer artists and cabaret performers and founder of the Queer Storytelling Festival.

Mon 17 – Wed 19 September 14.00 – 17.00