Thingamajigs Performance Group

Live at Meridian Gallery

Myth of Ten Thousand Things at SOEX

Performance/Workshop at Southern Exposure

October 17, 2010 3:00 PM - 9:00 PM

3:00pm – 6:00pm: Performance based open studio
7:00pm – 9:00pm: Performance of The Edge of the Pacific

Curated by Nathan Lynch, SoEx Curatorial Committee Member

At Southern Exposure Bolles and Hom create the conditions for a conversational exchange which will illuminate not only the stories brought to the table, but those which are made in the telling - particular to that place and time. Their latest episode, The Edge of the Pacific, features a built-in kitchen-table guitar strung with silk strings and played with a slide-steel in a cross between a Korean Gyageum and an American diddley bow. In narrative and poetic song-like structures Hom speaks of learning how to surf while pregnant, linking themes of ocean and family to international Korean adoption and mythological birth stories, while Bolles plays the table, sometimes singing.

From 3:00 – 6:00pm Bolles and Hom welcome gallery visitors to a performance-based open studio, which includes short segments from The Myth of Ten Thousand Things, stories about their process, demonstration of the instruments and singing.

At 6:00pm Bolles and Hom take a short dinner break and prepare for a lengthier storytelling session at 7:00pm, leaving some time in the middle to converse with the audience. If you're the kind of person who likes to sit down and be entertained you might come at 7:00pm, but if you're the kind of person who likes to get to know people a bit, or have children who don't like to sit still for long or be too quiet, you might come earlier.

Music for People and Thingamajigs #13

human/nature

40thstreetcut

Gutterball, is a performance piece integrating music, theatre and architecture. It was made for an abandoned bowling alley/studio at a former military base. Two figures tirelessly push a wheeled box set into the gutters of a two-lane alley, while attached megaphone appendages project a low, muffled rumble like the sound of a gutterball. The audience initially views this curious pacing from behind a translucent plastic wall, in a tight corridor, affording them anonymity and distance from the action. At the end of the corridor, they may choose to step onto a harshly lit viewing platform affording unobstructed views of the action and setting which they are now a part of. At intervals, the sound of a chirping bird enters the room through a disguised pipe leading to the outside, reminding the audience of the open spaces beyond this environment. Depending on the viewer, or the place of viewing, this piece has been described as a commentary on industrialization, or a fun game with a large toy.

Gutterball

Ballybaba

"Theatre of Yugen is an experimental ensemble dedicated to the pursuit of the intangible essence called yugen through its exploration of dramatic and literary classics and the crafting of new works of world theater. Our investigation stems from a discipline of Japanese theatrical aesthetics - primarily the classical forms of Noh drama and Kyogen comedy. Through training, creating, presenting, collaborating and performing we aim to foster intercultural understanding and keep theatrical discipline vital."

The Old Man and the Sea
Theatre of Yugen Home