Convergence and Contingency: The Early Media Work of Reid Farrington

The work of media artist and director Reid Farrington, which primarily combines content from theatre and film, is exemplary of performance that engages with and challenges convergence culture—the shifting, consolidating set of tools of production and distribution, as well as the social and cultural practices that stem from a participatory media culture. Performances such as The Passion Project, Gin and “It,” and Reid Farrington’s A Christmas Carol demonstrate that the mediated and live body are both “inherently theatrical” and read together, both within and across media, with increasing fluidity and cultural literacy. Artists and audiences alike participate in these shifts and shape aesthetics and politics of production and consumption. Thus convergent performance helps to shape a reflexive and contingent historiography and practice of contemporary performance.