we’re crazy about the river!

the River Happening happened in full force May 14, thanks to a sweet group of CalArts students and fritz haeg who put it all together! there really is something magical about getting out of town
for a bit, driving north on your choice of highway to the outer reaches of these endlessly interconnected cities. our surroundings this trip seemed unimaginably hot and the bleak suburbanscapes of valencia helped to push the day into the super-strange, slightly confusing, almost half-hallucinogenic zone.

unbelievably, we arrived hours ahead of schedule. we parked ourselves in the far corner of an enormous shopping center: a paradise to those who dream of the soft, white lights of an iPod vending machine located just inside their favorite grocery store (truly – it is mesmerizing).
there was a huge truck full of free anarchy ice cream accompanied by a blaring specialized soundtrack (including ‘you’re as cold as ice’) through the onboard PA system, welcoming everyone to the event. responding in-kind, we laid out a blanket, under what seemed to be the only patch of shade for miles, and waited with peanutbutterhoney bread for things to get started.
the group formed quickly. artists and students, performers and volunteers assumed mobile flight patterns and soon became a recognizable formation. we began our journey down the river edge, stopping here and there to witness androgynous performance art and an intervention between Nature and Humankind.
the seemingly mild paraders soon found themselves at the center of a movement. The sweat collected on neck hairs young and old as we taught, learned, and performed a catalog of river vocabulary that propelled us to our shady destination.
there, the sisters of the santa clara opened the revival and welcomed us to give our tithes with ‘plume dune’ – a dance.
posing as a series of human water and flight formations, we whistled and clapped, shuddered and swayed to the ambient sounds of traffic on the bridge overhead. the work included imagery of synchronized swimming and a fountain of flowing legs. set down directly in the path, passers by became an unsuspecting spectators as well as perfect participants in this culminating moment.