A flash of the artist within

Perhaps the most provocative thing about the layers of reflection that make up “1001 Beds” at Highways is how benign they initially appear. Die-hard skeptics who view performance artist Tim Miller as the gay bane of all existence will be as unprepared as longtime fans who expect naked revelations. This impeccably calibrated trip across the bedrock bedrooms of Miller’s career may be his most quietly subversive work.

Prurient viewers should be aware that author-performer Miller remains clothed -- “1001 Beds,” which derives from a new collection of scripts, diary entries, essays and interviews, values content over display.

The barebones presentation and saturated lighting are exactly enough frame for Miller’s self-as-canvas. His technique -- a frisky, half-lidded fidget on high alert to audience energies -- gives way to flashes of poetic stillness that demonstrate how gracefully Miller has matured without losing either his inquisitive ardor or wicked humor.

That adult inner landscape, from which Miller’s ongoing work-in-progress (or life-in-progress) resonates, is paramount to “1001 Beds.” An almost shamanic spirit emerges when least expected, with striking immediacy. Miller’s account of meeting partner Alistair McCartney, for example, is as touchingly personal yet universal as anything Miller has ever done, Proustian memory swathed in current meaning.

Think casual seduction concealing urgent consciousness-raiser, and you have the measure of “1001 Beds” and the nonpareil explorer of self and spirit who recounts them with such potent assurance.

“1001 Beds,” Highways Gallery and Performance Space, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica. 8:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday. Ends Saturday. Adult audiences. $20. (310) 315-1459. Running time: 1 hour