Friday, September 26, 2008...

There's an excitement that builds when a film is coming out that you really want to see. Weeks in advance you find yourself not being able to wait for that opening night. Personally I avoid trailers, especially tv advertisements as crucial plot points and action scenes are thrown at you before you realize what's happening. I want to experience those films the way a director or writer wanted me to, for the first time. But when you see the film, unless it was a masterpiece, the excitement goes away - the experience is ultimately fleeting. You may talk about it for a day or two, but suddenly the next big film is on your radar and you've forgotten the name of the movie you just saw as as you try to tell your friend how great it was.

That's what being a consumer is all about. On to the next new thing full speed ahead! It's enjoyable, on occasion even life changing, but you always have to move on to consume what will hopefully be the next life altering moment...when normally it turns out being My Super Ex-Girlfriend.

Now allow me to confess to you how much more gratifying it is to be the one to help create that next piece of art or entertainment. It's a little scary, because you never know if it's going to be life changing for the audience. You can only hope that the thing you set out to do will somehow make their life a little better for a short period of time. It becomes all about sharing an experience, rather than consuming an experience (which by definition is more selfish).

It was incredibly gratifying when I watched the actors of Through a Caffeine Haze mingle with the audience, that had been sitting no more than 4 feet away, after they performed in a coffee shop this last Tuesday, and the many performances before. To create something with a group of people for the enjoyment of another group of people in a space that wasn't separated by a curtain, or a 7 foot drop off, or blinding lights and seats in the dark...it truly inspired me to continue doing things of this nature in the fuure. Enjoying the aftermath of this shared experience, not trumped up by explosions or special effects, but by simple human emotions happening so close to the audience that they could see the nuances of every performance, hear the strum of every chord on the guitar, not amplified for their listening pleasure, and experience art as if it were actually happening in front of them.

It doesn't matter how much money was made, or who does or doesn't come to the next show, but that while they were there -- they loved it. And the actors were so close they could feel that energy coming back. It was intimate, it was honest, it was refreshing.

I don't care who you are. The most certain way for art to stay with you as a person isn't to go to the movies or watch a television show, but to create it an experience that can be shared. It's an experience that I will take with me, and it's an experience that I hope our company can recreate for the public time and time again.

There's no point only putting up shows in a theatre space and waiting for people to pay $20 to come see you. Take it to them. This is something I'll continue to explore as an idea -- art is free, entertainment costs. This was a success for Theatre Unleashed, and while only a minor success for the theatre and film scene in LA, it might get some heads turning and some brains rolling. Let's hope.

Phillip Kelly, Artistic Director

The cast for Atomic City is also a combination, a mix of artists with different backgrounds and nationalities: there are two musicians from Sweden, two Danish dancers, a physical theatre performer from Guatemala, and an acrobatic dancer and mover from the US. More generally, the work is a collaboration between the Danish company Terranova and US performer and producer Jon Morris (Fuerzabruta, Cirque du Soleil). They produced the piece in an intensive residency this summer at Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, and this in New York is their premiere. Probably because the piece is so new, there is a raw quality to it that makes the work exciting: these artists are taking risks with their bodies and their voices, in a collaboration that has pushed each one of them to a new place in their artistic practice.

When something does not run so smoothly (some of the harmonizing could use a little more practice!) the visuals of the piece by and large make up for it. The set for Atomic City beautifully contrasts the darkness of the performance space with white panels of waxed paper and a green square of fake grass. Spectators sit on opposite sides of the square, a choice that is elegantly exploited several times during the performance by movable wall divisions and the different facings of the performers. Apart from one character, “the gatekeeper”, soberly dressed in grey shades, all the performers wear white costumes. The result is a bright and clean look, easily associated with snow or the stark light of an atomic explosion.

Atomic City is at once readable and abstract: “a recipe for pie and one for destruction”, as described in the flyers for the show. This young group of international artists from different disciplines has created a unique world within the La Mama Annex theatre, a white city in which, as one of the physicists claims, “we are suspended in language”, as well as in sound and movement. In this secret place, human relations unfold playfully and painfully through beautifully physical phrases of movement and broken fragments of language. With its light humor and poetic aesthetic, Atomic City is a promising collaboration, one that should not be overlooked.

La Mama - The Annex

September 11 - 28, 2008
Thursday - Saturday at 7:30pm
Sunday at 2:30pm & 7:30pm

Tickets $25
purchase tickets online

The Bro Futurist Action Squad will be out and about at the We Love Long Beach Community BBQ extravaganza.  Do not miss it.  1pm - 5pm - Bixby Park, Long Beach.  The BFAS (bro futurist action squad) will be making arts and crafts (and live screen printing shirts)(bring a shirt) and promoting global chilling!!! Look for the big blue van!!!

Also, Also, Also, On Saturday night don't miss the super rad event at Shelter Surf Shop!

Look for the big blue van cuz it will probably be parked outside as well!

Arts by Ryan Tatar and Seamouse

New film entitled Seaworthy; trailer below

Music by good friends Tijuana Panthers

AWESOME.

Photo by Paula Court,

On entering The Kitchen this Saturday, I was curious to see how Radiohole had dealt with Chelsea's sizable performance space for the staging of ANGER/NATION, their latest production. The company usually performs at the Collapsable Hole, a theater made from two neighboring garages in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and a space they share with fellow experimental theater company Collapsable Giraffe. The Collapsable Hole is cozy and a little claustrophobic. There are no chairs, just large steps with movable pillows, which do not seat more than fifty people. Watching Radiohole in their own performance space is raw and intimate, their ultra technological sets making it feel as though you just entered a post-apocalyptic underground world: red lights, monitors every where, exposed bricks, and familiar objects used for unfamiliar purposes. It was difficult to imagine their work in the clean and fashionable Chelsea space.

Yet for their performance at The Kitchen , Radiohole successfully recreated that sense of intimacy and technological overload by using only about a third of the stage’s depth, and building a fiberglass firework-like structure that bursts towards the audience, mini monitors attached to the end of each rod, physically breaking the imaginary fourth wall between audience and stage. In this production, a large, bluish-grey, cardboard moon hangs above stage right, and the set is dissected through the middle by a ramp that ascends to a darkened backstage. Horizontal, color-changing panels act as a back drop, while on the sides and the front of the stage are visible various light and sound switches: Radiohole members usually operate all the cues in their performances.

ANGER/NATION’s set alone is like a sculpture, and could survive as an installation even when not inhabited by its performers. It is a little like a space ship, filled with light switches and monitors, almost breathing, with its changing colors and tiny movements. Yet the performers are there, all the way from the beginning: pouring beer for the audience, talking to each other, attempting drunken speeches, some of them wearing adjusted German folk dresses complete with embroidered edelweiss. For this show, Radiohole has centered around the historical character of Mrs. Carrie A. Nation (Maggie Hoffman), the “Bar Room Smasher” born in “Garrard County, Kentucky” in 1846. After loosing her husband to drinking and sailors, Mrs. Nation takes on the quest of cleansing America of "sin and degradation" by destroying every bar she sets foot in. Like in other Radiohole productions, narrative is non-linear, and Mrs. Nation’s story appears at intervals between songs, disturbing tableaux, and violent repetitive acts, as when two of the men on stage repeatedly shoot each other’s buttocks with air guns.

About half way through the performance, pink American flags make their appearance on the background monitors, and Mrs. Nation declares that all will participate in her crusade: more specifically “if they are women, they will join [her], and if they are boys, they will follow [her] unwillingly”. Mrs. Nation’s crusade, with its conservative thrust and Born-Again Christian overtones, brings to mind the real world, and at one time Miss Alaska runner-up, Governor Sarah Palin. In fact, Radiohole’s emphasis on questions of gender and sexuality, as well as their dissection of religious zealotism, could not come at a more salient time in the history of American politics.

Mrs. Nation's crusade eventually takes on an unexpected turn, and the pregnant actress finally appears to us in a radically different attire from the widow like costume in which she first descends onto the stage. The conclusion of the performance is at once surprising and thought-provoking: disclosing it would decrease its efficacy.

ANGER/NATION deals with sex, alcohol, queerness and decadence, with great irony and without sparing the macabre and the gruesome. Filled with chauvinistic jokes, beer smashing, and unexpected props, such as the prehensile penis on actor Eric Dyer, ANGER/NATION is a visceral experience, often overwhelming, sometimes digressive, and always provocative and challenging. Radiohole’s latest production proves once again their unique position as a company on the cutting edge of performance, one taking risks and, on this occasion, breathing fresh air into the now fashionable Chelsea district. There is no one like them in New York.

Radiohole: ANGER/NATION

The Kitchen

September 24-27, 8pm

In honor of National Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19, mateys), this month's Artslam became Arrgslam, and all the artwork (and some of the audience) was pirate-themed. Not being a huge fan of all things nautical (I fell asleep during Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest — and by that I mean I fell asleep just reading the title), I was sort of at a loss as to what to paint, and concocted a last-minute revenge scene of a wench getting the drop on her pirate captor. You know — feminist art. Or something.

I know that's not too terribly exciting, but what is exciting is the new lens I was experimenting with all night. I got a Canon EF50mm and got carried away testing it out on the bands that played Arrgslam — I need the practice for when I shoot ACL in less than a week! (Be sure to check out festival blogging/Twittering at the Curblog.)

OK, enough talk. Piratey photos after the jump. If you were there, they'll bring back fond memories. If you weren't, then you missed out on a fun event ... and should make up for it by going to the Dia de los Muertos Artslam on November 1!

Rob "Deadbeat Hero" Perez, Arrgslam captain (and don't worry, that's just a decorative eye-patch).

Arrgslam mermaids, by Deadbeat Hero.

Angelle Benitez, Arrgslam artist

Angelle works on a portrait of Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Fletch puts some finishing details on his painting — he also painted an awesome deck that I regrettably didn't get a picture of.

Shaggy gets down and dirty with his art piece.

DJ JJ Lopez pumped some soul into the evening in between bands.

Drunken Monkey Promotions and Deadbeat Hero in the house! 

The calm before the storm: Patrick Schowe, drummer for Fuck City USA.

The storm:

 The trio plays fast, loud, and on the club floor. Schowe plays a 26-inch bass drum (for non-drummers, the average bass drum is 22 inches). This band damaged my inner ears (in other words, it was really good).

Members of Austin's The Noise Revival Orchestra Experience (TNROE, for the sake of brevity) pose with Keith Richards outside Limelight (just kidding, that's TNROE's drummer).

There's at least 13 people in TNROE, and I could never find a spot where I could shoot them all at once. My new lens doesn't zoom, but it produces amazing clear images (like the one above) in low-light situations with no flash.

TNROE sounded pretty good live — like if Arcade Fire decided to not be so gloomy and joined a Victorian circus troupe. Definitely check them out — they've got videos on their MySpace page (it looks like they're coming back to Limelight for an EP release in December).

Closing the night was Radscarssss — DJs Daecos Omoxi and The Kid (Michael Goodwin). 

Random photos from the night:

And finally, my finished piece, below. Three separate people each told me that they thought the murderous wench was Björk. And you can't argue with those odds. So Björk it is!

This was my second Artslam!, and I had a blast again, as did the other artists and bands involved. Support local artists at the next Dia de los Muertos Artslam on November 1! It looks like that's gonna be a big one. Thanks to Rob and everybody for putting on this great event! Yarr.

And so passes another dorkbot gathering. Around 20-30 folks packed into the front room at officialsydney to hear from aras vaichas, pia van gelder and more.

Aras presented the WävRüta, a microcontroller-based audio effects unit that participants will be able to assemble (and solder!) at this year's electrofringe in newcastle.

Despite claiming to be too busy programming it to test the limits of the audio rooting capabilities, he did a pretty good job showing it off, in conjunction with his previous units, nibbler and brainlet.

The source code and schematics diagrams will be released free post-October, and you can probably get a circuit board by contacting him directly. The device was producing some pretty damn impressive noise and fucking with a euro dance loop quite nicely. Apparently up to 50 'effects' can be stored on it - can't wait to see and hear what effects he comes up with next.

pia van gelder presented on stereo video and showed off some early works visible through 3d glasses. Very interesting presentation, as you'd expect, and more links on the dorkbot blabber list for all us geeks. we like, we like!

We did not catch the impromptu presenter's name (Dan?) but he showed off a video pedal (similar to a guitar pedal) that was making some similar effects to the severed heads presentation we attended earlier. Yeah, clearly we have no idea about this one :-)

Another awesome evening. Drop by next time - and if you feel like showing something, even better!

This looks really interesting - experimental film-maker, vlogger and research fellow, Steven Ball, is in sydney this friday as part of a whirlwind aussie visit.

He's presenting a retrospective of his works at officialsydney from 7.30pm for a gold coin donation. Not bad for 80 minutes of short films, variously described as "digital materialist abstraction, spatial exploration, landscape studies and hyperlocal excursions."

Yep - we've got next to no idea what that means either, but officialsydney is usually on the money, so this is high on our to-do list. We imagine it'll probably be on yours, too.

Pretty fair to say that sketch the rhyme was one of our faves from the latest installment of the underbelly festival just passed.

The concept was great - five artists clustered around a table on the right, with a camera trained overhead that broadcast their sketches onto the big screen at the back, and a smaller screen facing the MCs at the front.

The MCs then engaged in a variety of 'games' - for example, a word association game where the MCs had to guess what the artists were drawing from the sketched clues, all the while freestyling over sublime beats from the phonies.

This got a great reaction from the crowd, and as with the surry hills festival earlier in the year, we were pleasantly surprised again by the quality of some of the rappers (Gabi in particular was outstanding).

Again, great concept... we want more.

 AM Radio x Katrina

www.amradioart.com

Next week's Anthony Bartok exhibit looks especially enticing for a check-out of the new location.

So it's also worth pointing to a couple of other spaces in marrickville, one called louie's warehouse and another called the CAD factory. Haven't been down to check out either yet (or maybe we have but didn't know what they were called!) but seems like they have some good things coming up.

We'll attempt to update this post regularly (as with dirty shirlows) to keep you in the loop on happenings. Who said we don't look after you?

Louie's
10 july - Psyus demo launch w/ Schrodingers Cat, Yeah Bears
31 july - Diamond Sea 10" launch w/ The Focus, Yes Nukes + 

CAD factory
5 july - Hoss (Melb), Whopping Big Naughty +
19 july - The Holy Soul, etherland (Melb), Mink Puppet

If you're up for some inner-west ambient/dub/hip-hop/electronica goodness, assemblage point are once again hooking up one of their A.P.H.I.D parties to launch their new cdr on um records.

Line-up seems pretty good with live bands like telafonica, video installations, visual art, theatre, dance, improv and more promised.

Action kicks off at 4.00pm and goes for a long while. $5 entry. Get on it.

therefore

functionally placed inside a lion's cage, with the lion embodied in a slim figure of a man with black trousers and overall, who looks like slowly, but resolutely approaching me

barefoot

his face with a cropped white hair frame - a style not far from what a Roman Emperor electoral candidate's would ask his stylists for

hic sun August the August aka T

somehow

he keeps looking at me but it is a look you give a snowman made of complexionless ideas

indeed

this makes one feel very transparent

as he is getting closer I wonder if he would make it through my body in the same fashion as ghosts routinely deal with fireproof walls

it feels like it and off he goes, leaving the tent, entering the light of the day

here comes a second one, equally barefoot, but much stockier, sporting colours of pumpkins and oranges , which make every single fold of his cushion-like frame come out

up in his face topped with froggy glass solution remindnig of a chief architect of yet another solution nicknamed the final, resides a pair of eyes which, like those of his partner, make this impression of their rightful owner's soul having been fished out and sealed in a tiny flask marked "choking hazard"

his hand is cold as he grabs mine. It is a  fishy handshake, more or less the same grip you can expect when introduced to a well cooked lobster. Though there is no confirming message in his eyes, he apparently likes my bag, so he takes it. Simultaneously, he snatches a chair with a girl formerly seated on it, now rushing away, just too slow, for he is even slower, slow enough to catch her handbag and making her follow him outside the tent.

that's Pumpkin aka R

Packing their chairs, the rest of the audience flows out as well.

Procession. T in the lead, then R lazily pulling his girl, then a cloud of people with chairs, giggling. On course to seek for a new stage.

Procession encamped in a park.

T and R spread around. Their walk betoking a pair of trees that has just managed to grow a pair of legs, but retain their sense of time...very, very slooooow.

they pick twigs and some of the audience, making them all dance in a circle the way you'd dance if the atmosphere consisted of mixture of vasoline and feathers

they clash, if something involving two objects meeting with a speed of a stoned snail could be classified with such a term

they clash and they entangle with tenacity of a very keen pair of lianas, merging into a single mass without the need for a meat mincer

a jogger decides to join in. He softly lands his precise body on the grass and goes for push ups delivered in a style aiming straight for divinity. With T and R busy making a panting skein out of themeselves, the three might surely get connected via a channel our brains can just dream of, unless the jogger is busy regretting nobody finds him a splendid opportunity for a youtube moment.

SPETTACOLO, says a mother, placing her two kids in front of T and R. Aware that this is a piece of theatre, the children go for LOL the moment T and R form a statue of a four-eyed god of honey.

a respectable lady of even more respectable age desperately seeks an explanation of what is this stuff all about

but nobody satisfies her

Reverse procession. Back to the tent, having fully explored the art of slowliness when making a 50 metres distance in ten minutes.

T and R petter out. The audience may need some time to regain their daily pace.

Thomas nad Ruhller – ORANJE

performance

Quarterbred runs from 16-29 june at pact space in erko and showcases the works of some pretty cool local and interstate collectives.

You might have already heard they will be doing a free roller disco on saturday 28th june (byo skates) - but there's lots of other cool things happening.

We're particularly interested in Live Zine, where participants will create the content for a new zine in one evening (Tuesday 17th june, 8.00pm, $7). It's a fundraiser for a new print machine to make zine publishing accessible - very worthy cause.

TAC/TIC on Thursday 19th also looks interesting, with experimental acts onani and knitted abyss and some others. The Nextwave panel and Time is Now evening of short performance works also seem worth a look.

The hangovers should still be fresh from the super8 diaries launch last night, and a crust invasion the night before - and furtivity's ears are still ringing from death from above.

We're super keen to hit it again on june 14, what with the amazing meem breaking out a DJ set alongside the ELF and telafonica, among others. Update - postponed.

Some other bits to keep you amused:

28 june - Naked on the Vague, Defektro, Onani, Absoluten Calfeutrail
12 july - static age festival - too many bands to mention
19 july - cut to bits - incl. Killjoy, Cat-Grrl, Maladroit, BINT + heaps [MOVED - New venue TBA]
28 july - Graf Orlock (US), Robotosaurus, Schrodingers Cat, Yeah Bears - MOVED
2 august - fangs of (melb), blackie (solo), the thaw

Mein Vater hat mir die 1. Lost staffel gekauft ´___` momentan bin ich bei Episode 10 von 25 …. man ist diese Serie unlogisch. Nicht schlecht aber …..kein vergleich zu HEROES!! Mein Bruder und mein Dad sind fahren aber total auf LOST ab D8;; Und immer wenn ich sage Heores ist 10000mio ma besser glauben sie’s mir nicht wääähhh xD ich will die erste Staffel box!

Ich war gestern SPEED RACER gucken!
OMFGGGGG der Film ist so geniaaal!!!!!! Und boahhhh die Farben! Die special effekte! die Lichter! ALLES!
Der Film allein war ein einziges Farbenspiel <3. Ich gebe dem Film VOLLE Punktzahl! echt super!
Und Rain war soo wtfff xDDD ich musste sehr oft im Film rumprusten xD. Die Piranhas waren am besten xDD wie sie das Fleischstücken in 10 Sekunden aufgeknabbert haben…wie im Cartoon ;AASA; ich fand das voll cool ;; Und wenn jemand beim Autorennen nen Unfall baut wird er in soner blubber blase eingesaugt und weggespickt xDD!

Achhh hoffentlich kommt bald die DVD raus ;AAA;!!! <3

grahhh niedlich ....Eskimo und ysbär machen Feierabend ;A; eingenlob stinkt aber ich bin so stolz auf diese stickige Skizze <3 ...SIE HAT STIL HAHA xD
Oh Gott war ich müde...

Als ich gesehen habe wie ning-nong (der Sänger von pancake mit der komischen Frisur) in seinem pinken polo shirt rumgehüpft ist dachte ich mir: "mhhh der muss auch sone art Alien sein ´__`"

Aber ich find irgendwie keine Pancake songs? Muss mal genauer suchen ,,,~~ ohh Gott wieso stehe ich auf sowas xDDD es hat so STIL ♥
hoho

Ich habe angefangen ne anleitug durchzu fliegen wie man Thai liesst! Und boahhh es ist echt gar nicht so schwer! Jetzt muss ich erstmal alle Buchstaben auswendig lernen ...sind nur 44 lol''

wer es auchmal versuchen will hiern tolles how to ;P
http://www.learningthai.com/readthai_01.html

Ich sehe mir im Moment suju's explore the human body an!
Ich muss sagen auch für nicht suju fans es ist sehhhhr interessant!

wer immer schon mal wissen wollte ob man auf dem kopf trinken/essen kann oder ob Lachgas einem wirklich zum lachen bringt der sehe sich diesen mist an xD.

´___` mhhhh !
Ich hab mir eben für 2.50 Franken Pandan cake gekauft! WUCHER.......aber ahhh es ist so lecker.
Und das beste ist Pandan sachen sind alle GRÜN! LECKER LECKER Ob man so was auch Selbstmachen kann? Aber wo zur Hölle kriegt man Pandan Blätter ´__`? Tropen Institut?

Ich hab das Wochenende wieder angefangen ANIMES zu gucken und fühl mich langsam wieder wie ein richtiger otaku oqo. Code Geass season 1 endlich zu Ende gesehen! Und whoaaa ich liebbeee CLAMP fürs chara Design <3 Ich mag die Story sehr gerne obwohls bullshit ist xD ein 17 jähriger Junge der Krieg führt wtf.. aber Anime ist Anime!

Und whoahhh Baccano! Hab ich zur hälfte durch! Ming wieso sagst du mir nicht das Baccano voll cool ist ;AAA;???!!!!! Ich meine hast du aber ehhh xD . Baccano hat eine sehr interessante weise eine Geschichte zu erzählen. Die ständigen Zeitsprünge sind total irritierend aber ich liebe Isaak und Miria! Ich denk mir immer man sind die dumm xDD.;;

The ARI in SafARI stands for artist-run initiatives, which means you get to enjoy works from the 11 or so artists in the funky confines of China Heights, Gaffa and MOP Projects.

The event runs from 13th to 29th June - check it out.

While you're at it, diarise Three Teens Kill Four at China Heights on the 18th July -it might be difficult to get to with the pope in town, but it looks pretty raw, and totally cool.

Ein kurzer Beitrag zum 1. und 2. Mai!

Ich war bei Fränzi :3!
Und uhuuuu es war so toll xD. Wir waren zuerst grillen, danach sind wir zu Fränzi hoch und haben einen DVD Abend veranstaltet. Pan's Labyrinth ..... Jeanny und Cöx haben sich son narren gefressen von diesem Monster das die Augen in den Händen hat. Dabei war das voll unheimlich xDD!

Fränzi und Ming am Shoggi Bananen machen.

Jeanny und Cöx !

GRUPPENFOTO <3!!!

huhuhuuhh cherry Tomaten als Augen xD!

lolololol xDDDD Ich LIEBE dieses Foto!

AHHH ich bin zu Faul mehr zu schreiben oder Fotos hochzuladen es dauert alles so LANG...wäh

Ich hab heute einbischen den Garten Fotografiert,,bzw BLUMEN :
Donghae du bist so sexyyy (die Kamera!( ...die Person aber auch! ;P))

Danach hab ich einbischen mit Photoshop gearbeitet!

*huuust* Sieht bischen komisch au haha xD

das wars!

Photo by Paula Court.

A ten-by-ten-foot cube in the middle of a dark room acts as the stage for Reid Farrington’s The Passion Project, a half hour long installation which will run through September 20 at PS122. The cube is defined by hanging ropes (these are tied into loops along the perimeter and across the top of the space), several frames holding parchment screens (leaning on the perimeter of the space), and an intermittent square of white light projected onto the floor that appears at the beginning of the performance. The stage awaits dormant, its audience encouraged to walk around it before and during the performance by Mr. Farrington himself. It is reminiscent of a cage, of a room, of a place at once distant and intimate. At times, I felt compelled to enter the stage and experience being inside, rather than outside the cube. But that is the job of Shelley Kay, the live performer who eventually enters the cube, as she said in an interview with Gia Kourlas, “walking into the throngs like a boxer”.

What ensues is an extremely physical half hour, in which Kay lifts, hangs, moves and unhooks the parchment frames from and onto different locations all around the cube. Her challenge is to catch projected images from Carl Th. Dreyer’s 1928 “The Passion of Joan of Arc”, a classic black and white silent film on the story of Joan of Arc’s condemnation and eventual death as a martyr. The film has been cut and edited by Farrington, so that for the most part what appears on the screens are close ups of different characters: Joan of Arc, of course, as well as various representatives of the orthodox clergy that broke her with long interrogations and finally had her burned. Kay moves frantically around the cube, catching an image of Joan of Arc, and letting her hang onto a loop, then running in a diagonal for the close up of a clergy man—this only lasts a few moments, than Kay kneels, puts down the frame she’s holding, and grabs another to run onto the next projection. The effect is powerful: the frames become windows, shields, tools, all necessary to piece together Joan of Arc’s story. As the performance builds up, Kay begins to sweat, her physical presence conrasting the mediated presence of the actors all around her. While we watch Kay catching images and working hard on keeping up with her cues, Farrington also stands on the side, watching. Like the men in the film, and like us spectators, he only witnesses Kay’s efforts and physical challenges. An interesting echo to the projections of the clergymen on the screen.

The powerful visuals of The Passion Project are enhanced by Farrington’s sound design, a multi-layered mixture of church chants, the sound of the film’s reel being projected, the voices of people editing the film, as well as some less recognizable voices and noises. The volume of the sound sometimes reaches almost unbearable loudness, creating a physical and emotional experience for the audience. The parchment screens themselves create loud snaps every time Kay reaches out to catch an image. Like the projections on the screens, the sound is not continuous, but has a repetitive quality to it. The overall effect is a three dimensional puzzle coming together, a puzzle with many layers and not definitive form.

Farrington’s piece successfully brings the audience into the nightmare of Joan of Arc, while taking a step back from film as a medium of representation. Through Kay’s performance, Farrington breaks down and exposes the different frames from the film: Kay is literally piecing the film together. By the end of the installation, the film has become at once more and less than itself, a combination of live performance, sound art, and clips of the original film. There were moments when I wished for more distance, more ambiguity towards the inevitably tragic nature of the story. My desire might have been encouraged by almost unidentifiable moments of humor within the installation (for instance, when Joan of Arc is being burned and on one of the screens there appears: “Jesus!”). Kay’s performance, although based on cues and tasks, sometimes overly amplified the evident suffering already on display in the projections of Joan of Arc. Yet overall the piece opened up the original film in unexpected ways, the installation offering a perfect medium through which to present the work. Anyone interested in video, dance, or installation performance should not miss Farrington's latest work.

today I was going to see the 1PM showing of bodies in urban spaces by austrian choreographer Willi Dorner but thanks to Hurricane Hanna the performance was cancelled. I am very upset because I had heard good things about it.  tonight i'm going to see Rodrigo Garcia's ACCIDENS (matar para comer), the infamous "lobster show" that caused such a stir when it was performed at the Segal Center a few months ago. Immediately afterward I'll head back to NYC to dig back into PRELUDE!!!

Seeya 'round the quad!

First up was Sweet By-and-By, a collaboration between Pig Iron Theatre and Teater Slava. I had seen a very rough workshop version about a year and a half ago, so it was great to see the finished work. It is a solo show intertwining the story of legendary union organizer Joe Hill with letters home from a Swedish immigrant in the late 1800s/early 20th century. The show was an interesting blend of folk music concert, history lesson and performance art. I found it a little difficult to follow at times, but Daniel Rudholm is a very engaging performer and both stories - Joe Hill and the Swedish immigrant - were fascinating.  Accompanied by some great animation and a spare but beautiful set, the show was enjoyable and informative - go check it out.

After that I went up to the Ice Box Projects Space for Sebastienne Mundheim's Sea of Birds. The opening of the show was really magical - a shadow play of birds in flight giving way to a sculpted garden underneath a canopy/dome of oblong fabric panels with projections and soundscape. The story was, loosely, about the narrator's mother's childhood in Latvia, about monsters under the bed, imagination and fantasy. I loved the stagecraft and the music - it was beautiful to watch and listen to and the performers were all great.  And while I liked the effect of the narration - the action was voiced over by Ms. Mundheim - I wasn't crazy about the text. I just wanted the text to remain more abstract and elliptical, less tethered to "the real", in keeping with the fanciful, elegant dreamlike presentational aesthetic. But that's just me and I haven't had a chance to talk to the artist or anyone else. Feel free to comment below.

Saturday afternoon I went to the Mutter Museum, which I had been meaning to visit for years. It was really fascinating - its a medical museum showing the history of pathology and medical curiousities. A very enlightening glimpse into the past and the history of the medical professions.

After a nap I headed over to the Last Drop Coffeehouse to do rotozaza's etiquette which i somehow managed to miss when it was at Veselka in January. Since I was by myself I invited a random stranger to do the show with me, which added a fun layer of mystery to the proceedings. It was an interesting experiment in forced - and faux - intimacy. I wonder what Ant and Sylvia and the rest of the rotozaza crew are up to next? Looking forward to it.

Saturday night was my most anticipated event of the weekend - Jo Stromgren Kompani's The European Lesson. I have seen three of his other pieces and LOVED them. He explores small group dynamics in enclosed spaces, creating fake languages inspired by specific places/cultures and blending movement with drama and an almost painterly compositional approach to staging. Inevitably each piece starts with a delicate balance of routine and agreed-upon behavioral conventions which breaks down into brutality and chaos over the course of the show.

At first I was resistant to the new piece. The European Lesson is The Live Arts Festival's first international commission and for it they brought Stromgren to Philadelphia for a residency to build the new piece with local actors and I wasn't sure what to expect. The show opens with an American, speaking in English, who is an "amateur anthropologist". He has been touring the midwest with an actual European family - in this case Slovakians - and displaying them in local communities as a living example of "europaneity". It is a pretty funny idea, but what I had always liked about Stromgren's work was that it was so fanciful and surreal, it was grounded in the everyday but was just uncanny enough to be constantly surprising.

My resistance quickly gave way as I realized how Stromgren had managed to both incorporate an American aesthetic and slyly comment on it. Making a piece in America, about American relations with the rest of the world at the end of the Bush era, it had to start in English, it had to be anthropological to create a sense of otherness and distance. Stromgren gets under the skin, attacking notions of cultural authenticity as he digs into the brutality of small group interpersonal relationships. What starts out as hilarious soon becomes dark and disturbing, the Slovakian "family" is gradually revealed to be nothing of the sort - neither Slovakian nor a family - and the resentments, frustrations and conflicts come to the surface. The power dynamic shifts as the "Europeans" exert their autonomy from the Amateur Anthropologist. I don't want to give too much away, but it is really amazing how Stromgren -and, I assume, the ensemble - make the transition feel surprising, gradual and not-at-all heavy-handed. When the Anthropologist finds himself bloodied and alone, sitting on a lawn chair and cracking open a can of Schlitz, it feels sad, not obvious. When one of the "Slovakians" comes up to the Anthropologist before leaving the stage and recites, in Norwegian, Nora's last line from A Doll House (I think, I didn't have any Norwegian speakers or Ibsen scholars with me at the time) it is haunting.*

And I definitely don't want to give any more away, but the final tableau is beautiful, bittersweet and portentous.

This show is probably sold out, but if it isn't - or if they add more performances - hie thee hither and get your ass down to Philly to check it out. It is yet another triumph from one of today's important makers of contemporary theater. Oh and all the actors are FANTASTIC!

Kudos to Nick Stuccio and everyone at Live Arts, to the funders, actors and Norwegians for making this collaboration possible.

*Interesting footnote - rotozaza's etiquette also uses extensive dialogue from Ibsen's Doll House. Hmmm. Discuss.

Artslam!: Revenge of the Superheroes took over the Limelight on August 9, and I got to be one of the artists involved. I've never done anything like that before (and I'm not much of a painter — I'm more of a Photoshopper), but it was alot of fun and I'd definitely do it again if they'll have me back.

It's a little late, but I've got pictures from the event after the jump — including my painting of The Joker from Dark Knight (R.I.P. Heath Ledger) in various stages of completion. The photo above is by Rob "Deadbeat Hero" Perez, who organized the whole event and also did a stencil-art version of The Joker that came out really cool.

On Saturday afternoon, I did a fairly tight pencil sketch (freehand, of course) that I realize doesn't look much like Heath Ledger ... but Heath Ledger didn't even look like Heath Ledger in Dark Knight. So there.

Angelle about to start painting Storm (circa 1990s X-Men).

Tattoo artist Shaggy's "She Loves Me Not," starring The Hulk.

Effexor 75mg about to work on a skateboard.

And here we go: I blacked out the background ...

... And started working my way up to his face.

Outside, Rob "Deadbeat Hero" Perez (pictured) and ZA1U5 were spraying up in front of Limelight.

"Frank smash puny buttons!"

Angelle's Storm is actually a Zombie Storm!

Shaggy adds some fine details to The Hulk.

Jason and his pen-and-ink drawing of Superman.

Fletch works on his piece by the Limelight television.

Deadbeat Hero's finished Joker piece.

ZA1US's Alex Ross Joker stencil.

My own Joker painting is starting to look halfway decent (the face is the fun part, so I saved it for last.)

I wasn't planning on adding blood to the black background, but then I thought, "No. There will be blood."

Zombie Storm in all her undead beauty.

Just as I was about to pack up, someone swooped in and offered to buy the piece if I dedicated the playing card, which I left last to finish some other time, to him and his friends. His persistence paid off, and he went home with the painting that night. I don't know if this makes me professional artist, but it might. Watch out, art world.