Journal

NW New Works Festival – June 6-8 Jun 9, 2014

by Joyce S.C. Liao

Manifesto by Ilvs Strauss – They looked at the sea cucumber. “You can try to touch it.” “No, I don’t want to touch it.” “Try it!” “No.” “Try it!” “Why don’t you try touching it!”…….. Her lying still on the floor, meditating on the concept of production of life, something that will continue to live after one has gone; something you will make for this world. Clothes, shoes, candy snacks were taken out of the bag of sea cucumber and reincarnated into their next life when they were put on by her, put into her mouth and became part of her body. The harmony of choir and strings of singing from whales called people’s memory of the power and life magic of the ocean.

 

Hummingbird by Linda Austin – The old post modernist? To see her as my grandma? The sexy – the not so sexy? The stubborn the stubborn the stubborn………. No, she is definitely beautiful and I love the artistry full of her hands. – Do not say: “Linda, do you need something from the grocery?” Do say, “Linda, I’m going to the grocery store; do you need me to bring something for you?” – I feel sad seeing the clown trying so hard to take off her shoes on the talking house, but it didn’t stop her. She stacks pair of shoes, slippers, and a fan into an installation in her hand and the light shed when she blew her words out from the ducky tongues.

 

YOURS, but don’t kiss me by Anna Conner + Co – Their faces shined with passion (or was it devotion?), certainty, and hope at their stares. Something saddened them or was about to set them onto another journey. I couldn’t tell as it was something that only they could see. Beautiful limbs drew mysterious pictures in the air. The traces didn’t stay. These dancers’ strength told me that something was there to look for and to fight for. I could not see those things that they saw, but I knew that they were there……..

 

Is This Real Life by Sarah Rudinoff – “Facebook II”, with the super-power CPU that will stream users into groups based on their past experience. So you could share your wounds, and share things that were not allowed on Facebook I. TV stars were also humans just like us; they needed to pay for their parking!! (What a victory!!!) If somebody could take a picture of me while I was shopping………. We need connections. Not more pretty pictures, but real-life connections, and to share the bitterness of the hidden burden that were not even registered on the IRS return. The woman followed the light from the computer screen in the dark night, like a moth following the tail light of a car. Let’s meditate.

 

From the Middle to the Edge by The Pendleton House – Dancers were trapped by the red light band on the back wall of the stage. The sound of trains and people shouting on the street. The stage light was dim that you could barely see the dancers’ bodies, but you saw them quickly moving towards the downstage and their bodies hitting the floor made squeaking sounds. Then, they unionized and became an army. They moved in unison and cut the cleanest execution. Their fierceness and determination were sharp as knives.

 

Ham Sandwich by Kyle Loven – He was monitored, by hidden cameras. Huge, unseen cameras captured his every detailed movement. He was under strict time pressure to create something out of the ham and sandwich on the table in front of him. Two women dressed in black left the sandwich on the table, and they left the room, leaving him alone to fight the battle. Hidden camera from the side of him caught his each single new thoughts in the progress, also measuring the pace. Hidden cameras installed in the ceilings that you could not take off. In the dream, he was shot by a man dressed in suite. They left as well after his fall.

 

Crying by Crying – He cried and cried, like a child in his 30’s. He cried and cried, then, use the white powder to wear as his mask in front of the crowd. The black blooms preserved his devastation as fairy tales in which he continued his life in this dark merry-go-around. She showed up, holding his string of love like a cowgirl, sending the dances of electric waves towards his hands and into his belly button. He turned around, kissed into her woman’s vulnerability as the audience shouted and screamed in its excitement. Violins continued to play; desires continued to flame.

 

When Jupiter and Saturn Met by Rainbow Fletcher – She had died a thousand times, and this time should not be as difficult. The dancers in their black cloth masks surrounded the couple in the center. It was a ritual and worship; years passed by, the group of willis in the woods repeated their thoughts of love and death, carving the love sign deeper and deeper onto the barks of the trees and their skins on each try. Where is the end? The couple took their stroll hand in hand, wondering in the times of unknown.

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