Mammalian Diving Reflex/Darren O’ Donnell: All the Sex I’ve Ever Had

Mammalian Diving Reflex/Darren O’Donnell

Based in Germany and Canada, Mammalian Diving Reflex views innovative artistic interventions as a way to trigger generosity and equity across the universe. Founded by Artistic Director Darren O’Donnell in 1993, Mammalian is a research-art atelier dedicated to investigating the social sphere, always on the lookout for contradictions to whip into aesthetically scintillating experiences. We are a culture production workshop that creates site- and social-specific performances, theater-based productions, gallery participatory gallery installations, videos, art objects, and theoretical texts. Mammalian’s body of work is interconnected, varied, and vibrant, reflecting our unique and growing body of knowledge and expertise on the use and function of culture. We create work that recognizes the social responsibility of art, fostering a dialogue between audience members, between the audience and the material, and between the performers and the audience. In all its forms, the company’s work dismantles barriers between individuals of all ages, cultural, economic, and social backgrounds; we collaborate with non-artists and offer both participatory opportunities for the audience as well as the traditional option of simply watching the proceedings as they unfold. It is our mission to bring people together in new and unusual ways, in Toronto, Canada, our home base, and around the world, to create work that is engaging, challenging, and gets people talking, thinking, and feeling.