Morning Discussions Part 1

With so much happening in the festival, I have made a point of holding morning discussion sessions at Latitude 53 so that artists can regroup, reconnect and talk about issues that surface from the previous days performances. It is valuable time to get feedback and further develop concepts and ideas for upcoming performances. For me, its an opportunity to get a sense of what concerns are being explored from the artists as a group, which I hope will expand my focus on each artist’s work. This festival fosters a collaborative spirit of artistic research, production and presentation, and so these informal gatherings are generative of conceptual and applicable influences that will most probably surface in the festival works, and/or spin off into other works.


Josh and Emma dance with conjoined shoes and wearable sculpture at the Roost Club
as part of Common Ground by Joshua Schwebel.

This morning we (Josh, Lori, Nicole, Amber, Emma, Irene, Caitlyn and I) met up for the first informal group discussion and a breakfast at Latitude 53. I wanted to explore some of the concepts and issues raised in Jackson 2Bears VJ performance The Iron Tomahawks at the Harcourt House last night and get a sense of other thoughts about the work before I met with Jackson to talk one on one. But before we began the conversation, we reminisce about Joshua Schwebel’s intervention that took place late last night at the local queer bar, Roost, for those who were not there. Josh offered his wearable shoe sculptures for us to use when dancing at the club. Josh and Emma awkwardly stumbled onto the dance and moved together constrained by the shoes and extended soles that bound them together. The play of tension between the movements of their bodies reminded me of Emma’s performances earlier that day. (See Subtle Architectures posting for more info). The playfulness of this intervention contributed to the social architecture of the club scene, offering a subtle critique of the concealed effort and negotiations that occur between the sexual and platonic relations on the dance floor. The vision of Josh and Emma dancing and stumbling off balance also reminded me of T.L. Cowan’s monologues about urban angst and alienation on the opening night. This is a theme that Josh also explores in his site-specific works that will be conducted next week. (Don’t forget to sign up for an appointment with Josh by emailing him at privatejosh@gmail.com).