Miller & Shellabarger
The day has a chill in the air, unusual for the month of June in Chicago. With the sky’s threat to rain, Miller & Shellabarger set up in the windows of Rapid Pulse’s Hub. The 2 bearded men place 2 wooden chairs at opposite ends of the raised storefront window where they will engage in […]
The Burlesque Butcher
Cleaver-wielding beauty Anna Felicity Friedman AKA the Burlesque Butcher provided a rousing kick-off to this week at the Rapid Pulse International Performance Art Festival with a provocative performance on Monday afternoon. Friedman’s process began with a thorough cleaning of the two parallel, street facing windows in front of the Defibrillator gallery. Drop cloths were placed, […]
Two Blue Pills, a Clock and a Glass of Water…
waited patiently by the foot of her bed. At noon, artist Elana Katz entered the performance space of Defibrillator wearing a perfectly pressed pair of white pajamas and proceeded to take the two blue sleep-inducing pills. For the duration of the eight-hour piece “They Said It Was Dry”, Katz remained bedridden, a prisoner to white […]
Arianna Ferrari “H-Transmitter” Opens Channel for Connection
Italian Sound Artist Turned Instrument at Rapid Pulse Festival Arianna Ferrari, Italy, sits, limbs bent and forward, with her face toward the audience. From her abdomen draws ten electronic objects, transistor radios, turned on. The radios stick to her rib cage, held together with tightly bound tape. The sound omitted from the radios contact and […]
Jess Dobkin Free Childcare Provided
The Hub (located at 1535 Division) is the central gathering place for artists and volunteers during this year’s Rapid Pulse International Performance Art Festival. On Saturday and Sunday afternoon, however, artists and children alike could be seen occupying the storefront site. In the performance project Free Childcare Provided, artist Jess Dobkin (Canada) transformed the Hub […]
Sara Holwerda Cabaret Monologue Draws on Impressed Heterosexual Dynamics
Michigan Artist Creates Sexualized Visual Poetry through Dance If all heterosexual matches between man and woman took place on a dance floor, society might stand at a cat’s game. Sara Holwerda’s performance, visual burlesque poetry, that tackles exactly this dynamic, spoke worlds of traditional malefemale sexual dynamics and power struggles, using monologuestyle dance accompanied by […]