PERFORMANCES

Feb 3, 2024

In my own time I spent most of my day just looking at all kinds of performances for research purposes and inspiration, since our group does not yet have a fleshed out idea of what we’re going to do. I had to delve into my memories to find some of these, and others I had to look out word into the world. I find fusions of traditional, digital and the theatrical the most interesting.

JOSHUA SERAFIN

Joshua Serafin is a Filipino maker, artist and. performer whome I just came across and fell in love with instantly, it was this few second part of their performance VOID which drew me in to learn about their work. The way in which they intertwine narratives into performance I find so interesting —narratives of ancestral/precolonial culture, the conservation of nature, human nature, ecology, gender, spirituality, technology and choreography - I believe it’s very relevant to our course. And I wish they did narration too.

There’s something in the movements which is siren like, reminding me of another performance called Jibaro.

TAKEN FROM HIS WEBSITE: https://www.joshuaserafin.com/about

“Exploring themes of transmigration and queer politics, Joshua centers their practice on Otherness, aiming to translate ideas of alterity and otherworldly narratives into embodied performance and forms of speculation. Their series “Cosmological Gangbang” (gangbang as in fusion) is the result of their most recent artistic research, having unfolded in several iterations across different media, namely: Timawo, Creation Paradigm, VOID, and PEARLS, for which they are currently touring.

Serafin’s artistic process is an intense sociological exorcism of Filipino identity about global ideologies, and contemporary phenomena, unpacking the historical violence of its feudal contemporary society and its dehumanizing normality. Enfolding these sites of creation into queer + trans methodologies intuited from within tropical myth but also inspired by the dreamwork of a nonbinary cosmopolis populated by figures emancipated from colonial gender and embodied by turns in diverse states of solemnity and play. Joshua’s globally acclaimed performance is committed to dwelling within interstitial spaces, a refusal to participate in dimorphic structures so they can craft an idiom where they can speak from the said in-betweenness.”

FKA TWIGS

One of my favourite musicians is FKA Twigs. She is a master of many trades— opera singer, producer, choreographer, model, pole dancer, sword fighter, actor— her versatility is beyond. Frank Ocean even regarded her as a siren for the way she captivates the viewer, each performance, unique and incredible, combining her many talents and telling a story. Her music is to say the least not made for most, it’s minimalistic but intricately crafted and is something which deeply resonates with me in a dark feminine way.

AYA BAMBI

JIBARO (ALBERTO MIELGO)

I am an admirer of Alberto Mielgo’s body of work, from his character designs to the films he and his team birthed. Enchanting and gory, Jibaro is unquestionably a 20 minute emotional masterpiece which touches upon a touches of topics open to interpretation, from sexual assault to colonialism, without a single word being said. The beauty of the surrealistic animation and the raw emotional choreography, by real dancers, is unforgettable. Look at the contrast of the beginning and end.

BEHIND THE SCENES

AMA (JULIE GAUTIER)

ARCA EDIT

MARINA ABRAMOVIC AND ULAY

WINDOW SEAT (ERYKAH BADU)

SHERIHAN

Sherihan is a beautiful Egyptian actress, model and singer who my mother used to adore watching on television as a kid in the 80's. She is iconic for her charismatic personality and creative performances which my mom says were way ahead of her time.

And because of that she received a lot of backlash at the time by society, yet she paved the way for many artists we know and love today, and gave many, like my mother, a memorable imaginative childhood.