Dramaturgy
About
As a dramaturg, I have collaborated on several projects over the years, most often with my partner, performance artist Gavin Krastin. Most recently, these include the film project, Swell, created in 2021 and Krastin’s Standard Bank Young Artist Award project, 12 Labours, in 2022. Since 2019 I have also been the resident dramaturg for the Live Art Arcade, where I provide dramaturgical support to the cohort of artists selected each year to participate and present work as part the annual Live Art Arcade platform.
12 Labours (2022)
In 2021 Gavin Krastin was awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Performance Art. 12 Labours is the project that was conceptualised and created as the recipient of the award, taking place in Makhanda/Grahamstown (South Africa) from January 2022, and culminating in an exhibition in June-July 2022 at the National Arts Festival (Makhanda, South Africa).
Occurring over several months and in a range of locations, 12 Labours is a collaborative interdisciplinary performance project that reimagines and queers the classic Greek myth, “The Twelve Labours of Hercules”. Comprised of twelve performative acts and interventions that are both personal and public in nature, the project features Krastin alongside a group of queer artists-come-garden-gnomes working in collaboration with local artisans and citizens in a series of labours rooted in notions of repair, community building, gratitude and transgressive joy.
Conceived by Gavin Krastin and created in collaboration with the team
Dramaturgy by Alan Parker
Videography by Evaan Jason Ferreira, with drone/aerial footage by Brad Jackson
Research Assistance by Julia de Rosenwerth
Production Management by Matthew Short
Participants (collectively):
Akhona Peni, Alice-Jane Marais, Anele Ace Makafe, Anele Cele, Ashwin May, Elizabeth Davies, Enonch Jacob, Ernie Cassels, Ilayiseni Yokuqhuba, Iviwé Mzandisi, Jacques Nicolas Hoefnagels, Jamie-Lee Anthony, Jen Schneeberger, Khanya Ngcuka, Loyiso Gabayi, Lukhanyo Grootboom, Luphumlo Zane Makafe, Lyn Roux, Malibongwe Melitafa, Michelle Lowry, Mthobeli Mali, Mziwakhe Notyhawa, Naledi Chuwe, Nikho Tsotsi, Nine Magagula, Nkosikhaya Booi Lali, Obusitswe “Bird King” Seage, Silas Nkole, Sipho Steven Stimele, Siyabonga Kewuti, Suné Jurgens, Tasmin Sherman, Thembelani Mnyani, Thembinkosi Busakwe, Xolela Kley, Zanele Tlali, Zwelinzima Somyali.
Swell (2021)
“Swell” offers an eco-scenographic meditation on a post-human landscape imagined through an immersive video art installation presented as a triptych. The work considers shapes and forms of power, endurance, determination, alchemy and residue in an environment slowly morphing in the wake of human selfishness.
Through the journey of an inflatable plastic castle, rich in symbolism, the work explores unnatural materialities as they come into proximity with natural landscapes and architectures. A series of subtle negotiations surface in this meeting where oscillating status, shifting power and equivocal states of being emerge.
Concept & Director | Gavin Krastin
Director of Photography & Editor | Evaan Jason Ferreira
Dramaturg | Alan Parker
Production Manager | Julia Ruzyczka de Rosenwerth
Photographer | Georgia Herron Lekorotsoana
Assistant Editor & Designer | Ayanda Maseko
Stage Managers | Matshawandile Kopele & Ashwin May
Stuntman | Jandre Terblanche
Live Art Arcade (2019-)
The Live Art Arcade was established by performance artist, Gavin Krastin, in 2018 as a nomadic exhibition platform for early-career artists working in interdisciplinary live art with interests in durational and site-responsive work. Dwelling in sites, spaces and places, the LAA’s aim is to produce immersive assemblages of experimental live art encounters: an arcade of durational, itinerant, and cyclical live art, where all events happen simultaneously, and audience/participants can engage with the works at their own discretion and structure their journeys as they wish.
For more information on the Live Art Arcade, its artists and participants, and previous arcades (2018-2023) please see the Live Art Arcade website: https://liveartarcade.co.za/