P-Orridge spoke’s performance had the tone of a motivational speech or a deliciously filthy sermon. RH Without question, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge was the perfect choice to kick off TBA, the 15th edition of the arts festival put on each year by PICA. They have spent nearly five decades challenging perceptions of what art is through […]
TBA
Posted inTheater & Performance
Oh Right, TBA Starts Tomorrow
keyon gaskin and sidony o’neal PHOTO COURTESY OF TBA / PICA.ORG I’ve been so distracted today by my car’s new coat of ash (how to even clean?), President Bobblehead’s ignorant cruelty, and excellent arguments for banning fireworks (I’ve always hated them) that I almost forgot PICA’s Time-Based Art Festival starts TOMORROW. But it does! And […]
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TBA Review: Britt Hatziusโs Blind Cinema is Not For Child-Hating Roald Dahl Villains
Hearing an eight-year-old describe a film is hilarious. Britt Hatzius The setup for Britt Hatziusโs Blind Cinema, which ran throughout PICAโs TBA:16, seems to me the sort of thing that would either strongly appeal or appall. The event entails experiencing a film blindfolded while a child sitting behind you describes whatโs happening on the screen, […]
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TBA Review: Grief and Humor in Mohamed El Khatib’s Finir en beautรฉ
French Moroccan author and director Mohamed El Khatib Zirlib Collective Amid all the spectacle and exhibition of TBA, the description of French Moroccan author and director Mohamed El Khatibโs performance stood out to me for its dry simplicity. The promotional material made no mention of stagecraft or costumes or frenetic display. This was a lecture-performance […]
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TBA Reviews: She’s In Parties Was Not Much Of A Party After All
Outside of the installations in the space, the live performances often felt like they were getting swallowed up by the huge room. Briana Cerezo The chatter of this year’s TBA Fest kept returning to the subject of the 16,000-square-foot space in NE Portland recently gifted to PICA rent-free by an anonymous patron. Outside the building, […]
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TBA Review: Watching Grown Men Juggle in Alessandro Sciarroniโs UNTITLED_I will be there when you die
Alfredo Anceschi Letโs be be honest: When one thinks about contemporary performance art, one does not immediately jump to juggling. And yet, in a field that seems to have exhausted the use of microphone as character, and nudity as truth, an earnest piece symbolizing lifeโs journey through hurled objects isnโt so out there upon further […]
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TBA Review: Pondering Desire With Allie Hankins and Her “Fuck Machines”
Allie Hankins performs a love dance for a member of the audience. Suzette Smith My introduction to Allie Hankins as a performer was her 2012 TBA dance Like A Sun That Pours Forth Light But Never Warmth where she quietly covered herself in gold leaf for an extended period of time then leapt unbelievablyโhalf nude […]
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TBA Review: Amenta Abioto Nearly Achieves Transcendence
She’s connecting threads of experimental, soul, and gospel music in novel ways and imbuing her work with a deep political savvy and emotional impact. Briana Cerezo The setting for Amenta Abioto‘s TBA performance on Wednesday night was immediately striking. A table was set in the center of the main room within PICA’s new space on […]
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TBA Preview: Repurposed Nostalgia in Mechanics Laid Bare
Suzette Smith Tonight, TBA presents Mechanics Laid Bare a one-time-only collaboration between Portland non-profit cinema art collective the Cinema Project and local composer Matt Carlson. I got a chance to see their practice and talk about the project a few nights ago in a darkened Old Town loft where they were rehearsing. Carlson sat near […]
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TBA Review: The Effervescent Spirit of AU and the Camas High School Choir
It was the most life-affirming night of music I’ve experienced in some time. Briana Cerezo Luke Wyland’s music, primarily written for his band AU, has always been deeply felt work. Even at their most bombastic and buoyant, with both he and drummer Dana Valatka creating ground-shaking rumbles, the emotions in each song are never far […]
Posted inMovies & TV
TBA Review: Unpacking โOthernessโ in Carlos Mottaโs Deseos / ุฑุบุจุงุช
<img src="https://media2.fdncms.com/portmerc/imager/u/large/18563588/1473815222-carlosmotta-hero_2x.jpg" alt="From Deseos” title=”From Deseos”> From Deseos When it comes to TBAโand art in generalโI find that one can measure the resonance of an artistic work by the amount of questions it leaves you with. Thatโs not to say questions that come from confusion or misinterpretation of a piece, but rather thoughts that prompt […]
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TBA Review: Royal Osiris Karaoke Ensemble’s Stealthy Mindfulness and Toxic Masculinity
Yes, that’s Elliot Rodger in the middle, embodying that reddest of red flags: Adult men who call women “girls,” and can’t say the word without a verbal sneer. PICA via Flickr In 2014, Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured 14 near the University of California at Santa Barbara before killing himself. It was later […]