TAG SALE COSMOLOGY

The Lounge - Online Exhibition

Several of my videos are featured in an online show that opens today at No Commercial Value (.org) called The Lounge, curated by Natasha Chuk and Cat Mallone. The show will run for two weeks. Please check out the show description below!

This show is a presentation of work by six contributing creators and thinkers who uniquely probe the complexity of how we construct, inhabit, and share our living spaces. The body of work we selected collectively illustrates a collapse of one’s personal and private living spaces and the objects that occupy them. Individually, each work invites users to engage in a unique experience of mediated access and contemplation.

The term “lounge” was selected to describe a broadly defined space of relaxation, exploration, creativity, production, and domesticity, from which a range of activities and the allusion to a complex system of memory and objects emerge. The shifting contexts of living spaces are addressed through new and purportedly obsolete media as a means of channeling the dizzyingly abstruse notion of imagined and realized spaces of dwelling and habitation.

Participating artists include:
Amy Casey
Gregory Fenton
Brian Knauer
Erica Magrey
Hollis B. Thornton
Ann Toebbe

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.

W.A.R.E.S. Goddess Headdress Workshop with Jennifer Sullivan

In August, Jennifer Sullivan had a show at Heist Gallery called Manhattan Miniseries (With Sweaty Palms) during which she hosted many collaborative events. Jen and I worked together on this workshop, where we led participants in the creation of goddess headgear. Here was the description of our venture:

Wearable Art Research Empowerment Studio (W.A.R.E.S.) Episode
In this episode, artist Erica Magrey and I will guide a free Goddess Headdress-making workshop in the gallery space. Beginning with an informal discussion and a PowerPoint presentation offering some inspirational source imagery, we will guide participants through the process of using simple materials to make their own empowering wearable art. Emphasis will be placed on the expression of each participant’s unique inner strength and beauty through their creation. The workshop will culminate in goddess portrait photo shoot in the gallery space. Additional accessories, props and costume items will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring craft materials that inspire and interest them.

The workshop ended up being super fun and we got great results. Here are a few of the participants headdresses (Renata Espinosa, Kate Scherer, and Brina Thurston).

See the whole set HERE.

Jen also included the photos in the first issue of her new wearable art zine http://www.jennifersullivan.org/threads.html, made in collaboration with Jenn Brehm.

We had made this cool promotional image that I forgot to post in advertisement of the workshop, so here goes:

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

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

Nakedly Screening - Sat 8/2

I’m participating in a screening at Monkeytown in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, tomorrow, August 2nd. I’m showing a video that I’ve never shown before called Kristin and Linda, shot in 2005 and recently re-edited. Here’s a brief description:

A teenage girl cathartically portrays her own mother in a familiar household scene. The energy behind her performance brings home the amplitude of her frustration and of her mother’s lack of control.

The screening also includes work by friends Jennifer Sullivan (who is also the curator), Brina Thurston, Collin Cunningham, and Jake Borndal, as well as many others whose work I’m unfamiliar with. Come check it out if you’re interested!

Here’s the drill with Monkeytown:
2 screenings: 8 and 10:30
It costs $5 to get in but then you’re supposed to spend $10 while you’re there on drinks and/or their eclectic menu.
Make reservations online beforehand if you want to go.

From Jennifer’s description:

Favoring verité over virtuosity, the videos collected in Nakedly are simple works that bare their own devices, bodies and/or souls…[they] comprise a meandering mix of misty-eyed moments, awkwardness, experiments, humor, vulnerability, longing, sensuality, personal revelation and nudity.

See full description and more info HERE.

Below: Still from Kristin and Linda, 2005, 2008; photo: Kristin looking corporate, 2000