Christina deRoos

playing with myself playing with yourself

Thank you Anya Liftig and Thomas Bell for a great collaboration at Bronx Art Space.

 

 

Thomas Bell, Christina deRoos, Anya Liftig
April 29, 2012
Bronx Art Space

Part of ITINERANT: FESTIVAL FOR CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE ART

March 30th - May 12th, 2012
Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island
New York City, USA

QMAD, Queens Media Arts Development is pleased to present ITINERANT, the annual festival for Contemporary Performance Art initiated by artist, Hector Canonge in Queens in 2011. This year’s festival is a citywide program to be presented in collaboration with galleries, artist-run spaces and public institutions in the five boroughs in New York City. ITINERANT 2012 focuses on live performative works that treat notions of intimacy, self-reflection, and introspection. Artists working in performance art were selected to participate from an open call that attracted more than 175 local, national and international submissions. Forty five artists will present new and existing works exploring the program’s theme over a period of five weeks, March 30 - May 12, 2012.

Participating artists:
Maria Fernanda Alves da Silva, BabySkinGlove, Michael Barrett , Chloe Bass, Thomas Bell, Anya Liftig & Christina deRoos, Cynthia Berkshire, Jessica Bonenfant, Camila Cañeque , Bryon Carr, John Cichon, Irene Chan, Christen Diane Clifford, Christine Ferrera, Amy Finkbeiner, Carlos Gonzalez, Jil Guyon, Ian Hatcher, Kanene Holder, Whitney V. Hunter, Maria Hupfield, Maya Jeffereis, Marie Christine Katz, Sarah Kipp, Jia-Jen Lin & Yung-Li Chen, LuLu LoLo, Stiven Luka, Nadja Marcin, Rosalind Murray, Zavé Martohardjono, Alex Nathanson & Dylan Neely, Ioanna Neofytou & Klitoras Charalampopoulos, Nancy Nowacek, Panoply Performance Laboratory, Diana Pettersen, Miles Pflanz, Anthony Romero & Marissa Perel, Lizzie Scott, Negin Sharifzadeh, Priscilla Stadler, Alaina Stamatis, Chris Udemezue, Genevieve White, and Jess Whittam & Lorelei Ramirez.

Dates and Venues:
(Featuring different artists)
- Friday, March 30, 8 – 11 pm at Grace Exhibition Space - Brooklyn.
- Saturday, April 21, 6 – 9 pm at Crossing Art Gallery - Queens.
- Saturday, April 28, 7 – 10 pm at Floor 4 Art - Manhattan.
- Sunday, April 29, 6 - 9 pm at Bronx Art Space - Bronx.
- Saturday, May 5, 6 - 8 pm at Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art - Staten Island.

Outdoor Performances:
(Made possible in collaboration with the office of Council Member Daniel Dromm)

- Every Friday, April 6th - May 4th, 3 - 6 PM Public Actions at 37th Road Pedestrian Plaza - Jackson Heights, Queens.

- Saturday, May 12th, 3 - 6 PM Outdoor Performances at 37th Road Pedestrian Plaza - Jackson Heights, Queens.

About the project:
QMAD, Queens Media Arts Development, is under the direction of artist, Hector Canonge, who launched ITINERANT in Queens in 2011. Canonge explains that ITINERANT is “the first program for performance art in this borough,” and that he “wants to introduce audiences to this art form as well as to create dialogue and exchange among artists coming from all over to the festival." ITINERANT started as a mini-festival with handful of local artists presenting their live performances at Crossing Art Gallery. For 2012, Canonge wanted to replicate his unique initiative but in larger scale; a citywide program featuring different artists at different venues in the five borogouhs in New York City. Canonge comments that "organizing the program has been an incredible challenge, and that [his] collaboration with art institutions, organizations, galleries, and artist-run spaces in the five boroughs a fulfilling experience." QMAD, under the leadership of Canonge, presents the monthly LGBT film series CINEMAROSA, the annual program Framing AIDS, and the monthly art series A-Lab Forum.

Next Performance: April 29th @ Bronx Art Space

I'm looking forward to a performance collaboration with Anya Liftig and Thomas Bell on April 29th at Bronx Art Space. The event is part of Itinerant contemporary performance festival, initiated by artist Hector Canonge in 2011 and presented by QMAD (Queens Media Arts Development).

April 29th
6pm - 9pm
Bronx Art Space
305 E. 140th St., #1A, Bronx NY 10454

Directions
From Union Square: 4-5 train to 125th, transfer to 6, one stop to 3rd Ave/138th St, it's 2 blocks from there. Note there are two exits at 3rd Ave/138th, one at Alexander Ave and one at 3rd Ave.
Ring 3A if 1A does not answer.
Bronx Art Space is wheelchair accessible.

This will be the 3rd time Anya, Thomas and I have collaborated, the first time being part of Fountain Art Fair during Art Basel 2011 in Miami (video below) and more recently as part of the Compendium show at Vaudeville Park in Brooklyn (photo below). This third collaboration, however, will be first time Anya, Thomas and I will all be in the same physical space during our performance. So we've got that going for us, which is nice.

 

 

More about Itinerant:
QMAD, Queens Media Arts Development is pleased to present ITINERANT, the annual festival for Contemporary Performance Art initiated by artist, Hector Canonge in Queens in 2011. This year’s festival consists a citywide program to be presented in collaboration with galleries, artist-run spaces and public institutions in the five boroughs that make up the City of New Yok City. ITINERANT 2012 will focuson live performative works that treat notions of intimacy, self-reflection, and introspection. Artists working in performance art were selected to participate from an open call that attracted more than 175 local, national and international submissions. Forty five artists will present new and existing works exploring the program’s theme over a period of five weeks starting at the end of March.

Participating artists:
Maria Fernanda Alves da Silva, BabySkinGlove, Michael Barrett , Chloe Bass, Thomas Bell, Anya Liftig & Christina deRoos, Cynthia Berkshire, Jessica Bonenfant, Camila Cañeque , Bryon Carr, John Cichon, Irene Chan, Christen Diane Clifford, Charles Dennis, Christine Ferrera, Amy Finkbeiner, Carlos Gonzalez, Jil Guyon, Ian Hatcher, Kanene Holder, Whitney V. Hunter, Maria Hupfield, Maya Jeffereis, Marie Christine Katz, Sarah Kipp, Jia-Jen Lin & Yung-Li Chen, LuLu LoLo, Stiven Luka, Nadja Marcin, Rosalind Murray, Zavé Martohardjono, Alex Nathanson & Dylan Neely, Ioanna Neofytou & Klitoras Charalampopoulos, Nancy Nowacek, Panoply Performance Laboratory, Diana Pettersen, Miles Pflanz, No Collective, Anthony Romero & Marissa Perel, Lizzie Scott, Negin Sharifzadeh, Priscilla Stadler, Alaina Stamatis, Chris Udemezue, Genevieve White, and Jess Whittam & Lorelei Ramirez.

Dates and Venues:
(Featuring different artists)
- Friday, March 30, 8 – 11 pm at Grace Exhibition Space - Brooklyn.
- Saturday, April 21, 6 – 9 pm at Crossing Art Gallery - Queens.
- Saturday, April 28, 7 – 10 pm at Floor 4 Art - Manhattan.
- Sunday, April 29, 6 - 9 pm at Bronx Art Space - Bronx.
- Saturday, May 5, 6 - 8 pm at Newhouse Center for Conpemporary Art - Staten Island.

Outdoor Performances:
(Made possible in collaboration with the office of Council Member Daniel Dromm)

- Every Friday, April 6th - May 4th, 3 - 6 PM Public Actions at 37th Road Pedestrian Plaza - Jackson Heights, Queens.

- Saturday, May 12th, 3 - 6 PM Outdoor Performances at 37th Road Pedestrian Plaza - Jackson Heights, Queens.

About the project:
QMAD, Queens Media Arts Development, is under the direction of artist, Hector Canonge, who launched ITINERANT in Queens in 2011. Canonge explains that ITINERANT is “the first program for performance art in this borough,” and that he “wants to introduce audiences to this art form as well as to create dialogue and exchange among artists coming from all over to the festival." ITINERANT started as a mini-festival with handful of local artists presenting their live performances at Crossing Art Gallery. For 2012, Canonge wanted to replicate his unique initiative but in larger scale; a citywide program featuring different artists at different venues in the five borogouhs in New York City. Canonge comments that "organizing the program has been an incredible challenge, and that [his] collaboration with art institutions, organizations, galleries, and artist-run spaces in the five boroughs a fulfilling experience." QMAD, under the leadership of Canonge, presents the monthly LGBT film series CINEMAROSA, the annual program Framing AIDS, and the monthly art series A-Lab Forum.

Low Lives: Occupy!

Thank you to Jorge Rojas for inviting me to co-curate Low Lives: Occupy! The event and experience were phenomenal and inspiring. Click here to watch the videos.

*****

Low Lives: Occupy! a unique one-night-only program of live performance art, happenings, and public actions, simulcast to presenting host venues around the world. Join us at the Hemispheric Institute or watch online 6pm - 10pm. All details below.

 

 

LOW LIVES: OCCUPY!
Event Date: Saturday, March 3, 2012
Event Time: 6:00 - 10:00 pm (EST)
Online: http://www.occupywithart.com/llo-live-channel/

 

 

Low Lives has partnered with Occupy with Art and The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics to present “Low Lives: Occupy! a unique one-night-only program of live performance art, happenings, and public actions, simulcast to presenting host venues around the world. Low Lives: Occupy! will take place on Saturday, March 3, 2012 from 6 -10 pm (EST). Low Lives: Occupy! partner Mark Read of the 99% Bat Signal / The Illuminator, will contribute a special projection and performance in conjunction with Low Lives: Occupy!

Jorge Rojas, Founding Director of Low Lives, comments: “Over the past four years Low Lives has developed a platform that invites and enables artists, audiences, and presenting venues to “plug in and participate” from anywhere an internet connection exists. This technological platform which brings a history of supporting artists’ full creative freedom to imagine new worlds, is ideally suited to be the support structure to enable artists, activists and Occupy groups from around the globe to present work in solidarity with #OWS. Low Lives: Occupy! recognizes the powerful opportunity that is the presentation of performances from around the world, within which artists are invited to facilitate the process of opening eyes and minds – and present a radical re-imagining of possible ways of existing and relating. The Occupy Wall Street protests have given us The People’s Mic and The People’s Stage. Thanks to a partnership with Occupy with Art and The Hemispheric Institute, Low Lives: Occupy! has the potential to become the The People’s Virtual Stage.”

The Low Lives: Occupy! program will include thirty-five performance artists, Occupy groups, and artist collectives located worldwide in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy movement for the 99%. Participants will expand the reach and visibility of the Occupy protests by broadcasting to an international audience community. Thirteen co-presenting organizations in eight countries including U.S., México, Spain, Colombia, Brazil, Northern Ireland, France, and Argentina, will project Low Lives: Occupy! in their own venues and public spaces. The Occupy protests, and the myriad of perspectives and experiences related to this unique movement, will be amplified, explored, and experimented with, through Low Lives’ internet-based creative platform.

The Hemispheric Institute, presenting partner and official New York City venue for Low Lives: Occupy! will present one live performance during the March 3 event, and screen all other selections in real time using live-streaming technology. Presenting partner and event organizer, Occupy with Art, will host the live simulcast at OccupywithArt.com, providing the means for viewers around the world to access the program online. Co-presenting partners of Low Lives: Occupy! will present the simulcast in their venues and public spaces.

Presenting Partners
Occupy with Art / Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics / Low Lives /

Co-Presenters
99% Bat Signal - The Illuminator (NYC, US) / Antena Mutante (Bogotá, CO) / Casa Brandon- Ciudad Autónoma (Buenos Aires, AR) / La Casa de la Cultura Comunitaria “Guuze´ Benda” (Oaxaca, MX) / Co-Lab (Austin, TX, US) / Dimanche Rouge (Paris, FR) / GT Gallery (Belfast, NIR) / Guerrero Project (Mexico City, MX) / Kaxinawá Occupy. Som, Música e Poesia (Greater Rio de Janeiro, BR) / Museo de Arte Efimero de Cartago, MAEC (Cartago, CO) / Nau Còclea (Girona, ES) / Performance Exchange at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago SAIC (IL, US) / Zona de Tolerancia (Hidalgo, MX) /

Participating Artists and Artist Collectives
99% Bat Signal - The Illuminator (NYC, US) / Alejandro Chellet (Cancun, MX) / Alejandro Guzman (NYC, US) / Alternative Art College (London, UK) / Angela Alegria + Lucía Andújar + Dani d’Emilia (Lisbon, PT) / Antena Mutante + ChicoBauti (Bogotá, CO) / Arun Storrs (Oregon, US) / Astrid Menasanch (Madrid, ES) / Bados Earthling (Melbourne, AU) / Christina Sukhgian Houle (Alabama, US) / The Civilians (NYC, US) / Egg No Ego (Bucharest, RO) / Emerge Collective (NYC, US) / Francesca Fini (Rome, IT) / Ginna Vélez (Bogotá, CO) / Guerrero Project (Mexico City, MX) / Heather Warren-Crow (Wisconsin, US) / Justine Marrion Massey (Buenos Aires, AR) / Kanene Ayo Holder (NYC, US) / Kaxinawá Occupy. Som, Música e Poesia (Greater Rio de Janeiro, BR) / Lukas Avendaño (Oaxaca, MX) / Miles Pflanz (NYC, US) / Minipimer.tv (Barcelona, ES) / Moe Beitiks (Illinois, US) / Nyugen E. Smith New Jersey, US) / Occupy Your Spirituality (NYC, US) / The People Staged (NYC, US) / Proyecto 21 (Mexico City, MX) / Revolutionary Games (NYC, US) / Second Front (Second Life) / The Super Art League (DC Universe) / Tempest Productions + Pilgrim Theatre + Bread and Puppet + Occupy Boston’s CASA working group (Massachusetts, US) / Tara Raye Russo (New Jersey, US) / Tutu-Marambá: Pesquisas das Artes do Corpo (Sao Paolo, BR) / Victoria Gibson (Vancouver, CA) /

About Low Lives
Founded in 2009, Low Lives is an international platform for live performance-based works transmitted via the internet and projected in real time through online broadcasting networks. These networks provide a new alternative and efficient medium for presenting, viewing, and archiving performances. Low Lives celebrates the transmission of ideas beyond geographical, political, and cultural borders, and opens multicultural and intergenerational dialogue through visual language, new technologies, and contemporary expressions.

Watch the live simulcast on March 3 at http://www.occupywithart.com/llo-live-channel/

Address:

The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics
20 Cooper Square, 5th Floor
United States of America

Performancy Forum XX: Con(Text)

Thomas Bell and I performed last night as part of PERFORMANCY FORUM XX: Con(Text). Thank you Esther Neff, co-director of the Panoply Performance Laboratory (PPL), for including us in this opportunity.

 

PERFORMANCY FORUM XX: Con(Text)

Hector Canonge!
Ivy Castellanos!
Birgit Larson!
Ellen O’Meara!
Thomas Bell & Christina deRoos!
Meghann Snow!

AND OTHERS!!!

On Saturday, February 11, PERFORMANCY FORUM returns to the series’ fundamental form: back-to-back incendiary performances and copious amounts of Brooklyn beer!

Come sink your claws into the 20th installment of the performance and theory series PERFORMANCY FORUM! This is performance in its natural habitat. It is interdisciplinary, political, passionate, always visceral, not always 'G' rated...

8pm-midnight

$5-$10 sliding scale suggested donation

For this event, we will focus our analytic efforts in the direction of context, text, and other words with ‘x’ in them:

How and why do performance artists use text/words in their performances?
What is “subtext” in the context of each of these works?
Does text confine/dictate “meaning” and limit the possibilities for multiple interpretations of a performance? Can text be used purely as an aesthetic tool? Asemic vs. literal text vs. musical notation
How does the material (Facebook invite, this kind of blurb, etc) affect the context of the work presented? How do artists contextualize their own work through writing? What is an ‘artist’s statement’ and does it belong to us, or to industry? And so on….Please bring your questions/concerns/theories!

XXXXX.XXXXX.XXXXX.

PERFORMANCY FORUM is a clustering, condensing, and critical effort comprising interdisciplinary exhibitions (emphasis on performance art, social practices, and participatory/publicly engaged work), workshops, conferences, actions, events, and more.

PERFORMANCY FORUM began in 2009 as a project of the Panoply Performance Laboratory (PPL) while the collective was in residence at Surreal Estate. It has since become an open project, collaborating with spaces, sites, curatorial collectives, and many others to:

1.) Forge IN-PERSON relationships (including collaborations) between artists from different artistic mediums and micro-communities.

2.) Perform collective research, including drawing of parallels between current performance and social practices and attempts to locate them within historic, economic, socio-political, and aesthetic contexts.

3.) Provide a site (physical or cognitive) for complex and critical thought beyond academic and other institutional parameters, for political and cultural organization amongst artists, and for experimentation with modes, methods, and mediums in conjunction with concrete practice.

4.) Involve publics of 'artists' and 'non-artists' alike in constructive, collective, and critical analysis and debate of artistic operation.

More info and proposal guidelines at www.panoplylab.org/performancy.hmtl

Dimanche Rouge: Saturday Streaming Labs @ Spread Art

Spread Art participates in an afternoon of experimental performances streamed live from around the world with streamed performances from Portugal, Barbados, and Argentina (11am-12pm) followed by live performances streamed around the globe (12pm-1pm)

Join us at 104 Meserole Street, Brooklyn
Or watch online: www.livestream.com/dimancherougestream

Streaming In (11am-12pm)

->Vitor Lago Silva, “The last words of Domenico” (digital performance, Oporto, Portugal) http://thelastwordsofdomenico.wordpress.com/
->Michelle Isava, “Dagger Head Net” (performance art, Bridgetown, Barbados)
->Lorena Avallar, “La Puta Idea” (performance art, Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Streaming Out (1pm-2pm)
->Esther Neff & Brian McCorkle (Panoply Performance Laboratory)
->Anya Liftig
->Valerie Kuehne
->Remote Control Tomato (Christina deRoos & Thomas Bell)
->Collective improvisation with all artists

Panoply Performance Laboratory (Esther Neff and Brian McCorkle)
The Panoply Performance Laboratory (PPL) is a performance collective
formed in 2006 by librettist/director/video artist Esther Neff and
composer/musician/sound artist Brian McCorkle. PPL's hyper-structural
performance art projects are developed in collaboration with
individuals from many different walks of life, and through community
workshops, interviews, and other engaged practices. They often examine
complex systems and trace epistemic, emotional, and socio-political
viewpoints held by individuals and groups. Using home-made
technological set-ups, multiple languages, video, interactive and
participatory elements, field-recorded sound, and found materials, PPL
works operate across many disciplines. Their current project is a
5-episode opera called NATURE FETISH in development at University
Settlement. www.panoplylab.org

Valerie Kuehne is an electrically charged virtuoso of all purpose
cello. Dynamic performer, fearless improviser, songwriter, vocalist,
and classically trained connoisseur of Bach and Britten, Valerie can
be found playing incessant shows in NYC, where she devotes formidable
heart, intellect, creativity, and time to cross-pollinating sundry
genres. Armed with finesse, Valerie is impressively present on stage,
rendering poignant punctuations of changeable emotional weather. In
any setting, her instrument aches with human implications and fiendish
alien fuel. www.dreamzoo.bandcamp.com

Anya Liftig’s work has been featured at TATE Modern, Highways
Performance Space, Exit Art, Chashama, Surreal Estate, Eyedrum, Grace Exhibition Space, Flux Factory, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Galapagos, The Flea, Performance Art Institute, Yale University, Center for Performance Research,INCUBATEChicago, University of Wisconsin, University of Chicago, Mess Hall, Joyce Soho and many other venues. Her work, “The Anxiety of Influence,” was an intervention into Marina Abramovic’s “The Artist is Present” retrospective at MOMA. Liftig dressed as the elder artist and sat across from her all day. Her work has been published and written about in The New York Times Magazine, Bomb, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue Italia, Marie Claire Italia, Heeb, The Other Journal, Jewcy, Mix Magazine, Next Magazine, Now and Then, Stay Thirsty, New York Magazine, Gothamist, Jezebel, Animal New York and many others. She is a graduate of Yale University and Georgia State University and has received grant and residency support from The Field, Vermont Studio Center, University of Antioquia, Casa Tres Patios-Medellin Colombia, and Flux Projects, Atlanta. www.anyaliftig.com

Remote Control Tomato (video + sound / Christina deRoos and Thomas Bell) www.christinaderoos.com. www.twin72.com

 

#OWS / Times Square / 10_15_11

Videos from Saturday evening #OWS event in NYC. Best time I've ever had in Times Square.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remote Control Tomato @ Dimanche Rouge Labs

Remote Control Tomato
Christina deRoos_video + Thomas Bell_sound + special guest Sarah Benoliel_dance

”ArtePax”
15min visual/sound/movement improvisation

Performance for Dimanche Rouge #9 – Streaming Labs
Pole Simon Le Franc, 9 rue Simon Le Franc, Paris 75004

 

Streamed from CPR - Center for Performance Research, Brooklyn, NY

dimancherouge.wordpress.com/​2011/​09/​22/​dimanche-rouge/​

:experimental documentation of experimental performance::video represents approximately 1/4 of physical performance area that was streamed live:

 

Remote Control Tomato @ Dimanche Rouge

Remote Control Tomato @ Dimanche Rouge

sound: Thomas Bell / visuals: Christina deRoos / dancer/choreographer: Laura Arend
Streamed live on the interweb.

Participating physical locations:

1. Paris, France
2. Imwinkelried
3. Kiev, Ukraine
4. Zaporizhya, Ukraine
5. Sofia, Bulgaria
6. Utah, USA
7. Castlemaine, Australia
8. Santiago de Chile, Chile
9. Wenzhou, 温州, China
10. Brooklyn, USA
11. Brisbane, Australia
12. Berlin, Germany

 

 

 

Recent Video Work

Below are 2 videos from recent shows. All mixes created in real-time using Isadora.

The Tronic

Spread Art

Summer Group Show IV

Brooklyn, NY

Sounds: Thomas Bell, Gregg Jarvis // Visuals: Christina deRoos

 

 

Rise Up Fallen Angel (Excerpt)

CPR - Center for Performance Research

Brooklyn, NY

Play the Moment Composers' Collective + 3 projection screens showing work from over 30 international artists.

Concept, Curator, Musician, & more: Victoria Gibson // Visual Mix: Christina deRoos

 

vid-yo

 

Next Show: Monday 8/2 @ The Tank

I'm performing this Monday, August 2nd @ The Tank (NYC; 45th St. b/w 8th & 9th) as part of the ongoing Creative Music Incubator series, which unites experimental sonic artists on the first Monday of every month to share creative concepts, explore new sonic possibilities and collaborate in new line ups and in unique situations. Each month is curated and hosted by a member of the NYC experimental music community.

Aug 2nd Curator and Host: Amber Brien

Line up:
Amanda Ray (vocals, electronics)
John Fell Ryan (hand percussion)
Kaoru Watanabe (fue, flutes)
Barbara Merjan (percussion)
Conrad Sparnroft (ebow guitar)
Mitch Blank (dulcimer)
Doug Principato (ebow guitar)
Mike Durek (theremin)
David B. Penn (cello)
Jennifer Leigh Aschoff (keyboards, flutes)
David Tamura (saxophone)
Thomas Bell (bass guitar)

Visuals presented by Christina deRoos

Cover $8 (donation to "The Tank" - a non-profit theatrical space) Not to worry, the drinks are super cheap.

This month there will be multiple mini groups created from the pool of musicians participating. Each mini-group will perform 5 to 10 minute mini-sets. The first half of the night will consist of groups whose members have performed together at some point in the past. The second half will consist of groups whose members have never performed together, ensuring new collaborations and sonic discoveries.

"Do You Know You're Being Recorded?"

Performance of work in progress 7/10/10
Arts@Renaissance (St. Nick's Alliance)
Bklyn, NY

Spurred by the common question: "what is and what isn’t art?," Do You Know You’re Being Recorded aims to create an experience for all involved that blurs the boundaries between stage/audience, music/sound, performance/life.

Do You Know You’re Being Recorded is a site-specific piece that will ultimately be 4 to 6 hours long. During development and when complete it will take place in traditional and nontraditional art spaces, including galleries, supermarkets, theaters, vacant lots...and we hope JFK (the airport).

Laura Arend / Thomas Bell / Christina deRoos

Born and raised in France, Laura Arend’s career began with study at the prestigious Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et Danse de Lyon. She spent a year as a dancer at the Youth Ballet of Lyon and arrived in New York in March 2010. Arend is currently working with Judith Sanchez Ruiz, and Korhan Basaran. Since May 2010 she has also been a member of the dance company « F521.i » in Paris.

Musician and visual artist Thomas Bell leads Oxygen Music Collective, consisting of over ten different musical projects dating back to 1999. The collective follows an improvised compositional approach, with past projects heavily steeped in the traditions of Funk & Free-Jazz, with tinges of Drum n Bass, Hip-Hop, & the experimental avant-garde. He also curates the Creative Music Incubator experimental music series at The Tank, and founded Spread Art, an artist-run creative space designed to foster new works through collaborations with artists and curators from around the world. twin72.com spreadart.org

Christina deRoos is a visual artist (photo/video, mixed-media, installation) who splits her time between NY and Mexico. She frequently facilitates creative projects that invite public participation and encourage community dialogue and individual self-reflection. In 2009 she founded Live Bliss, a yoga, art and community space in La Manzanilla, Jalisco, Mexico. She is also co-director of Spread Art. christinaderoos.com

*Special thanks to Chez Bushwick & Jonah Bokaer for affordable rehearsal space and equipment, and Center for Performance Research for additional low-cost rehearsal space.* chezbushwick.net cprnyc.org

Mixing Life

For my recent dive into live visual improvisation, I turned photographs I've taken into videos. Not having tons of time to prepare, I decided to pull together as diverse (albeit small) a range of content as possible. Below is what I put together, which ended up feeling/looking like a solid representation of how I experience the world - one part abstract/inexplicable perception, one part beautiful/intense travels, one part frustration/disappointment with the machinery of injustice. 

Check out the previous post if you want to see the final result, which drew from the videos below plus a few short clips of a video game, a tree, a circuit board, all mixed real time with some effects for good measure.

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Photos-->Video-->Live Performance

Video...you have been on my radar for a long time, and yet somehow we never quite introduced ourselves.

With The Tronic performing at Bent Festival, and my having 3 VJ gigs and a week of Isadora experience to my credit, I added live video improvisation to the interesting mix that is my creative output. Around this time next year I'm told there will be a video of this year's Bent Festival. I'm curious to see where this new path will have led me by then.

A week after Bent Festival opportunity knocked again...and I managed once more to make it through a set without crashing my computer. Here is a video of gig #2: Oxygen Ensemble at The Tank on May 2nd.

Note - this video has SOUND - improvised, beautiful, fresh squeezed sound - so check that your volume isn't up uP UP lest you get blown out of your chair.

Oxygen Ensemble / The Tank / NY, NY
Part of the monthly Creative Music Incubator series

Musicians:
Gregg Jarvis - drums
Thomas Bell - bass
Chris Mariner - guitar
Jason Polise - sax
On Davis- guitar
Lars - sax

Visuals:
Christina deRoos