Bad at Sports Episode: 970 - A P(o)or(t)ch Theater with Mark Jeffery, Judd Morrissey and Kristin Mariani

At Spudnik Press in Chicago, Duncan MacKenzie, Brian Andrews and Ryan Peter Miller welcome Mark Jeffery, Judd Morrissey and Kristin Mariani to discuss the Poor Farm Experiment's Leopold Benches: A P(o)or(t)ch Theater (MIDWEST REDUX). Developed through the U.S. Pavilion's PORCH program at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale and presented in Chicago at the MCA's Chicago Performs festival, the work turns a porch into a place of observation, invitation, performance and collective play. The conversation moves through Aldo Leopold's benches, stereoscopic photographs and binocular rivalry, Mariani's language-bearing Text Toiles, the choreography of "queer sitting," and the Deeply Choir's role in animating the museum plaza. It also opens onto the project's wider artistic ecology: Michelle Grabner and Brad Killam's Poor Farm in Wisconsin; Mark Jeffery and Kelly Kaczynski's residency practice; the nido residency in Umbria; and an approach to collaboration in which living together, hosting, making and friendship become inseparable. PERFORMANCE: 9/25/2026 - 3pm at the MCA! (Dolly Day) Names Dropped: Duncan MacKenzie - kurasmackenzie.com Brian Andrews - brianandrews.org Ryan Peter Miller - ryanpetermiller.com/about Mark Jeffery - saic.edu/profiles/faculty/mark-jeffery Judd Morrissey - saic.edu/profiles/faculty/judd-morrissey Kristin Mariani - saic.edu/profiles/faculty/kristin-mariani Kelly Kaczynski - kellyfkaczynski.com/About Michelle Grabner - michellegrabner.com Brad Killam - cod.edu/faculty/websites/killam.html Cynthia Post Hunt - cynthiaposthunt.com/about Aldo Leopold - aldoleopold.org/about/aldo-leopold Shannon Stratton - shannonraestratton.com/about Kelly Lloyd - k-lloyd.com/bio-statement Chris Wood - mcachicago.org/whats-on/events/the-poor-farm-a-poortch-theater-midwest-redux Corey Smith - coreyds.com VALIE EXPORT - valieexport.at Lyubov Popova - moma.org/artists/4694-liubov-popova Varvara Stepanova - moma.org/artists/5643-varvara-stepanova Kay Rosen - kayrosen.com Sol LeWitt - moma.org/artists/3528-sol-lewitt Giotto - nga.gov/artists/1342-giotto Caravaggio - nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/michelangelo-merisi-da-caravaggio Lisa Stone - spacesarchives.org/about-us/spaces-board/lisa-stone Maria Gaspar - mariagaspar.com/bio Ginger Krebs - gingerkrebs.com/home.html Laura Paige Kyber - mcachicago.org/about/who-we-are/people/laura-kyber Joey Orr - joeyorr.com/about Moira Brennan - jeromefdn.org/moira-brennan Lin Hixson - everyhousehasadoor.org Peter Taub - pewcenterarts.org/panelist/peter-taub Vanessa Damilola Macaulay - vanessamacaulay.com/about Leon J. Hilton - taps.brown.edu/people/leon-hilton Bonnie Tyler - bonnietyler.com Mies van der Rohe - miessociety.org Midas (Kelly Kaczynski's dog) - kellyfkaczynski.com/About Leopold Benches / MCA Chicago - mcachicago.org/whats-on/events/the-poor-farm-a-poortch-theater-midwest-redux Poor Farm Experiment - poorfarmexperiment.org Living Within the Play: nido V - poorfarmexperiment.org/?page_id=1427 Spudnik Press - spudnikpress.org MCA Talk: Performance Art in Chicago - mcachicago.org/whats-on/events/mca-talk-performance-art-in-chicago