This week's Time-Based Art Festival picks!This year's Time-Based Art (TBA) Festival, running from September 3-13, has more performance, visual art, music, film, and learn-y things than we know what to do with. Now you see, hear, and watch them. Soon you won't.
Thursday, September 3
ON SITE OPENING—The first unveiling of TBA's visual art offerings, followed by a free show. Washington High School is a perfect choice for this year's TBA hub, and experimental rockers Gang Gang Dance are just right to celebrate its opening.
The Works, Washington High School, 531 SE 14th, doors at 8 pm, Gang Gang Dance 10:30 pm, FREE
Friday, September 4
EXPLODE INTO COLORS—The band's epic PDX Pop Now! set will turn to mulch in the face of this collaboration with local dancer Janet Pants and "video wizard" Chris Hackett.
The Works, Washington High School, 531 SE 14th, 10:30 pm, $8-10
Saturday, September 5
TEN TINY DANCES—Since 2002, Ten Tiny Dances has been challenging performers to work within the confines of a four-by-four-foot stage.
The Works, Washington High School, 531 SE 14th, 10:30 pm, $8-10
OREGON! OREGON!—Pink Martini's Thomas Lauderdale, the Oregon National Guard 234th Army Band, and a special crew of Oregonians perform their update to a bizarre musical comedy from 1959, originally commissioned for Oregon's centennial.
Oregon Zoo, 4001 SW Canyon, 7 pm (lawn opens at 5 pm), $18
Sunday, September 6
THE SHIPMENT—Korean American artist Young Jean Lee presents a piece about black Americans in predominately white Portland—and promises that it's going to be funny? It should, at the very least, be interesting.
Gerding Theater at the Armory, 128 NW 11th, 8:30 pm, $15-20
Monday, September 7
LABOR DAY PICNIC—Slow Food Portland transforms a vacant lot into a green space for a TBA potluck picnic. Bring a lawn chair, a homemade dish from your garden, money for local vendors, and a willingness to succumb to their "agri-utopian vision."
Washington High School, 531 SE 14th, 12:30-4 pm, FREE
LAST MEADOW—A three-person performance by Brooklyn-based Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People that borrows movement and dialogue from James Dean.
Winningstad Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, 8:30 pm, $15-20
Tuesday, September 8
KALUP LINZY & DJ BEYONDA—Performance artist and "videast" Kalup Linzy brings elements of drag and R&B together in a schizophrenic performance full of sweet, sweet soul. Afterward, stick around for the heroic spinning of Casey Minatrea, AKA DJ Beyonda.
The Works, Washington High School, 531 SE 14th, 10:30 pm, $8-10
Wednesday, September 9
SMALL METAL OBJECTS—Among the appealingly provocative performers at TBA is the Back to Back Theatre, driven by artists with intellectual disabilities. They set their performances amid the traffic of crowded public places.
Pioneer Courthouse Square, SW 6th & Morrison, 6:30 pm, $20-25
Many performances have multiple dates. For full listings see tba.portlandmercury.com