Just Do It

nothing but what is therein contained

by Shaun Brady

Tue-Wed., May 6-7, 7:30 p.m., $20, Founder's Hall, Girard College, 2101 S. College Ave., 215-805-4302, peregrinearts.org

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Since its inception in 2006, Thaddeus Squire's Peregrine Arts has served as a virtual archaeology program for dusty, forgotten Philly institutions, introducing the hidden corners of the city to newcomers and lifers alike. Whether following Phil Kline's ethereal music through the eclectic Ryerss Museum, examining the Linnaean displays of the Wagner Institute of Science as Scanner conjures electronic ghosts, or re-enacting Eleanor Widener's Titanic dinner as appetizer to Gavin Bryars' "The Sinking of the Titanic" at the Union League, Squire has fused a forward-looking multimedia vision to a concrete sense of historical place.

Much of that work has been undertaken as a precursor to Hidden City, an ambitious series of interdisciplinary performances scheduled to see its full realization over the course of four weeks next spring. To launch its 2008 season, Peregrine will present "nothing but what is therein contained," a multimedia installation by artist Steve Roden that will serve to preview an even larger piece to come.

Roden's piece will occupy Founder's Hall at Girard College, a grand architectural space originally designed in the mid-19th century as classroom space for orphaned children. Roden will occupy four classrooms, closed to the public for the better part of a century, which now serve as archive space for materials that will provide the basis for the artist's performance piece. As in many Peregrine events, the show provides audiences with the opportunity to wander through the depths of Philly's memory banks, reliving the past while experiencing its vital present.