The plans…

“I have been working with other artists on creating temporary architecture for PICA for years—ever since the creation of the Dada Ball bar, complete with a 30’ high nautilus enclosure of white gauzy diaper fabric. It’s been a long history of making cool things with little money, borrowed materials, and lots of committed artists.

This is the last year that PICA will use Washington High School for THE WORKS. It has been a comfortable, yet sprawling site to transform over the last few years. Each year we take a different approach. To me, when walking the site, there is one great space: the WHS front entry, which is a stunning perch with a canopy of trees and a view of Portland in the distance. Everything should be THERE: the TBA entry, the Beer Garden, and access to the WHS performances, with more focus, more energy, and maybe a little tension in one primary place.

Wayfinding. In a big way. Photo: Mitchell Snyder.

We needed to create some shelter, clarity of direction, identity, and containment. We needed to focus on the performances. We needed to move lots of people, accommodate casual dining, and a very big bar. And of course, it needs to be temporary, quick, and cheap.

Experientially, we’ve created a kind of threshold at several key points as you move through the site. These transitions mark the entry to the TBA Festival, the Beer Garden, and finally to the interior WHS performance venues. These thresholds are a symbolic beginning and end, a boundary, a point at which you step through the looking glass and suspend disbelief. Have fun. We hope organic and spontaneous things can happen with this convergence.”

Megan Holmes painting light boxes.

The awesome team at ADX setting up our portals.

ADX really rallied around TBA and built us our beautiful light box entry way.

Guildworks rigging their sky sails.

Guildworks sails at night. Photo: Mitchell Snyder.

The result… Photo: Mitchell Snyder.

A huge amount of thanks goes out to Ellen Fortin Design + Architecture, Makenna Lehrer, Megan Holmes, ADX, Guildworks, Bill Boese, Eco Productions, and all of the volunteers who made this year’s design for THE WORKS into a reality. We could not have done it without you!

Act 1: Color Film 5 (Madison Brookshire) and Field Organ (Tashi Wada)
“The subject of the work is duration, with color as the medium through which we experience it.” – program guide, New Musics

A wall of color is the backdrop for two simultaneous reed organs. The color field almost imperceptibly shifts, meaning you can’t see the increments of change, just the change itself. As soon as you stop looking, everything is different. Wada’s two-organ duet produces a similar effect with an opposing approach; you hear every sustained note, both melodic and discordant, in real time. Because the musical progression is so fluid, however, the emotional responses generated can only be realized periodically. Brookshire and Wada’s works are a brilliant pair and together produce a realization about perception of time and visceral response that is greater than the sum of its parts. Something previously hidden becomes known: the liminal space between hearing/seeing and responding emotionally is suddenly visible.

Act 2: PART (Grouper)
Grouper’s “tape collage” matched with Flash Choir’s vocal instrumentation puts the central focus on the flickering images on the screen. The result is non-narrative (or at least non immediately so) and alternatively lulling and haunting. The staging, whether intentional or not, made the work somehow less accessible; if the use of tape is inherent to the work, it would be intriguing to make the process at least as visible as the choir.

Act 3: Mourning Youth (Claudia Meza)
“…if time passing can only be experienced and digested through memory…then ‘youth’ as a concept will always be mourned” – program guide, New Musics

Memory and reality collide in Meza’s non-mournful Mourning Youth. Powerful, charged images are slowed to iconic speed and paired visually with each other and sonically with taiko drumming and choral response. Meza’s collaboration with Portland Taiko, Flash Choir, Thomas Thorson, Chris Hackett and Allie Hankins is an evolving work; the movement portion was recently added and seemed less integrated than the other elements of what Meza calls a “wordless opera”. Reminiscent of a Greek drama/music video mashup, the performance is charged by searing visuals and heart-pounding sounds, describing the electric physicality and heightened perception of both experienced and remembered youth.

With general pass sales starting today, we thought it was high time we showed you the expanded TBA program. Read on to see what we’ve added, and remember to visit www.picaresourceroom.org for photos, videos and links on all of our Festival artists and projects.

Shantala Shivalingappa, Namasya. Photo: Nicolas Boudier.

ON STAGE

Shantala Shivalingappa, Namsya [FRANCE/INDIA, DANCE]
Born in India, but educated in Paris, dancer and choreographer Shantala Shivalingappa successfully combines East and West in her movement. Namasya is a program of four solo dances, including collaborations with renowned choreographers Pina Bausch and Ushio Amagatsu; as well as a piece by Savitry Nair and one by Shivalingappa herself.

Sarah Dougher, Fin de Siècle [PORTLAND, MUSIC/POETRY]
A staging of three experimental poem-plays by Leslie Scalapino, using video projections, voice and a five part instrumental ensemble. Spanning the distance between the art song and the pop song, Dougher’s score transliterates Scalapino’s challenging language and conceptual framework through a melodic and complexly textured score, foregrounding the poet’s fundamental humanism.

James Benning, Ruhr. Film still courtesy of the artist.

ON SCREEN

James Benning, Ruhr [LOS ANGELES, FILM]
One of the most fascinating figures in American independent cinema, Benning makes his eagerly awaited entrance into HD with the absolutely stunning film on Germany’s industrial Ruhr Valley. A series of masterfully-composed, long-take shots brings the audience to an understanding of the cinematic sublime.

Disorientalism, Two by Two. Photo: Monica Ruzansky.

ON SIGHT

Occupation/Preoccupation, [PORTLAND]
The United States has over 700 military bases on foreign soil in sovereign countries where we have no declaration of war. This project unites musicians, researchers and music-lovers to gather covers by American musicians of songs that originate from each of these places, in a symbolic re-occupation.

Blue Sky Presents Laura Poitras: It’s All A Blur [NEW YORK]
Drawing upon images and sounds recorded in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 , O’Say Can You See evokes the experience of disorientation and loss that continues to haunt the nation. Footage from ground zero is combined with looped and sampled audio from the Yankees’ come-from-behind victory at Game 4 of the 2008 World Series.

PNCA Presents Disorientalism: Ready Mix [ARIZONA/NEW YORK]
The duo’s preoccupation with junk culture translates into junk food, as Ready Mix stirs up the story of Aunt Jemima’s century-long makeover from “slave mammy” to “modern working mother.”

PNCA Presents It’s All A Blur [CALIFORNIA]
It’s All A Blur focuses on three West Coast masters—Guillermo Gómez Peña, Dale Hoyt and Tony Labat—who have pioneered an intellectual, multifaceted approach to identity and art as means for social justice in the post- Bush era.

Michael Reinsch, Gallery Walk. Photo: Nathanael Thayer Moss.

OUTSIDE

Tim DuRoche & Ed Purver, The Hidden Life of Bridges [PORTLAND/NEW YORK]
The artists turn the Hawthorne Bridge into a radio and the Morrison Bridge into a cinema during this large-scale video projection and sound composition

David Eckard, ©ardiff [PORTLAND]
Channeling snake-oil hucksters and midway barkers, Eckard will take to his public stage to ruminate on hoaxes and fabrications.

Tesar Freeman, Gadsden [PITTSBURGH]
A modern day re-enactment of the American rattlesnake icon will fly from the flagpole of Washington High School, interrogating the power of symbols, and the ways in which they are re/mis-appropriated.

Michel Groisman [BRAZIL]
Through a series of simple games and exercises, Groisman will lead audiences in participatory performances that examine the connections between us. He will also present his work, Transference, a contortionist performance in which he lights and snuffs out a series of candles attached to his body.

Michael Reinsch, Gallery Walk [PORTLAND]
Donning a gallery costume, Reinsch will walk the streets of Portland accompanied by a Gallery Attendant and spouting of spoken word poetry constructed from the manifestos and artist statements that galleries produce.

Miwa Matreyek, Myth & Infrastructure. Photo: Scott Groller.

THE WORKS

Vockah Redu [NEW ORLEANS, BOUNCE MUSIC]
Vockah Redu and the Cru animate the stage with their dynamic revival of dance, music and art from the street corner to the club. More than your typical hip-hop act, this theatrical performance sets the stage for a sweaty, hands-down, booty-up good time.

Beyondadoubt [PORTLAND, RnB, BOUNCE, SOUL, DJ]
Pulling from her Southern roots, Beyondadoubt has brought originality to nightlife for over a decade, whether in the Northwest or the deep South. DJing since ‘98, Beyondadoubt creates rhythms from her sprawling collection of vintage soul records to compliment her raw, Dirty South, New Orleans Bounce and 90’s rave sounds.

Fast Weapons presents Love is Blind, Lingerie is Braille [PORTLAND +, MUSIC, EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE]
A night of music and mayhem curated by Nathan Howdeshell and his Fast Weapons music label. Featuring Beth Ditto, performing her new solo work with Beyondadoubt, garage rock from Ghost Mom, visual and auditory bombast by Dangerous Boys Club, a one-act play by Harry K, and the release of Nudity in Groups‘ newest broadside in the high school bathrooms.

Ten Tiny Dances 25 [GLOBAL, DANCE]
Celebrate the 25th performance by Ten Tiny Dances with a lineup that draws together five “greatest hit” tiny dances, and five new works by TBA Festival artists.

Shana Moulton & Nick Hallett, Whispering Pines 10 [NEW YORK, DIGITAL OPERA]
A live-performed, computer-animated opera, featuring the hypochondriac agoraphobe Cynthia, as she navigates her daily life and her fantasy illusions.

Experimental 1/2 Hour [PORTLAND, CABLE ACCESS, EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE, VIDEO]
The biweekly genre-bending cable access program presents live performances by Flaenge God, Barbara, Princess Dies, and Lucky Dragons, along with a suite of video projects. Hosted by Beau von Hinklywinkle.

Cinema Project Presents Alex MacKenzie: the wooden lightbox [VANCOUVER, BC, FILM]
Using a handbuilt wooden projector, Alex MacKenzie attempts to re-instill some of the early magic of the moving picture in this intimately-scaled film.

Miwa Matreyek, Myth & Infrastructure [LOS ANGELES, LIVE PERFORMANCE/ANIMATION]
Digital animator Miwa Matreyek steps into her projection and navigates the projected worlds of her own creation, in the process making a live-performed film that layers body, space, and animation.

NEW MUSICS [PORTLAND/SAN FRANCISCO, EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC]
Megan Holmes and Claudia Meza present a night of new music experimentation, featuring Meza’s wordless sound and video opera, Liz Harris’ (Grouper) tape collage performance with Flash Choir, and new compositions by Tashi Wada.

Catch [NEW YORK/PORTLAND, DANCE/PERFORMANCE]
Like New York’s own take on THE WORKS, Catch is a no-holds-barred performance series curated by Jeff Larson, Andrew Dinwiddie and Caleb Hammons. This special TBA edition will present dance and performance in a club setting by Luciana Achugar and Karinne Keithly, among others.

Big Terrific [BROOKLYN, COMEDY]
Big Terrific is a weekly comedy show in Brooklyn hosted by Gabe Liedman, Jenny Slate and Max Silvestri. Show up at Big Terrific to hear personal stories from people who love to tell them, see short films by up-and-coming directors and laugh along to stand-up curated carefully by Gabe, Jenny and Max.

Dance Truck [ATLANTA, DANCE]
A dance series programmed in the backs of pick ups and the bays of panel trucks. Revelers will be treated to intermittent dance performances by local and visiting artists, empty truck beds for makeshift dance floors, and drink specials on Southern treats like mint juleps and boiled peanuts.

Dj Beyonda set up her turntables mid stage, with the help of local dj E*rock, and others, and started the second part of the night off right, with her signature soul set. With a backdrop of classic Sesame Street style “how things are made” filmstock, depicting how vinyl 45’s are made, spliced with 60s era girl groups singing and dancing.
The crowd began split in two, with her regulars up on stage, shaking and shimmying to the rhythms. But then security was called and asked everyone to join together on the dance floor. It actually made it better, the packed sweaty, smiling bodies all together in the dancehall. Now if only the floor wasn’t slanted.
I stayed and danced until almost 2am, and the party was still going on.
And that is when the large bus outside the front door of the Works, called my name. Al forno Ferruzza.
OMG.
I have never experienced fresh pizza out of the oven at 2:30 am, and if I had, I still think this would have obliterated the memory. The boy making the pizza threw the dough 15 feet in the air, over and over, stretching it perfectly, and then asked me what topping I wanted. the choices were: local chantrelle mushrooms, caper berries, oil cured olives, onions, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and homemade sauce with huge chunks of mozzarella.
I asked for the WORKS! and 4 minutes later the pizza came out of their oven steaming and fragrant. And two slices were only $5.
They also have a brick and mortar location on Alberta, but I don’t like the atmosphere there, and they don’t have a liquor license, which is just no fun.
I highly recommend eating their pizza as often as you can, and if you can dance to dj Beyonda in the same night you have surely got it made.

I love picnics. I love food. And I must confess one of my favorite things about The Works at TBA is having the space to talk about what is happening, what we saw, what we are about to see, what we like, don’t like, and why why why. As much as I adore these late night beer fueled conversations, there is that little nagging shouldn’t-I-be-watching-the-performance-inside feeling. At this year’s Slow Food Picnic, there was no nagging feeling, only surprisingly warm weather and parachute games on the other side of the lawn. As we passed food and invited more friends and frieds-of-friends to join our growing picnic party the conversation turned naturally from what’s growing and how well in the garden to the place of nudity in dance and how the four modes of performance in The Shipment speak to/about eachother. This what picnic conversation can be.
By 4:30 the blankets were emptying out, the last of the pickles has been given away, and people carried off five gallon buckets of tomatoes, squash, basil and the most magical peach-colored gooseberry plants. Light rain began to fall and I made my way inside to Fawn Krieger’s National Park. Donning the bear head mask and throwing foam rocks into the air, I couldn’t help but think: I wish I still had my picnic basket in hand.