I'm in Flow/Obstruction at the Collaborative in Long Beach
River spirits of abundance meet capital investment through the Fibonacci sequence to investigate the obstructing force of overabundance in the absence of critical policy guidance.
What happens when artists and their creative energy are navigated like a river by developers? If the L.A. River barely fills its bed, what’s wrong with it being an actual bed for the unhoused?
For the past few weeks I've been building in a performance installation in a gallery. We opened with blank walls on June 6th and will close with completed works on August 2nd. It's rad, wobbly, invigorating, a tad scary process-driven project.
My section is entitled, she dances until the water is clear. I named it before I got going in response to the brief that the curator shared with us. Since I am such a research-driven performer, my ideas have shifted considerably on the project--cleaning/freeing the LA river as an act of gentrification--to more of an investigation of shared root metaphors of finance, wealth, investment and spiritual elevation found in the way we speak of water acts, rivers, and other waterways. I arrived at this moment because "winners and losers" was not a great prompt for a score. Also, riding in that particular stream of lack consciousness is antithetical to the river deities whose dances form the basis of the movement vocabulary I am sourcing: Yemojá, Oxum, Iansã, Ajé, Logun Ede, Ewa & Oba. All of these are different aspects of water, each with the message of prosperity and wealth brought in their own distinct way. I might even add in Nana!
I suppose the name that might be arriving for this work is that there are multiple names! There are at least three distinct works going on. I'm not sure if all will arrive into a compelted enough state by Aug 2nd. I'm building in the storage closet (sorry, no spoilers); I've been grabbing Google Cardboard photos of construction sites and dancers in gallery (need 4 Samsung S5s for viewing if you have one you'd like to donate); there's the choreo that will likely have AR elements on bodies ond costumes; there was an AR experience for the structure, but I think I want it to be ont he bodies, then I'll post on structures after first performance. Whew!
I need cash, really and truly. The irony is that I have just scored a CAC grant for another project next year! This gallery opportunity came to me unexpectedly, so I was off cycle for raising funds via grants and discretionary funds (tried a few longshots that are easier when you are a not-for-profit). How much do I need? $10,000 to cover artist salaries, costume designer & costumes; set designer and fabricator; set and costume materials; devices if I can't get them donated; data analysis research tool; my own fee so I don't get evicted. That last one is sooooo real. I'd like to be able to have critical distance from the topic I'm making art about, so staying off the street--or out of a hotel which is more my stylee--is super important to me.
If you'd like to support this work, you can make a donation right here right now. An Indie GoGo page is in the works for this project, but you know, asking for myself is typically not my style. I love making money for other artists and double love giving them money AND I am super excited when I receive some for my own work! See that? That was a reframe!
I'll post some of my notes from my Google Keep as entries here now that I am in the home stretch. And be on the look out for a Patreon for me in the very near future! Having patrons rather than clients makes spreading the awesome that much easier.
