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

Given To Fly

A series of flying exercises within Beach Fuck It Bingo, 
 performance art retreat in Galveston Island

Conceived by Jonatan Lopez,

Facilitated and performed by Continuum

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

Run Me Out

Anita Latinlova performs a song by her favorite singer Zola Jesus at 

Continuum's iPerform Kick Off Party at Notsuoh.

Images courtesy of Rico Svaughn
Video documentation by Hilary Sculane

9-10-11 Unspoken (Documented)

 

                                                                    Image by Baltazar Canales

    

On September 10th 2011, The Temple in conjunction with Death Star held 9.10.11. Unspoken,

     a free of speech performance event. Eight male artists and one male dog presented visual and sound    

     works united by a common interest in meditation practices, planetary alignments and the mysteries of

     human consciousnesses. The humans that attended remained silent for the entire duration of the event.

********

Daniel-Kayne and John Pitale welcomed the audience with The Seduction of  Toth. 
Part 1 of an  improvised  sound and vibrations piece, employing gongs and other instruments arranged in an elaborate installation.

 

                                           Detail of  installation by Daniel Kayne, Images by Jonatan Lopez

For Apopstosis, Rowdy Tidwell invited the audience to relinquish their fears

by writing them on his body.

Images by Jonatan Lopez

         

Carlos Baltazar Canales performed a solo piece with cymbals entitled Sciessence. 

For Feed The Beast, Bryce Galbraith shared with us a feeding ritual with his dog. He fed his beloved friend while looking at constellations in his phone App.

Images by Jonatan Lopez

Alex Tu performed an abstract  meditative sound piece aided by an installation 
of numerous speakers.

Image by Baltazar Canales




 For a performance entitled 00:11:11:00.A, I gave fruits to our human audience that represented the nine planets in our solar system, then became possessed by  a death star and traveled at slow shutter speed around the space attempting to steal their planets. I took a bite  off Venus, I kidnapped Mercury and pulverized Saturn.The rest of the planets were kept safe by the humans. The performance lasted 11 minutes and 11 seconds.

Images by Baltazar Canales

    Jonathan Jindra's contribution for the event was an experimental short film entitled Human Devices.

Daniel-Kayne and John Pitale finalized the event by gradually inducing the attending humans into a state of meditation with Tongues of Trinity, for which Baltazar Canales joined them.

Curated by Daniel-Kayne and Jonatan Lopez

Static

Preached within Continuum's  iPerform at Spacetaker's ARC Gallery

 (adapted from lyrics of a song by Godspeed You! Black Emperor)

Documented by Rebecca Burwell

A preview of Static was given 3 days prior at iPerform Kick Off  Party at Notsuoh. 

For this piece I read the Koran to myself inside a window display for a lengthy time, 

gave away pages from the book, and preached to the audience about death, God, 
and the hereafter.

Photo by Hillary Scullane

                                                                Photo by Rico Svaughn

Photo by Rico Svaughn

Photo by Rico Svaughn

Cat falls bored asleep after reading a Koran page.

Photo by Hillary Scullane

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"

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)

Spacetaker presents iPerform by Continuum

As part of its ARC Exhibition Series,Spacetaker presents iPerform, a performance-based exhibition and series of participatory events created by Houston’s newest performance art group, Continuum, at Spacetaker’s ARC Gallery. iPerform consists of an opening night, three free performance art workshops, and a closing event.

iPerform will open with a public reception on Friday, August 26 from 7 to 10 p.m. during which the members of Continuum will display documentation of their work through video and photos, and share live performances that are an extension of this work. In addition to viewing the live performances, the audience will be able to interact with several performative installations and partake in a variety of participatory performances, including:

• Guided visualization/meditation
• Cleansing through ritualistic sweeping
• Confessing sins in exchange for an alcoholic beverage
• Preparing a “shoeulogy” for a shoe graveyard
• Making photocopies of random body parts for a wall collage

The primary goal of iPerform is to create an encouraging and safe atmosphere for the community to explore themselves through the medium of performance. The exhibition will be on view at Spacetaker’s ARC Gallery through September 16, 2011 and is free and open to the public.

Performance Art Workshops:

During the run of the exhibition, the artists of Continuum will facilitate three performance art workshops that are free and open to the public. The workshops will provide opportunities for the community to learn how to create their own performances. Continuum will provide guided exercises, encouraging feedback, and their own performances created specifically for the audience and the space. The closing event will be devoted to performances that arise out of the workshops.

WHAT:	Spacetaker ARC Exhibition: iPerform by Continuum
WHEN:	Exhibition Dates: August 26 - September 16, 2011 Opening Reception: Friday, August 26, 7 - 10 p.m. Second Saturday Open Studios: Saturday, September 10, 2 - 5 p.m. Performance Art Workshops: Monday, August 29, 7 - 10 p.m. Monday, September 5, 7 - 10 p.m. Monday, September 12, 7 - 10 p.m. Closing Event: Friday, September 16, 7 - 10 p.m.
WHERE:	Spacetaker ARC Gallery located in Winter Street Studios 2101 Winter Street, B11, Houston, TX 77007
COST:	Free and open to the public
MORE INFO:	www.spacetaker.org or continuumperformanceart.blogspot.com or call 713.868.1839

PERFORMANCES:

Julia Wallace leads “Group Meditation” with visualizations and affirmations created especially for the audience in attendance. This preparation for openness and acceptance is a Continuum ritual and tradition.

Koomah gathered fascinating stories about shoes donated to him for“Shoeulogies – Preparation for a Shoe Graveyard.”Shoes are laid to rest following eulogies written by the artist. The audience is then summoned to prepare a shoeulogy for the shoes they are currently wearing.

Christine Cook explores intimacy with a stranger in “Not There,” choosing an audience member to take stage with her and perform a typically autonomous and private task. Do the intimate actions we sometimes share with another always maintain that genuine closeness, or does it fade? Can it be found with a stranger?

Raindawg asks the audience to observe “Crucifun[k]tion,” uncovering the erotic body of Christ in female form and challenging the absurdity of a social order that is founded on denial, oppression, and violence. The piece points to the parallels between Christ crucified and BDSM.

In “Cornish Game,” Sway Youngston, wearing a costume assembled from industrial food packaging, moves through the audience offering processed food. She will then take stage and recite original poetry based on the American industrial food system.

A number of permanent performative installations will be ongoing throughout opening night.

Hilary Scullane welcomes the audience to scan their body parts in a copy machine booth in her piece “Copy Me.” The artist will then create a massive collage with wheat paste on a wall in the gallery as part of the performance.

Bryce Galbraith’s installation, “Fairy Tale Cave,” allows guests to adorn costumes and use props to tell their personal mythologies while being photographed.

Emily Sloan performs cleansings on guests in the gallery through ritualistic sweeping in “a Sweep.”

Jonatan Lopez’s installation, “Absolution Mini Bar” invites the audience to confess their sins in exchange for alcoholic beverages, quenching their thirst for spiritual redemption while examining our perceptions of social deviance and poking fun at the nature of religion in general.

About Continuum:

Continuum is a group of performance artists that came together in a performance art workshop facilitated by Julia Wallace in March and April of 2011 at The Jenner House. Through the four week interactive experience we discovered ways of creating powerful performances through collaboration, participation, experimentation, documentation and encouraging feedback. We are connected in the desire to help and encourage each other's self discovery through performance, as well as a desire to give the gift ofperformative expression to others. For more information about Continuum please visit www.continuumperformanceart.blogspot.com.

Continuum’s Participating Members: Meghan Carey, Bryce Galbraith,Koomah, Jonatan Lopez, Raindawg, Hilary Scullane, Christine Cook, Emily Sloan, Julia Wallace, and Sway Youngston.

About Spacetaker:

Spacetaker is a 501(c)3 professional organization and Artist Resource Center located in Houston’s First Ward whose mission it to provide artists and small non-profits access to economic development, continuing education, and networking opportunities to support their professional growth. More at www.spacetaker.org.

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