In Phase IV artists Rancourt/Yatsuk enact the story of fictitious star realtor Don Donavucci and his desperate attempts to construct the model home for his idyllic community during the height of the housing market crash. Donavucci’s fantastic architectural vision (a mixture of elegant suburban excess and raw construction materials) will house a series of “OPEN HOUSE” days, where Don will be on-site to show his creation and attempt to make the sale. Drawing inspiration from failed suburban housing developments of the past century, Phase IV will investigate issues of sustainability, urbanization, and limitations of natural resources. Phase IV seeks out the dramatic extremes of the housing crash to reveal the grim human ecology that has spread throughout United States and the world.

Presented by Art in General for Performa 09.

Rancourt/Yatsuk on Phase IV from Art in General on Vimeo.

Justin Rancourt and Chuck Yatsuk are two young lifestyle artists who orchestrate events and exhibitions centered on American leisure pastimes: mixing drinks, motivational speaking, real estate speculation, multi-level marketing, boating, and vacation planning. Born in Florida, Rancourt/Yatsuk currently live and work in New York City. They have shown both nationally and internationally at locations including Kate Werble Gallery and Schroeder Romero in New York, Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center in Copenhagen, Center For Contemporary Art (CCA) in Kitakyushu, Japan, and Kunst Projects in Berlin. Collaboratively, Rancourt/Yatsuk have been awarded residencies at Seok-su Art Project in Anyang, Korea and with In You We Trust, in Cushendall, Northern Ireland.

For more about Rancourt/Yatsuk please visit their website at http://rancourt-yatsuk.com/

Presented by Art in General for Performa 09.

Performa 09 (November 1-22, 2009) is the third edition of the internationally acclaimed biennial of new visual art performance presented by Performa, a non-profit multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to exploring the critical role of live performance in the history of twentieth century art and to encouraging new directions in performance for the twenty-first century. www.performa-arts.org

The New Commissions Program is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts; Jerome Foundation; and the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation.