Michael Martini
About the Artist
Michael Martini is a queer theatre artist who creates performances for various contexts, from the blackbox to the gallery to the video screen. Since graduating from Concordia University in 2018, he has worked across Montreal’s bilingual interdisciplinary scene, often collaborating with dancers and visual artists. He has shown work at many of Montreal and Toronto’s most exciting performance events. Notably, his co-creation Ça a l’air synthétique bonjour hi has appeared at festivals OFFTA and Summerworks, receiving numerous accolades along the way. In 2023, productions by Martini will appear in the official programs of Tangente and La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines. His creations shift between the banal and the eccentric, layering text, video, and dress-up with a highly social, DIY atmosphere.
Michael Martini & Callan Ponsford’s Beep Test, photo by Mariane Stratis
Work Presented at Tangente - Beep Test
Michael Martini & Callan Ponsford
February 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th, 2023
The beep test is a fitness test often used in high schools. The goal? To continuously run between two lines 20 metres apart before the beep sounds. As the test goes on, the intervals between beeps become increasingly shorter. It is generally impossible to beat the test. In Beep Test, theatre artist Michael Martini and visual artist Callan Ponsford put their bodies to the test to explore both athletic and artistic competitiveness. Turning to notation as a common ground between their disciplines, they creatively interpret a series of abstract sports plays. Amid blaring disco, they aim for physical exhaustion in this humiliating and flamboyant performance.
