Bodies, Camera, Screen: Eiko & Koma’s Immersive Media Dances

Eiko & Koma are New York-based Japanese American dance artists known for their subtle, focused, and finely controlled movement vocabulary through which they alter the perception of time and space. For over forty years they have created works for the proscenium stage, outdoor sites, galleries, and the camera that address elemental issues of life, survival, death, and rebirth. Their close and unsparing attention to nature, mourning, and human relationships to other humans and the world around them has won them prestigious awards including Guggenheim, MacArthur, and United States Artist Fellowships, Bessies, and Doris Duke Performing Arts Awards

An Interview with Eiko Otake

No abstract available

Protein Catalyzed Capture Agents with Tailored Performance for In Vitro and In Vivo Applications

We report on peptide-based ligands matured through the protein catalyzed capture (PCC) agent method to tailor molecular binders for in vitro sensing/diagnostics and in vivo pharmacokinetics parameters. A vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) binding peptide and a peptide against the protective antigen (PA) protein of Bacillus anthracis discovered through phage and bacterial display panning technologies, respectively, were modified with click handles and subjected to iterative in situ click chemistry screens using synthetic peptide libraries. Each azide-alkyne cycloaddition iteration, promoted by the respective target proteins, yielded improvements in metrics for the application of interest. The anti-VEGF PCC was explored as a stable in vivo imaging probe. It exhibited excellent stability against proteases and a mean elimination in vivo half-life (T_(1/2)) of 36 min. Intraperitoneal injection of the reagent results in slow clearance from the peritoneal cavity and kidney retention at extended times, while intravenous injection translates to rapid renal clearance. The ligand competed with the commercial antibody for binding to VEGF in vivo. The anti-PA ligand was developed for detection assays that perform in demanding physical environments. The matured anti-PA PCC exhibited no solution aggregation, no fragmentation when heated to 100°C, and  > 81% binding activity for PA after heating at 90°C for 1 h. We discuss the potential of the PCC agent screening process for the discovery and enrichment of next generation antibody alternatives

Protein Catalyzed Capture Agents with Tailored Performance for In Vitro and In Vivo Applications

We report on peptide-based ligands matured through the protein catalyzed capture (PCC) agent method to tailor molecular binders for in vitro sensing/diagnostics and in vivo pharmacokinetics parameters. A vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) binding peptide and a peptide against the protective antigen (PA) protein of Bacillus anthracis discovered through phage and bacterial display panning technologies, respectively, were modified with click handles and subjected to iterative in situ click chemistry screens using synthetic peptide libraries. Each azide-alkyne cycloaddition iteration, promoted by the respective target proteins, yielded improvements in metrics for the application of interest. The anti-VEGF PCC was explored as a stable in vivo imaging probe. It exhibited excellent stability against proteases and a mean elimination in vivo half-life (T_(1/2)) of 36 min. Intraperitoneal injection of the reagent results in slow clearance from the peritoneal cavity and kidney retention at extended times, while intravenous injection translates to rapid renal clearance. The ligand competed with the commercial antibody for binding to VEGF in vivo. The anti-PA ligand was developed for detection assays that perform in demanding physical environments. The matured anti-PA PCC exhibited no solution aggregation, no fragmentation when heated to 100°C, and  > 81% binding activity for PA after heating at 90°C for 1 h. We discuss the potential of the PCC agent screening process for the discovery and enrichment of next generation antibody alternatives

Abortion Performance and Politics

“Performing abortion” typically refers to what health care providers do in clinics, private offices, and (rarely) hospitals 1.21 million times per year,every year, in the United States. At the same time, the phrase indicates what performance artists, choreographers, and activists have been doing on stages, in galleries, and on the streets for decades. Candelario is intrigued by this double meaning that invites us to take seriously what abortion means at this political and historical moment, but also what performance, activism, and the concerted actions of bodies can do. This article offers some introductory thoughts on these intertwined issues, and represents the beginning of a larger project Candelario is conducting. “Performing Abortion: FeministCultural Production after Roe v. Wade” wasconceived with the premise that the examination of performances of and about abortion by feminist artists and activists may reveal productive strategies for reframing the abortion debate in the United States

Abortion Performance and Politics

“Performing abortion” typically refers to what health care providers do in clinics, private offices, and (rarely) hospitals 1.21 million times per year,every year, in the United States. At the same time, the phrase indicates what performance artists, choreographers, and activists have been doing on stages, in galleries, and on the streets for decades. Candelario is intrigued by this double meaning that invites us to take seriously what abortion means at this political and historical moment, but also what performance, activism, and the concerted actions of bodies can do. This article offers some introductory thoughts on these intertwined issues, and represents the beginning of a larger project Candelario is conducting. “Performing Abortion: FeministCultural Production after Roe v. Wade” wasconceived with the premise that the examination of performances of and about abortion by feminist artists and activists may reveal productive strategies for reframing the abortion debate in the United States

Fragmented Bodies

These are just some of the words used to define devadasis in South India over the last century. Recent scholars (Avanthi Meduri, Amrit Srinivasan, Saskia C. Kersenboom-Story, Kay Jordan, to name a few) have attempted to locate historical devadasis (or traces of them) in the contemporary performance of Bharatanatyam, but rarely have they looked to the women who still call themselves by that name, many of whom live in the northern part of the state of Karnataka in south India

Fragmented Bodies

These are just some of the words used to define devadasis in South India over the last century. Recent scholars (Avanthi Meduri, Amrit Srinivasan, Saskia C. Kersenboom-Story, Kay Jordan, to name a few) have attempted to locate historical devadasis (or traces of them) in the contemporary performance of Bharatanatyam, but rarely have they looked to the women who still call themselves by that name, many of whom live in the northern part of the state of Karnataka in south India