Got this notice in another e-mail, and kind of wishing I was nearby, and that it wasn't the Easter Vigil, and that I could go -- but maybe some others are and can go...ME
Kipper Kid Brian Routh Hits L.A. Again
with His Two-Fisted Video Works at Dangerous Curve,
the New Downtown Experimental Exhibition
and Performance Art SpaceJoin the Community Opening Celebration Party!
- If you haven't yet experienced one of the very hip community parties at Dangerous Curve, Downtown Los Angeles's new experimental art space, then come to the opening celebration of video installations by Brian Routh (AKA Harry Kipper of the performance-art duo Kipper Kids) on April 10, 2004. More and more people are starting to hear about what a blast Dangerous Curve is. As usual, the party runs from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m., at 1020 Fourth Place, between Molino and Mateo Streets, in the back of the 500 Molino Street Lofts (#102). Yet again, there will be fantastic (and healthy!) food by our amazing chef John Saslow, performance art by TBA, and relaxing chair massages by Life Balance Day Spa. This time, the live music is provided by the over-the-top dark wave band Death by Dolls (featuring Dame Darcy, recently from Boston), plus the experimental sounds of Billy, Billy and Son, and downtownhost. There's no charge, and there's plenty of close, free parking. The exhibit runs until May 1, closing with a Performance Art and Experimental Music Night starting at 8:00 p.m. (See below.) The gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday, 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. See dangerouscurve.org for directions, events, pictures, and updates.
Brian Routh gained international fame in the 1970's as one of the Harrys in the Kipper Kids, along with a fellow student (at East 15 Acting School in Essex, England) Martin von Haselburg (who's now married to Bette Midler). They took Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty to heart, but drawing their own blood in their vaudevillian boxing rituals caused them to be relegated to "performance art" by theater purists, despite their theatrical costumes. In fact, Routh has collaborated with performance artists such as Herman Nitsch, Karen Finley, Eric Bogosian, Ann Magnusen, and Annie Sprinkle, but believes the term "performance art" has become perjorative, insofar as it's (unfortunately) come to mean "bad theater." He's remained steadfastly at the forefront of experimental theater, preferring improvisation over scripting, humor over shock value. He's also been a dedicated teacher, even in the face of misunderstanding students who try to one-up him in self-destructive ways.
Routh brings the same intensity to his video works as he does to his performance art. He plays with distorting the image to both a hilarious and disturbing effect, turning himself into a Big Nose, or a Wise Man, or a Blowfish Man staring into a Ski Nose. Sometimes he's jabbering nonsensically as in the Kipper Kids, sometimes he's giving you an over-the-top New Age lecture, sometimes a dizzying policital rant to the tune of what sound like incessant toy instruments. Fancy video wipes that would look idiotic in the hands of almost any other look tongue-in-cheek sublime in Routh's. When he adds props, they are decidedly screwy, jacking up the overall over-the-top nature of things, so that you feel as if you've been sucked into the ultimate rabbit hole and will never get out. Nor do you want to.
Dangerous Curve is committed to supporting visionary established and emerging artists of all ages, by emphasizing one-person shows of risky, intelligent work that is not necessarily commercially viable nor currently popular. In a time when other spaces have reduced their performance-art programming, Dangerous Curve is also a new venue for performance artists, with performance-exhibits, monthly performance-art events, and an annual end-of-summer performance-art festival planned.
Melissa McCarthy Hours: whimsical or by appointment ****>>>Adult, maybe; grown-up, never!<<<**** http://www.bonafideart.com
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