Relational March Day 25-31

32 days hath the Relational March, a tour through 24 towns by two performance art duos/collective, Panoply Performance Laboratory (Esther M. Neff and Brian J. McCorkle) and Future Death Toll (Edward G. Sharp and David I. Griess).

left to right: Brian McCorkle at Red Star Studios in Kansas City, Esther Neff in the supply closet at Three Rivers Public Library in Michigan, Edward Sharp at a diner somewhere along the highway, David Griess at Rae Goodwin’s house in Kentucky

Through the daily making of new, context-relative performances across sites and contexts, through speaking with the people we meet, sleeping in the homes of many generous hosts, petting new cats, peeing in gas stations, etc, attempts are made to relate.

Does “relating” become easier when familiar landscapes and buildings come into sight, does “relating” become easier when it is with someone with whom one has related before, or has “existing” relationships with? After a show at MyPlace Pizza with Parenting, Six7, and Mr. Sexy in Poughkeepsie, NY, we drive through the fog towards NY State. Seeing David LaGaccia’s face as we pulled up to Jill McDermid and Erik Hokanson’s house just outside of Kingston, NY, is a beautiful moment. After an evening of expansive and intensive discussion with Preach R. Sun, Lesley-Ann Brown, Myk Henry, and our hosts Jill and Hoke, we performed during the day on Saturday at the new sister to Grace Exhibition Space in Brooklyn, Gray Zone in Kingston, NY. The space now has heat and running water and is very pleasantly raw, sunny, and dusty. The best moment during our PPL+F-DT actions is when a bat flies around, low to the ground and around our bodies. Unfortunately we miss Preach’s first performance/installation in his new series of transformation, One Man: Fugitivism, Black Art and Barbarian Invasions Act II – INTER FOR EXIT (A REMIX), as we must hit the road to Hartford, CT.

Grey Zone, Kingston, NY

There, Robert Zott hosts us on the last day of his residency, and we perform at The Dirt Salon, hosted by Cynthia Dodd. The end is in sight. Before the last show at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, RI, Edward and Brian get sick, this final night also brings pouring-down spring rain. We experience a striking visual arts performance by Ian Deleón with Anabel Vázquez and a multi-media meditation by the duo ISLANDS. In the morning of March 31, we drive home to Brooklyn.

fish, used by ISLANDS in Pawtucket at Machines with Magnets

Finally, at the end of the tour, a few thank-yous are very much in order. We are extremely grateful to the large number of people who hosted us, curated/organized us, funded us, fed and showered us, and so much more. For now, the only contact we have with many of these wonderful people outside of NYC is over the internet, and so we name, link, and tag:

2am dinner, thanks to Ted Pixley

Thank you Andy Horwitz for commissioning this tour blog; public framing allows relational and social projects to self-cognize and operate as art. Thank you Felix Morelo, for organizing exhibitions and keeping PPL’s space open, and thank you to all of the artists who performed, participated, curated (Laura Blüer!) and helped clean up after all. Thank you Valerie Kuehne (who invented this touring model and who was sorely missed), Eames Armstrong and Kent Reynolds, Renée Regan, Ziad Nagy, Eve Hennessa, Rachel Hrbek, Ian McDermott, Natalia Panfile, Robbie Horwitz, Michael Gagnon, Eames’ friend Mandy, Laura Roulet, Alan Kayanan, Rae Goodwin (who really made this tour possible by inviting us to the University of Kentucky as Visiting Artists, what a great time), Dima Strakovsky, the many graduate and undergraduate students who showed us their studios and work and engaged with us, Theo Edmonds and Joshua Miller, Ben Bennett, Kyla (sorry to hear about what happened with the goats), Leigh Lotocki, Mark Sarich, Tom, John, Danny Orendorff, C.A.S.H.E.D, Chandra Debuse, Tommy Frank, Tim, Karen, Neil Thrun, Neil Griess, Jim and Robyn Greiss, Weston, Teal Gardner, Israel Cilio, Nick, Angel, Michael, Curt Oren, Hans Breder, Kima, Ron, Isaac Neff and Megan Stelljes, Kim Roberts, David Kelley-Daithi, Bijon Ronaghy, Emily Gastineau and Billy Mullaney, Samantha Johns, Hiponymous, Cock ESP, Glow Mechanics, Beasthead, Dustin Maxwell, Ye Taik and Black Sheep Organization (who performed a piece by PPL at Counterpath in Denver on March 13), Oren Silverman, Shannon Connor, Eddie Chapman, Cynthia Spencer, Mattie, Brendan and Mulatto Thunders, Rachel Ellison, Joseph Ravens, Adam Rose, Alejandro Acierto, Jose Hernandez, Justus Harris, Beth Neff, Kate Lind, Larry and Susie Neff, Charles and LaVeta Neff, Thomas Bell and Christina DeRoos, Ted Pixley, Dawn and Joseph McCorkle, Robert Ladislass Derr, Chris Harvey, Nayeon Yang, Sarah Shultz, Blake Turner, Lisa Miralia, Carl, Rot Ton Bone, Jeremy Bible, Rubber City Noise Collective, Steve Kemple, Eddy Kwon, Jordin Goff, The Marburg Collective, Steven, Joey Molinaro, Eric, Christopher, Dream Weapon, Submistress, Daniel McCloskey, Guinevere, Zorahna Vincenza Weslowski, Alex Young, Boryana Rossa, Joanna Spitzner, Jessica Posner, Margarita Kruchinskyaya, Peter Lee, Nicole Letson and Jermaine Williams, Malvinas, Kevin Poncelet, Colin Self, and Aoli Zhong, Jonas Bers, David LaGaccia, Jill McDermid and Erik Hokanson, Preach R. Sun, Lesley-Ann Brown, Myk Henry, Seamus Henry, Robert Zott, Cynthia Dodd, Ian Deleón and Anabel Vázquez, ISLANDS (Shey Riv and Jason Curzake), Willa van Nostrand, and many others. If we missed you by accident, or somehow couldn’t find a link for you, let us know, and stay in touch!

Farmhouse phones

We look forward to this Sunday, March 6, when we will hold a mini-summit on touring with SALTA from Oakland, CA (who are in the city to work with AUNTS this Saturday night). Modes of operation regarding planning and completing DIY tours will be discussed, 4-6pm.

Our full project budget and more images and information can be found here , here, here, and throughout the archives of this tour blog here on culturebot.