My Filthy Self

A performance about  the fear of becoming impure.

Continuum Live Art Series, Fourth Night
Documented by Julia Wallace
Avant Garden, Houston TX. March 2013

Images courtesy of Hilary Scullane

what makes you feel at ease

What is your best childhood memory?
What would make you the happiest person in the world right now?
Where would you like to go for vacation this summer?
Which was the best day of your life?
Who is your best friend?
What is your favorite love song?
What is the nicest thing someone has done for you?
What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?
Which of your dreams have come true?
When were you kissed for the first time?
Who do you love?
Who loves you?
What makes you feel free?
What makes you feel at ease?

Continuum Live Art Series, Third Night
AvantGarden, Houston TX. January 2013
Documented by Julia Wallace

Images Courtesy of Hilary Scullane

Vamp Banger

A mischievous performance inside Boheme's restroom.
Performed by Jonatan Lopez and Sway Youngston.
Facilitated by Continuum
Cultured Cocktails with Continuum (AKA Cockroach Cock-tails)
July 2012

BROWN

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up to its creed, that all men and women 
are equally doomed to shit- Jonatan Lopez

Conceived by Jonatan Lopez
Performed by Sway Youngston and Jonatan Lopez
Facilitated by Continuum
Featuring Craig Christie and Raindawg
Video by Jonathan Jindra

Avant Garden/ Lone Star Performance Explosion
Houston International Performance Art Biennale 2012

Photography by Michael E. Johnston

Viscocity

A performance about relationship drama.
Performed at Kali, A Pre-Valentine's Day Performance Art Adventure at The Orange Show
Facilitated by Continuum.

Ingredients: Crisco, electrical cords, beef intestines, pig blood, head rush, a love song mash-up, a strobe light, melancholy, lust.

Sodom, Uncut

Preached at Explicitly Chingonas, The Art of Sexual Taboos.
Curated by Lizbeth Ortiz.
Documented by Tina McPherson
East End Studio Gallery, Houston 
(For Mature Audiences)

Telepathy at Menil Park

Through a guided meditation, participants attempted to exchange positive concepts about existence, 
visualizing the strings as channels of communication.

Conceived by Jonatan Lopez

Facilitated by Continuum

Performed during BYOP III at Menil Park, November 2011

    Photo by Brian Scott, merged with the universe

Beef: Cattle that is reared for its meat (Documented)

Multimedia installation at The Kenmore at Box 13 ArtSpace

October 1st 2011, Houston Tx

Ingredients: Raw beef, Manwich Barbecue Sauce, milk carton, egg beaters

VCR head cleaners, stolen footage, heavy rope, plastic sheets, cutting saw, beefy specimen,

obsession, lust.

Images captured by Hilary Scullane 

Images captured by me

Beef Installation, Featuring Craig Christie

Beef: Trailer for The Film, (Shown inside milk carton)

Stay tuned for the release of the full length film in this blog.

Click below to read a review of "Beef" and other installations at Box 13 that night

by Hank Hankcock in The Houston Press.

Box 13 Brings a Snuggly Temple-Fortress, A Stinking Kenmore Icebox and a Horror Show

Special thanks to Emily Sloan, Rowdy Tidwell and Craig Christie

Experiments in Sex Sense

In this experiment,  audience members were invited to perform oral sex to a male human specimen
while he was blindfolded,

he had to guess who was  male or female.

If you would like to watch this video email jonatanlopez@hotmail.com for the password and 

 to verify your age.

Conceived for Repulsion X-rated Beauty

Performed by Breutanan

September 2011, Dungeon Deluxe, Houston Tx

Helicopter 1st Segment (Raindawg)

                                 Conceived for Repulsion, X-rated Beauty, Performance art and live sex show.

                                 Performed by Breutanan and the public.

                                 September 2011, Houston Tx, 

00:11:11:00.B

                                  Performed at iPerform Closing Party by Continuum

                                  Spacetaker's ARC Gallery

                                  September 2011, Houston Tx

Images by Hilary Scullane

Experiments in Sixth Sense

A performance art exercise conducted at iPerform Performance Art Workshop 2 by Continuum 

at Spacetaker's ARC Gallery.

Documented by Raindawg

Facilitated by Continuum and Spacetaker

Absolutions

Many humans had the opportunity to chug their sins away during the opening night for iPerform at Spacetaker's ARC Gallery. Brother F and Sister G from The Alphas assisted the sinners in their search for redemption by exchanging their sins for alcoholic beverages.

Performed by the public, Rebecca Burwell and Rowdy Tidwell

Facilitated by Continuum and Spacetaker
Conceived by Jonatan Lopez
Sponsored by Bud Light Lime

                                                           Sinners gone wild , photo by Hilary Scullane  
                                                           
                                       

                                                                        Sister G, Photo by Julia Wallace

    Photo by "me"

Beef: Cattle that is reared for its meat

Artist Jonatan Lopez will unveil a new multimedia installation examining his physical attraction towards "Beefy Men" at The Kenmore, located in Box13 ArtSpace, with Beef: Cattle that is Reared for its Meat. This one night only event will take place on October 1, 2011 from 7:00pm to 9:30p.m.

For this work, the artist has immersed himself in an arduous examination of his physical attraction towards "Beefy Men." He has selected a few bulls from the herd incessantly pursuing them without their knowledge, luring them, acting out his desires, and using his own body as a research tool in an attempt to solve the mystery behind his obsession. His installation at The Kenmore invites us to enter the secret room of his darkest fantasies, a place where lust and transgression reign. Ingredients: voyeuristic footage, found organs, stolen photos, beef derived products, obsession.

(Adult Content)

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jonatan Lopez is an interdisciplinary artist. His works examine issues of debate within social and personal realms, often using empirical observation as research method. His performances and installations become surveys and social experiments that open valuable community discussion.

Jonatan has exhibited in numerous venues in Houston, from alternative art spaces like Project Row Houses and DiverseWorks Art Space to more traditional venues like Bayou City Art Festival. He enjoys curating and collaborating with other artists.

He currently lives in the Houston Heights with his partner and their three lab dogs.

ABOUT THE KENMORE 
Not just another white cube, The Kenmore is a small, cold exhibition object measuring approximately 36" x 24"x 24". The Kenmore's mission is to keep ideas fresh through the opportunity of a unique exhibition context and the experience of collaboration.

The Kenmore at Box 13 ArtSpace, 6700 Harrisburg Blvd. Houstoon, Texas 77006

9-10-11 Unspoken

A gathering of unspoken intentions, a free of speech performance event presented by 'The Temple' in conjunction with 'Death Star.' In preparation for the upcoming planetary alignment (10.28.11), a group of performance artists united by an interest in the mysteries of human consciousness will share a series of experiments through non verbal communication. Thoughts, concepts and ideologies will be expressed free of speech, through sound & vibrations, tactile, visual and other substitutes. Program: 8:00 Speech vanishes 8:30 Performances Start The Seduction of Toth. Daniel-Kayne and John Pitale Apoptosis. Participatory Performance. Rowdy Tidwell Instructions: Relinquish your fears by writing them on me. sciessence. Sound. Carlos Baltazar Canales Feed The Beast. Performance. Bryce Galbraith Untitled. Sound. Alex Tu 0:11:11.0. Participatory Performance. Jonatan Lopez Instructions: A planet has been given to you, and if you can not protect it, no one will. Human Devices. Video. Jonathan Jindra This Concludes our Broadcast Day. Performance. Koomah Tongues of Trinity (a dialog between Osiris, Isis, and Horus) . Sound and Participatory Performance. Daniel-Kayne, John Pitale and and Elijah Allen-Ross Kelley DRUM CIRCLE 00:00? Speech returns Leave speech at home. Bring your own wisdom, live your own truth. Attendees are encouraged to challenge themselves to use nonverbal communication until all the performances are completed, at which time those who wish to participate can engage dialogue about their experience and the performances. Attendees will receive a program when they enter 'The Temple' the program will give some insight into the performances, as well as directions if needed. About The Temple: 'The Temple' is a nonprofit art space established in 2011 by Daniel-Kayne, with the intention to challenge definitions of reality and social norms, by hosting visual and performance art events, which promote the ultimate mission of 'The Temple'... to encourage others to practice peace and tolerance. About Death Star: Death star is a research art project examining new apocalyptic theories and their effect on society. Death Star was inaugurated during Skydive Art Space's Many Mini residency in a an event called The Conference. The Temple by artist Daniel-Kayne as well as other media based projects by participating artists are currently in active dialogue with Death Star. Death Star is inspired by the final messages of former NASA pilot Daniel Crew. Leave speech at home. Bring your own wisdom, live your own truth. Curated by Daniel-Kayne and Jonatan Lopez Saturday 9.10.11. at The Temple

2300 McKinney 4th Floor through the metallic blue door (Francisco's Studio's building)

Death Star: The Conference (Review)

Death Star: The Conference examined new apocalyptic theories such as the imminent arrival of a hypothetical dwarf star in our solar system called Nibiru, its disastrous effects in our planet and a government conspiracy plan called Depopulation, while proposing the idea that everything we are, see and do is a virtual manifestation of our deepest emotions, Love and Fear.

In a series of videos, Eric Anthony Crew explained the philosophy behind Sacred Geometry, exposed his research pertaining to the concepts of reality and consciousnesses, and shared his views on the upcoming ascension of humanity into a higher state of consciousness, linked to the end of the Mayan calendar.

DEATH STAR MEDITATION (play audio)

Julia Wallace prepared us to deal with the dark content of the program by painting a third eye in our foreheads and guiding us through a meditation session, aided by a recording of her voice enhanced with futuristic sound effects.

Sway Youngston and Raindawg impersonated two members of a new cosmic religion called “The Alphas.” They studied with us two newspaper articles from the future containing information about a group of artists that exposed classified NASA files in the year 2011 through a project called Death Star, the rise of their own religion, the theories of Nibiru and Depopulation , and the imprisonment of conceptual artist Jonatan Lopez.

Alex Tu improvised a sound performance that invited the audience to close their eyes and travel into outer space through abstract vibrational frequencies.

Keith Brimmer and Jonathan Richie showed us how to infuse a joint with love. Keith played a guitar cover of ‘Love Song’ by The Cure to Jonathan rolling two fat joints that were smoked in the patio during Death Star’s private after party.

Raindawg played an audio recording by FBI agent Roland Skinner, explaining how he infiltrated the cult-like performance art group Continuum and became aware of the declassification of NASA files through the art project called Death Star.

Stephanie Saint Sanchez shared with us her film “This One Time in Texas,” featuring colorful characters preparing for an imminent apocalypse.

James Ciosek constructed Sun Hunter v2. a solar power bicycle made to withstand an apocalypse, equipped with hunting gear, solar power grids, and many other useful features. Sunhunter was on display on the front lawn of Skydive.

Continuum performed ‘Shiva Renaissance,” a poem that artist Levi Rosen composed for the occasion.

I, Jonatan Lopez, impersonated a blind priest, recited the lyrics of Built Then Burnt, a song by ‘A Silver Mount Zion’ and guided the audience through a final affirmation, encouraging them to conquer their apocalyptic fears with Love. I also invited our guests to participate in future Death Star endeavors, including a series of media based art projects to be released prior to October 28th 2011 (Planetary alignment date).

“The artist that does not want to be named” provided refreshments for the after party, during which we played more songs, engaged in interesting dialogue and thanked the universe for the new friendships and bonds we encountered.

Death Star is inspired by the final messages of Daniel Crew (a former NASA pilot) and dedicated to honor his legacy.

Special thanks to Eric Anthony Crew, Sarrita Hunn, Ryan Thayer, Ana Guzman, Carrie Schneider, Jason Jeffrey, Skydive and ‘the artist that does not want to be named.’

Images courtesy of Carrie Schneider, Jason Jeffrey, Ana Guzman and Tonya CatLady.

Conceived by Jonatan Lopez

Invocations to the Rain

Through our Inner Selves

Through Raindawg

These invocations were performed as an attempt to change the weather once upon a drought in Texas. They happened during Meghan Carey's "Let It Begin With Me," and evening of meditaion and rain dance at Herman Park, Houston on July 2nd of 2011. Four  days later, it started raining.

Facilitated by Continuum

Waiting for The Unknown, Collaboration with Hilary Scullane

 

Hilary Scullane sits blindfolded and tied up in a scary neighborhood, waiting for The Unknown. Performed by Hilary Scullane, conceived by Jonatan Lopez. This piece was an experiment within Performance Art Workshop facilitated by Julia Wallace at The Jenner House in Houston. March 2011.

Images courtesy of Rico Svaughn

ABSOLUTION

The participants of Absolution were given beer in exchange for their sins. The beer represented Christ's urine, meant to dissolve their sins. Then a prayer was said using the lyrics of a popular song. This piece was part of Performance Art Workshop facilitated by Julia Wallace at The Jenner House in Houston. March 2011

"DRINK BUD LIGHT LIME"

COUSINS by Mike James

Watch "Cousins," the second film by my multi-talented friend Mike James.  Starring Marissa Viso, Kyle Firmin, Francis Stokely, Heath Gresham and a guy named Jonatan Lopez.

Premise:
"Cousins" is a story about a recovering addict  in Houston who on the night he plans to propose to his girlfriend gets an unwelcome visit from two of his cousins that have murderous intentions.