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Stryx - 1978

While browsing Youtube’s fine selection of Grace Jones videos the other day, I came across this nugget from Italian TV show Stryx in 1978. It features Grace performing her song Fame while trapsing about in a heavily smoke[machine]-filled set and cavorting on leopard print divans. Note the tone set by the fantastical cape and perched birds as she appears in a bubbling pitcher.

My interest was piqued and I carried onward, determined to delve more deeply into the abyss of Stryx. Unfortunately, as the show only aired for one year, there were a limited number of clips to devour. The journey was short, but not without its high points. In addition to Grace, the show featured an eclectic international mix of songstresses, including Amanda Lear (French), Patty Pravo (Italian), and Gal Costa (Brazilian). Stylistically, the show had a decidedly glamified 70s take on the Middle Ages with dark imagery and characters, though catered specifically to each performer’s song. Each performer’s set of segments was classified by a particular Stryx-ian title - Grace Jones was featured in Rumstryx; Amanda Lear in Sexy Stryx; and Patty Pravo in Subliminal Stryx. (A full list of performers can be found in the Stryx Wikipedia entry.) I SO wish Kate Bush had been on this show. But I digress. The show was yanked from TV channel Rai Due in ‘78 due to controversy over the devilish undertones and nudity. So unfortunate, but on the flip side, these fun discoveries remind me how very fortunate we are to have youtube in the first place.

Check out some more Stryx clips below. I promise human hand candle fixtures, a smattering of loud costumes, awkward chorus members, a LOT of smoke machine mist, and even - no exaggeration - a whole litter’s worth of adorable black kittens, not to mention several other animal species making appearances.

I’m not terribly partial to the song, but the giant head and hand on set alone make it worth a watch.

Kittens galore! Plus this one has amazing costumes all-around.

Great intro on this one, and great cape

An awesome very moody Patty Pravo performance

And finally, more Patty Pravo excellence including toplessness (turn it up as the volume is low):

Kate Bush Dance Troupe at The Kitchen

The Kate Bush Dance Troupe performed at The Kitchen November 5, 6, and 7 as part of Chase Granoff’s piece The Art of Making Dances. Chase’s piece featured himself and Jennifer Sullivan as the main dancers as well as a group of dancers who performed during several segments. Our contribution fell at the end of the piece and we performed just one song - The Dreaming. I made an additional costume for Renata, as she rejoined the group for this performance. The evening also included i need more by Nancy Garcia and was curated by Matthew Lyons. Matthew also conducted an interview with me, Jennifer Sullivan, and Samara Davis about The Kate Bush Dance Troupe that is included in the book Chase produced as part of his piece. The book is also titled The Art of Making Dances.

We were really stoked to be included in this show, and it was funny, because we had earlier joked that KBDT was blowing up and that we’d be at The Kitchen before we knew it. It was an awesome opportunity and really cool to perform in that space, so “big time” compared to the loft/party type locations of our previous performances. Unfortunately I don’t yet have any photo or video of the performance to share save for a mobile phone pic and some photos of us before and after the show. Check out the review from the NY Times and check back for more documentation in the near future.

Also see posts on our first and second performances.

photo by Timothy Hull

pics by me and Collin

See the full set on Flickr HERE.

Recession Runway at Nada/Fall Collection at the NY Art Book Fair

I’ve participated so far in two art runway shows that Jennifer Sullivan organized. Last May she mounted Recession Runway hosted by NADA at Bumble and Bumble, and I showed off the costume I created for my performance last March in Wisconsin. After wearing it a few times, I practically forgot that one of my breasts was nearly exposed and I felt more confident in it. I made the whole ensemble for under 40 dollars, including the fabric and applique. Not too shabs.

Pics below also include Jennifer Sullivan and Monica Abend. Photographed by Brina Thurston, who made Monica’s costume.

I was away on my honeymoon when Jen hosted Fall Collection at PS1 in October, but our fellow Kate Bush Dance Troupe member Kate Scherer modeled one of the costumes I created for the troupe. Kate did an amazing job and clearly represented the spirit of KBDT on the runway. Photo of Kate below by Dan Perrone.

Woven in Time - Evelyn Roth

Behold Woven in Time, the super-cool-in-its-own-right filmic showcase of the amazing work of Canadian textile artist Evelyn Roth. The film’s protagonists are costumed bodies engaging in animalistic rituals, acting and reacting on instinct and natural rhythms. Through costume and movement, these beings are transformed into mythical life forms, writhing playfully to an ambient soundtrack of clicks, creaks, pops, and the occasional whiff of a sweet little melody. This lil old piece of media proves that Roth is a verified goddess of wearable art, though surprisingly, there is not much readily available info online about her work. Thanks to Jen for sending Evelyn’s work my way, and look out for more goodies in the near future. Thanks also to John Stone Davis, whose youtube channel is the source of these videos and several related works as well. Such beautiful, poetic, and moving work should not go unseen! So go forth, my friend, and view the videos below.

First, first feast your eyes on this, and crank the volume, as the levels are rather low.

Woven In Time (1977)

Below are two videos featuring interviews with Roth from 1971 and 1974, respectively.

This one goes into detail about her work crocheting video tape to create car cozies, wearable art ensembles, and an interactive sculpture/costume titled The Video Trap.

Good stuff!!

The Kate Bush Dance Troupe at 179 Canal

Photos above by Brina Thurston. Below, video documentation (by Andrew Steinmetz) of our second performance on May 30th at 179 Canal, a temporary gallery and performance space hosted by Margaret Lee. The month of programming was called The Month of May - read an interview with Margaret on the Art:21 blog HERE. For this iteration, members Renata Espinoza and Margaret Lee bowed out and were replaced by Cassie Thornton and Kate Scherer. Jennifer Sullivan, Samara Davis, and myself remained. Check out the video footage in order of presentation with a brief explanation of each number below.

Link: Photo set from The Month of May.

Wuthering Heights
We began the evening with an encore presentation of Wuthering Heights, enhanced by a lovely red sleeve-and-sash accessory made by Samara Davis. Kate Scherer’s abstract video played on the wall to our right (you can’t see it here due to the angle at which the footage was recorded).

Hounds of Love
Samara Davis came up with the moves for this piece, combining ghoul-like hound movements with doo-wop style snapping and bouncing. She also made an eyepiece for each dancer, which, in tandem with black gloves scouted by Kate Scherer, contribute a gang/posse element. Cassie Thornton’s slideshow video plays offscreen.

Room for the Life
This song did not have a Kate Bush-choreographed dance to work from, so Jennifer Sullivan used a live performance video as a jumping-off point. In the video, Kate leans and rocks in a womb-like structure, so Jen created quilted pregnant bellies for us to wear. The dance moves are alternately sexy and maternal, climaxing in a birth sequence. Maya Erdelyi provided liquid light visuals for this womb-tastic number.

The Dreaming
Source material was ample for this piece - in addition to the awesome sci-fi video Kate created for this song, there are a few great live television performance recordings as well. I faithfully transcribed the moves directly from these performances and crafted costumes that are simplified versions of those worn by Kate and her dancers. Add a smoke machine and we’re good to go!

Thanks to the DJs and those who helped out as stagehands!

Link: First Kate Bush Dance Troupe Performance

Performance at U Wisconsin-Madison’s Starlight Cinema

I’m performing along with artist Shana Moulton this Thursday in Madison. In addition to some, er, classics, I’ll be performing a new piece, for which I made a new costume (see above). I have to admit - I’m pretty impressed with myself. My costumes are actually beginning to turn out as I had envisioned them!

Here are the deets:

Shana Moulton & Erica Magrey
a night of live performances

Thursday, March 26, 2009
8 pm - 915 pm
Starlight Cinema
Memorian Union: Fredric March Play Circle
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI

nyc video and performance artists shana moulton & erica magrey will each
perform individual sets and then come together for a rare, starlight-only
surprise collaboration. this is sure to be an evening of full impact head-on
collision wizardry so don’t miss it!

shana moulton will perform a piece titled “body ÷ mind + 7 = spirit.” in
this performance, shana brings her alter ego, cynthia, and her strange world
to life through an innovative use of props, costumes, live-action and
projected video. the performance weaves an abstract narrative out of
exercise equipment, carpal-tunnel therapy, goddess worship, the new-age pop
music of enigma, angela lansbury, the thousand-hand bodhisattva dance and
brian de palma’s carrie.

erica magrey will appear as her alter ego, metalmags, in a performance
titled “window.” here, a collage of personas, reflections and realizations
emerges as stories of transformation and empowerment are told through
movement, light, and sound. using performance, video, and songs, she creates
a psychedelic journey of self-discovery, engaging themes such as self-doubt,
nostalgia and personal mythology.

p.s. this event is free

MIA is a goddess, obviously

This is way overdue, as everyone saw or heard about uber-pregnant MIA performing at the Grammys and reportedly experiencing contractions while there (she has since given birth). But when I came across this flashmob video by Oxfam it reminded me of how fucking cool MIA is. And also that she wore the most amazing uber-pregnant woman dress of all time, or certainly the best in our time. The designer is House of Holland, and for the decision to dress a pregnant woman in it, we can thank MIA’s forward-thinking stylist.

Whoop Dee Doo Deitch Holiday Party

(photo by Gabi Porter)

Christmas and New Year’s may already seem like faded memories, wistful days off that expired worlds ago, but in the spirit of better-late-than-never, I’m happy to share some photos from our performance at the Deitch Holiday Party at Santos Party House. The event was led by Jaimie Warren and Matt Roche, the creators of Whoop Dee Doo, a faux public access show based in Kansas City. My friend Jennifer (Sullivan) had seen a posting about the show on Craigslist and referred Jaimie to me as a potential performer. At first I was planning some sort of musical skit, but both feeling aimless and short on time, Jen and I decided to join forces. The result of our efforts was Holiday Hoopla, a holiday-themed game show featuring holiday trivia, name that tune, and a password-style segment. Jen was our red afro-ed hostess, Andrew her lovely assistant, and Erika, Dustin, and Shaina were our multicultural house band. Game play was between us (Metalmags and the Alien Ambassador), dubbed The Visitors, and our rivals The Kids - Raven and Amber Ferguson. The Christmas Banana (Sophia Peer) also made a rousing appearance as the crowd (unprovoked) chanted “Peanut butter jelly time.” Most of the performance itself felt very off and disorienting to me, as I could hardly hear what was going on with the din in the room and the obnoxious MC’s blubbering into the mic over us. People seemed entertained, though, so they must have been able to hear and see what we are doing. The fact that I was getting over a hellish cold with a super high fever (I had blacked out the previous day on the subway) really didn’t help. I think we were all a bit worn out and confused afterward, and we quickly gathered our stuff and disbanded. Collin and I came home and passed out in the wee hours of Christmas Eve morn to regain strength for the next day’s travels.

A few days later, Max emailed me and told me that we’d gotten a mention in Artforum (online) for it, and that really brightened my memory of the experience. I felt surprised and confused that the author had known our names but not mentioned those of our cohorts until I actually looked at who the author was and realized I knew him. Jen found a flickr set of the event by Gabi Porter, some of which are posted below (and above). Enjoy!

Jennifer Sullivan

Andrew Steinmetz

Jude Broughan and Erika Somogyi

Raven and Amber Ferguson and their mom

Dustin Piper

Sophia Peer

Jaimie Warren

Kate Bush Dance Troupe Documentation

At long last - links to photos and video of our premiere performance as the Kate Bush Dance Troupe. The troupe was conceived and organized by Samara Davis and Jennifer Sullivan. Performeres are (L to R): Jennifer Sullivan, Margaret Lee, Erica Magrey, Samara Davis, and Renata Espinoza.

Giant Kate Bush painting on set by Jennifer Sullivan. Photos by Brina Thurston. Video by Collin.

Wuthering Heights

Wow

The Man With the Child in His Eyes (Jennifer Sullivan on the mic; piano drawing by Margaret Lee)

Suspended in Gaffa

Kate Bush Dance Troupe - Tonight at Midnight

Tonight I’m taking part in a Kate Bush Dance Troupe organized by Samara Davis and Jennifer Sullivan. Our performance is at midnight, and it’s all part of a Kate Bush Tribute Night. The festivities will begin at 10 with dance music and will continue after our midnight performance. The dancers are myself, Samara Davis, Jennifer Sullivan, Margaret Lee, and Renata Espinoza. Come check it out!!

If you’re unsure of who Kate Bush is, this video for Running Up That Hill might jog your memory.

Here are the deets:

Kate Bush Tribute Night: Friday, August 29th and 10 pm
322 Troutman (btwn Irving and Knickerbocker) in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens
L Train to Jefferson
w/special performance by The Kate Bush Dance Troupe at midnight