“Making Miami” Art show curated via Bas Fisher Invitational, Art Basel Miami, December 2023, I was a part of the group show, displaying a 12 drawing series titled “Hurt Yourself (for money)”
Organesis is an ongoing performative narrative by Jenna Balfe investigating human value and fulfillment in this time of overstimulation, overpopulation and perceived emotional scarcity. Through a series of rehearsed movements, improv and live music, performers explore the concept of fulfillment.
Video of Organesis
This version of Organesis is a snapshot of my worldview. In section 1- “Fishbowl” We explore through movement the concept of seeing the world through a convex eye. Looking through the fishbowl, with a robotic fish swimming around speaks to the overly myopic experience of humans today.
The next section- “Superstar Chicken” plays with the idea of fame. As humans on a macroscopic level we are in community yet also in competition. Even down to the most inane instance, say a conversation or on a more personal level- being in a band with my partner, there are times when we both clamor towards the spotlight. It becomes a matter of how you choose to play. Humor is the rubric for this game.
In “Water Dance” Valeria enters the stage as a vulnerable being, hot off the cosmic press. I enter the stage and offer her an enclosed unit of water. The containment of something so basic in branded, bought and sold plastic is mayhem. Our of chaos comes the dance- a place where we want to offer ourselves but are afraid, we are afraid of the reprucssions of the market economy, of the social media count down. We encounter a plastic fountain and bathe in it’s humour then finally connect.
In “Full” the piece resolves itself, a well deserved sigh after what seems like an endless struggle. A sweet song and a display of the true charachters of the cast to break the fourth wall and rebel against ourselves. As
Movement and Narrative Directed by: Jenna Balfe
Movement in collaboration with Valeria Gonzalez
Music Directed by Dennis Fuller
Musicians: David Bennet, Violet La Guardia
Songs in order of appearance:
Fishbowl- written by Donzii (an unreleased track off their forthcoming album)
Interlude: Dennis Fuller, David Bennet, Violet La Guardia
Superstar Chicken- Jenna Balfe and Dennis Fuller
Ambient Track- David Bennet, Dennis Fuller, Violet
Full- Dennis Fuller, Jenna Balfe, Violet Laguardia
Hair, Makeup and Costumes by : Liz Ferrer
Big thanks to Chandler Jaffe, Misael Soto, Pete Colombo, Flip, El Fuege, Carlo Barbaci, O'neil Barden and Casey Zap who made the original version of Organesis come to life!
Video from archival performance.
Organesis is a movement/music narrative and score that explores the theme of fulfillment and value in our current late-capitalist landscape. The idea of perceived emotional scarcity keeps us running and buying and wearing away at our instinctual existence. By using pre-determined structures and set's of gestures I will continue to explore this ongoing work of by creating a performance set to live music that will visually and sonically explore these theme's. The audience will be implored to participate in a safe/consentual manner as a means of exploring what I will call “the container of humanity”.
Organesis I is and composition made for organ and loop synthesis directed by Dennis Fuller in collaboration with: Peter Colombo, Alxey Serzhen and Flip. The intention of the piece is to create a circular symphonic experience of space and sound. The installation of satellite dishes was done in a way to increase the surround affect of the music.
Organesis II is the narrative of People Temple directed by Jenna Balfe. It is a story of the human race in the mode of graciousness and expresses their demise into a world of idea’s and politics. Moving forward into a time of sea level rise cleansing, we are brought to a post human world where new potential life has arisen. In collaboration with musicians: Dennis Fuller, Pete Colombo and Carlo Barbacci and Movers: Misael Soto and Chandler Leigh. Set design: O’neil Barden and Casey Zap of The Center for Subtropical Affairs who also installed a plant pop-up shop at the entrance. We also had products features from Toca Botanicals, who create CBD based sexual lube. Commerce was invited into the art space, because that is reality.
I look forward to continue this work in the near future as the collaborative energy of this group is magical and healing. I am looking into funding opportunities- if you have any ideas in regard to this please let me know! I also am looking at other manners of extending this work to engage community involvement and support our art community.
Special thanks to support from the Miami Beach Department of Art and Culture Open House Program for including us in their “Open House” residency.
Huge thank you to all who came out to support.
On December 7, 2020- Dennis Fuller and I performed a work in progress on The Historic Virginia Key Beach Park for the Trunk Town Market. It was a foray into the possibilities of creating absurdist, dramatic musical interpretations of various narratives. In this case, it was a comedic look into the experience of 2020. The work was intended to be cathartic for both us and the crowd. We gave everyone second place ribbons in the end for achievements such as “Being the most on time” “Most likely to do good” and of course “Cutest couple” (that went to a single person). It is possible that we will do more performances like this one.
On August 27, 2020 Jenna Balfe lead us on a virtual tour, starting with an introduction to her community Bodymovement class and including detail of her new work titled Repatriating to the Earth.
Join us digitally for our tour program, Local Views at PAMM, where select local artists will speak about their creative process and artistic practice. This w...
Temporal Replication
Jenna Balfe with Abagael / Sound by Sticky Bunz
August 22nd, 2019
In collaboration with Miami Design District & Placeholder
Miami Design District in collaboration with Ground Control Miami and Placeholder present: Temporal Replication by Jenna Balfe with Abagael Mahoney and sounds by Sticky Bunz
Temporal Replication introduces the opportunity to create a performative environment on a site commonly intended for leisure and consumption. The site-specific performance, inspired by Urs Ficher’s public sculpture, Bus Stop, 2017, suggests viewers engage with space and place while allowing opportunities for dialogue between art, architecture, design, and performance.
Urs Fischer’s public sculpture, Bus Stop, 2017, commissioned for Miami Design District’s, Paradise Plaza, alludes to references of non-gendered, neutral culture via the reduced quality of the skeleton––a feeling of ‘uncontrollable-ness’ is implied by the constant drops on the head and the seemingly unintentional pool of water that remains on the ground. Working in reaction to Fischer’s commentary, Temporal Replication incorporates the site-specificity of Bus Stop, 2017, asking us to take a moment and accept both the humor and horror, in times largely experienced through the dissemination of media/consumption frenzy.
Miami-based band Sticky Bunz will perform alongside Balfe during the activation followed by a short set including the three artists.
Performance based on a poem. Original music score by Dennis Fuller.
The Spiral lead her to wander
To look for light in the dark
illuminated are the creatures she built
inside each creature, a piece of each one.
They watch and slowly fall in love.
The smallness of their minds can not behold…
The length of each other despite difference.
It is seeming imperfection that marks their determination.
They come to hold each other
to dream of warmth and pleasure.
the dream is done, for now.
Metromovement is an exstension of the Transnaturism work. Jenna Balfe’s WEIRD MIAMI Metro Tour will give attendees a look behind the scenes into her practice, as she’ll discuss how Miami specifically informs her work while navigating sites downtown via the Metromover. In true Jenna fashion, she’ll incorporate moments of nature, empathy, performance, surprise, and audience engagement throughout the tour as she previews Transnaturism, her upcoming solo project with BFI.
See Video Here:
Metromovement is presented with support from the Downtown Development Authority.
1st stop - Omni People mover stop- A strange creature and tour guide also known as Jenna Balfe will emerge from an overlooked bush labyrinth to hand people “informational zines” from just over the hedges.
Weird People Mover Intervention - A disenchanted Dennis Fuller boards the metromover to play a triumphant apocolyptic tune. Gazing out the window with dreams that can only live in song.
3rd stop- Bayfront Park designed by the artist Isamu Noguchi . Misael and Baker experience an existential crisis related to the failed premise of the landscape design of the park intended to be an oasis within the city, not an escape from it. Also tackling the feelings of the individual in the city of other's, alone but enveloped. The couple are searching for each other, with each other but disconnected by the overarching weight of individuality. They struggle against and within the structure designed to bring them closer to the outdoors. Yet ultimately, it is the same script of consumption that has inspired their division.
Also the 3rd stop- Jenna and Nikki exist in two different potential future realities of Earth. Jenna comes from a reality that was dominated by machines, yet failed and Nature had begun to re-claim, providing a campy perspective on "technology" as tool, foe and friend to grow with. Nikki comes from a reality where a Nature army prevailed. She represents fluidity of growth in her movement yet grounded by the need to fight and protect. Their dance is one of discovery and compromise between the two potential realities. They end with a jousting match that incorporates the Noguchi Marble Slide, that after they are done performing, participants are welcome to try :)
4th Stop- The Met 1 Tequesta Village "Preservation site" Back in 2013 when Met 1 was under construction, during the land survey an Indian Village was uncovered. "Archaeologists who for months have been uncovering mounting evidence of an ancient and extensive Native American village in the middle of downtown Miami have concluded it’s likely one of the most significant prehistoric sites in the United States." (Viglucci, "Prehistoric Village found in Downtown Miami" Miami Herald, 2014) The initial site as designated by Bob Carr spanned an entire 2 lots, yet what has been preserved is a shitty little circle that has no signage, littered with trash and even occludes some of the post holes with the perimeter of the concrete circle. "The city of Miami granted MDM zoning and development approvals for the Met Square project, though not a final building permit, before the full scope of the archaeological finds was known or understood. The site has also yielded thousands of Tequesta artifacts, including bone and shell tools, as well as newly uncovered remnants of industrialist Henry Flagler’s 1897 Royal Palm Hotel, which gave rise to the city of Miami."(Viglucci, "Prehistoric Village found in Downtown Miami" Miami Herald, 2014) I will be doing a plant offering ceremony to the site as a way of bringing love, honor and attention to this Historically and Spiritually important place that is shamefully preserved and represented. I will ask that people who take pictures and share this on social media use the hashtag #met1 and write on the post with the site featured: Shame on Met 1, Bring honor to the Tequesta Village Preservation Site!
The bringers of change. Traveling down a long hallway toward the crowd playing harmony and dissonance on recorders. They prepare the audience for their entrance to the hidden salvation from the confusion of the city.
5th stop- Knight Center People Mover Station (Jenna, Knives) Jenna and Knives will perform a choreography that investigates the ways in which anxiety manifests itself into our gestures and usage of vices/technology and time. Empathy is discovered by passing through the commodification of time. The piece is set to the ticking of a metronome to represent time, as well as the inhale and exhale of breath. As they descend the ominous escalator to the next section they chant the lyrics from a Donzii song
“Nothing takes the place of you
Because time is material
and i’ve gone through you back to me. “
7th Stop- SKY LOUNGE- ( Jenna, Miles, Knives, Nikki, Baker, Misael, Dan, Dennis, Raffa, Gregorio, Eddy) This is the Final stop. It is a magical and strangely empty indoor and outdoor corporate lounge. The outdoor lounge is covered in tree's and limestone and has a lovely view. The goal here is to feed off of the strange desolate feeling of the sky lounge and the omnipotent view offered by the rooftop lounge. The Transnaturism crew has been informed that this rooftop is the last place on Earth that has any green left. It is their home and they are allowing people a glimpse. People will come off the elevator and Dan will appear out of nowhere and loudly go around and around in the revolving door to left of the elevator. Eventually this will lead people out onto the rooftop terrace. Immediately there is a grassy patch that people will see. Jenna and Baker will be doing a joyous, weird star trek next generation, utopian cat dance. From the labyrinth that sits in the middle of the magical pool Misael and Nikki will throw rose petals from the maze leading people to the hallway at the edge of the building. Here Dan, Dennis and Miles begin the marching band of human dissonance and death. Dan at the front leads them down the hallway towards the end. Just past halfway down the Hallway the rest of the lounge inhabitants appear and fetch random computer parts out of the bushes that line the walls. They begin a wild cacophonous street parade behind the serious Death March Crew. The entire cast leads the audeince to to look over the edge where they will see an activation occurring on distant rooftop with Raffa and Gregorio and Frank the Giant Head. Dennis and Miles will be playing music with the gang on the other rooftop from the skylounge.
Photos by: Logan Fazio and Naomi Fisher and Lee Pivnik
Press: “Trespassing Artist Honors Miami Circle at Downtown Construction Site” By: Jess Swanson
BfI: http://www.basfisherinvitational.com/Sept-7-Metromovement-A-WEIRD-MIAMI-Tour-by-Jenna-Balfe
The evening will be a seamless flow between performance art, live music and dj. The best way to describe it would be a "Happening" a term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a art-related event or multiple events or multiple events occurring at the same time.
The theme of the piece is water, land and the struggle that goes on between people's usage of the land and the affect that this has on the water. It also looks at the general struggle that people share existing on a planet that is controlled and not considered. The beauty, absurdity and darkness that are inherent within this struggle will be visually represented by props, performance and projection.
Artists: Donzii a Post Punk, Funk, Darkwave musical quintet fronted by Jenna Balfe, recent Ellies award winner and performance artist, will collaborate with Monica Lopez De Victoria, Director of Verso Synchro, who recently returned from a three month long residency at the acclaimed Bauhaus residency in Berlin, Germany. Playing between the sets will be Brother Dan, voted by Miami New Times as "The Best DJ in Miami 0f 2018".
Transnaturism 1.4
Performance and sculptural installation of the progressive narrative of Transnaturism by Jenna Balfe.
Featuring performers: Nicole Salcedo, Baker, Pebble Yaffee, Baker Stephaine, Misael Soto and Daniel Edenberg
Music: Dennis Fuller, David Bennet and Miles Hancock
Poetry by: Monica Uszerswicz
Transnaturism is a play on the Transhumanist movement. Transhumanism theorizes that human beings will evolve beyond our current capacity through the physical adaptation of technologies into the body. Transnaturism theorizes that human evolution will excel to greater heights through an opposite process of moving toward symbiotic and healing relationship with organic life/nature.
This performance was supported by Oolite Arts, BFI , Nada Art Fair and Mana Contemporary.
Character Descriptions:
Jenna- Thrown from a period of time in the early 1900’s She was tuned in to the painful harmonics of the Earth and Human conversations which led her to seek refuge.
Nikki- Also thrown from the early 1900’s Nikki was deeply invested in the magic of plants and earth love. She also had become aware of the pending doom in store for She identifies as being a leaf.
Dan- He represents the patriarchical greedfull raping and fucking of the Earth. He is responsible for the human extinction. He has an empathy that he supresses.
Baker- A native of Shadow Earth, Baker has an innocence to her. As the refelxions of Earth settle into her, the option of choice creates the moment where innocence is lost.
Pebble- Is a native of the Shadow planet- She is aware of her body and self in an abstracted way. As though she was built and intended by someone else. She grapples with feeling abandoned by what she eventually perceives to be humanity.
Monica- Is from neither world. She exists on the proscenium of the experience, speaking neither to truth not to ignorance in particular.
Misael- Is also from an inbetween world. They represent success and judgement. They are also an afterthought to the destruction of womanman. They are like the undertaker.
Dennis- Is the ryhtym of the experience. He functions to move the event forward, despite the ongoings.
Myles- A mischevious elf.
Synopsis: The story has a timeless ambiguity about it. The Jenna and Nikki have been ejected from Earth during the human extinction- but it is not clear when that occured. Giving the time aspect of the story a cyclic reality. Dan- the destroyer, represents the misuse of life- was ejected from Earth onto Shadow Earth. Shadow Earth is another planet, but also a reflexion of Earth. It exists in a timeless state that is open to the possibilty of choice and linear time, but this junction has not yet been reached.
Mood: Dark as it may sound, I see true progress being the immaterialization of human kind. The kindness of this rests is the beauty of the perceived universe. Darkness and Death become sweet sentiments of real progress.
Props:
The Log- 9ft log on wheels with two 6 ft sails on top. The sails will have holes for hands, feet objects to peer out.
The Vine/Cable Rack - A rack made out of branches where live vines, fake vines and cables will be hung. It also will have hooks on the branches.
The Sisyphean Dollies from The Good Lords Hell - Two poorly made dollies that are piled up with technologies of all types, plant matter, paper, ornaments- that will be utilized in the procession.
Music: A pre-made track and live marching drums at the end.
Section 1
The Music Starts
Emerging from the life pod Jenna and Nikki had transmuted belief into a mixture of awkward “modern” technology and the grace of life. Forgiving and astounded at once. They have been thrown from the planet Earth, which recently had expelled human life, finding themselves between Earth and Earth’s Shadow World. The Shadow world is new, innocent. They are wearing their Breathing Suits- which are what kept them alive as Earth progressed towards human extinction.
Stumbling to re- find form, they are both tragic and humourous at the same time. They enter into the dance of the ancient code of the chameleon.
Their dance is curious, yet filled with a sense of incompleteness, they are left out, they are other. Their strangeness brings them together, as often occurs with humans- creating a duet. (duet music)
Section 2 ( Starts when Jenna and Nikki reach duet- happens simultaneously)
The first flower ever bloomed on Shadow Earth. Baker, a native Shadow inhabitant emerges from the flower, at first it is a beautiful event, but as with any new begining the confusion creates nervous energy and the cyclic death pattern that had landed them back between times is remembered/reflected and the first flower in stomped.
Because they are between worldings, the obsolete bone deforming falsity mingled with the breath of the leaves. The Natives evaluate their presence.
Section 3 ( Occuring simultaneously with Native landing) (Words are spoken- Monica reads her poem- which Nikki and Jenna dance in response to.)
Meanwhile, Nikki and Jenna are thrown apart, they remember anger, individualistic disconnection. Their minds breach contact within themselves. The pain of solipsist aggregation ensues, they seperate from their embrace. The Natives in their innocence offer help. Nikki and Jenna are helped out of their Breathing Suits. They put them onto the rack. The dance of lost Connection begins. (Third Dance)
Section 4 ( Is happening during the reading of the poem)
Dan enters the patio area. He walks in with heavy purpose. He is the man, responsible for the ejection of human kind. The morning of this other world was upon him. In a suit he sits in a chair shifting with the pain of seconds.
The plan has been seen through and he struggles with a sense of accomplishment and the unavoidable tear that has occurred from the destruction of self, other and planet.
Perceived self was set to be fine… but as actual self was relentlessly fucked raped and used, with total disregard for sanity, air quality, plants or feelings…
The internal tear was too deep, and so he too was castigated to the space between worldlings. Part old world, part new orientation- Shadow Earth.
Heavy with the replete fucking of the Earth, he slides off the chair. As he slides off the chair to the ground- He becomes noticed by the two original inhabitants of the Shadow world. (Baker and Pebbs) As they are from this world that is new to the earthling cast aways.
They attend to the duty of acquainting him with the ground. With innocence, they discover remnanats of his planet, that strangely is also their planet and re-appropriate them into clothing technology. (from the inside of his suitcase)
Section 6 ( Which happens while the Natives are adorning themselves)
Jenna and Nikki see the sympathy and become confused. They begin to make some calculations (the computer dance)
Section 7
Jenna and Nikki reach a conclusion. They make their way over to the Native beings.
Through a gestural dance that involves touch and friendship they agree to wrap Dan with the vines and carry him over head and place him inside the Log prop.
Pebble and Baker go inside the prop with Dan. This time they are inside represents choice. Here the patriarchial destroyer in trapped with innocence. Will the darkness of his empathy allow him to join? Body parts portrude from the holes in the sails- items are tossed out.
Section 8 ( Occurs during log occupation)
Misael in Gender neutral dress comes out. They offer Nikki and Jenna a drink and paints something on their faces. They enter into precise angualr movements and engage in the Battle of The Log. Misael stands and watches- eventually whipping out a tape measure arbitrarily measuring the inches of difference in distance on either side. Eventually- without any seeming reason they stop and also enter the log. Hands come out of the fabric adorning Misael with something. He alone begins to push the log. Singing begins.
Section 9
Dan, Pebble , Nikki and Jenna exit the log. Dennis enters with the marching tom. Every one gets in a line infront of eachother and has a duet to the beat of the drum. The feeling of being seen by someone who can see you, widens the soul and connects us to ourselves, eachother and planet. Though it may be painful, as some people are more reflective than others, it is important that we try. This moment is apex of emotionality for the piece. Meditation, love and honesty are the motivations.
Section 10
The awkward dolly cart is wheeled out by Myles who also wears the marching bass drum.
The procession begins.
The procession is meant to be humourous, dystopic, medieval, sexy, fun and punk. Not Bread and Puppet vibe… a bit more dark. But also open to people- not meant to exclude outside participation. It is an existential moment to be sure, parading through the “Art Fair” of material items, in times of capitalistic heart destruction. How do we assemble our meanings?
It would be so great if each of you could add what the procession could potentially resolve for you below. Just put your name next to your blub.
Jenna- For me, the procession will resolve a desire I have had ever since the first Basel came to my town. My original idea was to shove firecrackers in my ass and roll through the fair on roller skates as a form of protest. Now that I am older and wiser…. I still want to do this. No- but seriously, now it is about me being present within such a system, with objects that are all recyled and re-usable, presenting a concept that is anti, but with some heart. Cuz, in the end we all will be dead.
A performance piece and video work for the show Emergency Contacts an exhibition curated by Placeholder Gallery and Jamieson Webster. Based on "Figure Out", a semi-fictional epistolary novel by Jamieson Webster and Marcus Coelen, published by Heinzfeller Nileisist.
Project 81
September 14, 2018 8pm
The body objectified is a vessel for communication. Object of Touch looks at the undeniable need all people have to communicate via physical connection. The body becomes an object in the out of doors organic environment. The piece explores this relationship between object and environment through the loving and palpable dance of touch between newlyweds, the gentle conversation between two dear friends and emotional violence represented as confrontation. The Object of touch explores emotional communication through movement and touch as a better bridge to connection than verbal communication. Objectification of the environment begets objectification of the self and each other. Set in the lush subtropical landscapes of South Florida, Object of Touch explores how we identify the emotional, physical and organic landscape while seeking to re-connect these aspects of being.
The video is available for viewing upon request. Projection 8 minutes.
Natasha Velez was the dancer for this piece along with myself.
I generated simple movement gestures that involved physical connection in accordance to the tone of the verbal prompts:
“Hold my hands as though I am your Mother”
“Touch my chest as though you pity me”
“Walk with me in a lie”
“Embrace me as your lover”
Below are some photo’s of the performance that took place during the performance.
All photos by: Katz Hernandez
This piece I designed for collaboration with Misael Soto for his MFA show "Side Show" at SAIC in Chicago on May 11, 2018.
Using a sewn together lycra fabric as a means of dialogue, Misael and I wore the fabric as we engaged in three different dialogue's through physical conversation. The piece was viewed from the 13th floor of the school building and was performed in the courtyard of the SAIC museum. No permission was asked. The following topics were discussed:
Love
Arguing
Play
The subjects were moved into and out of over a period of 25 minutes. On the 13th floor a tape player played a recording of verbal conversations that could accompany the physical enactments of the dialogues being acted out below. However the audio and the visual performance were intentionally out of sync. This was to open the discussion to how perception of a situation from afar may not be what an outsider viewer may perceive it to be.
Interestingly, as we were performing a protest was going on. I admit that I don't know what the protest was about, but this did change the piece's intention as we were doing it. It started to become a protest in of itself, engaged with issues of the capital nature of the educational institution of SAIC.
Here we are discussing Love.
This is the audio equipment used to play the tape of our discussions about Love, Anger and Play.
Here we are engaged in our Play conversation. This security guard at the top of the steps is telling us to stop. We explained to her that it was a part of a show associated with the Performance Art program at the school. She replied that she had her orders. How can a program that focuses on ephemera and topics of spontaneity exist in an institutional setting? Issues of liability of course are reasons, but we were not behaving in a dangerous manner.
In this video we are exploring Anger, but as we were doing this, with the protest going on, the anger turned into play and a desire to mold into, be part of our surroundings. In this case it became the corner of the SAIC Art Museum.
How does perception from other's affect the reality of those actually engaged in a situation? Because of the open score nature of the dialogue, the piece was able to shift based on the environment and the entrance and exit into the different theme's of Love, Anger and Play.
The fact that the piece ended with a showdown between us and a security guard gave the piece a broader meaning. While it was still about perception, it also became about the institution in which we are all trying to exist. How we behave is influenced by the system that we are apart of. This in turn affects the nature of any conversation. In this case, it shifted our dialogue of play into a walk back to the building where we that dealt with anger toward the capitalist institution of education, our litigation culture and the harsh reality that subtle and spontaneous interventions can be thwarted by such a climate. People of the world are filled with fear because of hateful acts. Whenever something seems "strange" and is unknown it instantly becomes a threat.
The first Installation of Transnaturism was performed on February 7, 2018 at Blackbird Ordinary. I performed social research on the costuming and intention by integrating into the crowd at a busy club in Miami's financial district called Blackbird Ordinary. Due to the emotional and drunken needs of the crowd the costumes that were delicately built out of organic material were destroyed in the process of responding to the crowd.
Monica Lopez De Victoria invited me to perform and arranged for the evenings photographer to document the performance. I used these photo's to further conduct research.
It was the natural response of the performers to engage with the alcohol fueled party crowd.
Being a spectacle while trying to convey the message that we are disconnected from Earth felt a bit pained. However a warm part of my heart opened to having a good humor toward the situation.
People's reactions were varied, even within the same group, as you can see here exhibited in the red circle. Overall, people were having fun. However some people reacted to the costumes in skeptical ways.
Some people were pleased and seemed to vibe with the actions.
The score that was planned pre-performance completely transformed into a more wild interaction with the crowd. They wanted to be entertained and did not seem to mind the plants. In fact it seemed to make people happy.
On a subconscious level, people love the earth. Even if they spend their lives working at jobs that kill it. It is an undeniable often un-noticeable and incommunicable resonance with our shared planet.
People, generally want to have fun. People that are different than me have fun in ways that are different than me. Performing in this place that was not "my scene" reminded how much I love to admonish the "elite aspect" of the art world. I want to be with and love people. I also am different, but feel I have universal messages. Where can everything sync?
Does my friend here vouch for us? As We wave our palm fronds in the air, does she even know we are there? Does that matter? I bet, she could smell the crushed leaves... at least a little.
The costumes were largely destroyed in the end. I felt inspired to try new ways of bringing people closer to Nature.
photo by: German Caceres
1.2 of this performance took place at the INC (International Noise Conference) festival at Churchills Pub in Miami Fl, on February 8, 2018. In this performance I created a narrative of the Transnaturist experience using music, dance and props.
I opened with a song I wrote on a keyboard that represented my dystopian feelings about structures. Then Dennis Fuller looped this and started to play beats on top of it while I started the story. I began by pulling a microphone out of a pot of dirt and started to read/sing an excerpt from the book "A Wrinkle in Time". For me this represented the sort of death release and infinite possibilities of life that are part of the Transnaturist purview.
I then performed a dance choreography that moved through, death, fertility, technology, capitalism and dirt.
I smeared the dirt all over my face and planted a machine.
First segment done.
On my birthday this year, I did my favorite thing, which was to hold a space for people to move their bodies, express their feelings and laugh. Times are very confusing right now. I sometimes feel sad and lost. But when I hold these event's and move with other people I regain my sense of self and a desire to be in the world. Bodymovement is an experience that I guide using my background as a Dance/Movement Therapist, Dancer, Yoga Teacher, Playful Human, Nature Connecter and Conduit for Connection.
This is my ultimate art, alive in these moments of class as people improv and express their feelings through different exercises. It is ephemeral, does not waste resources and leaves people who attend with glowing skin and smiles on their faces.
In our Capitalistic world, we put value on this concept of what we can own or on what can own us. Branding ourselves constantly to be sellable, but really just wanting to be loved... Value becomes further perverse when we try to sell things to each other like eternal youth and perfect ways of living.
Bodymovement is a place to leave these systems of judgement and value behind. It is a place to create in the moment and for the moment. While there are focused exercises and even performances that come out of it, I choose to keep the work true to the feelings and needs of those participating. I am interested in creating art that promotes well being.
Balfe has been meditating in the featured Mangrove forest for 5 years. Her meditation has developed into challenging the dialectic of body/mind and person/environment. The piece explores merging these lines drawn by dancing at the edge of our South Florida land.
This film starring:
Jenna Balfe
Nick DeLucca
Dennis Brewster Fuller
Was shot by Gabi Serra, with original film scoring by Dennis Fuller.
The film will be premiering later this year. Date TBA.
Balfe's Humanimal explores the historical aspects of environment that the sculpture exists in, wedged between two Silver Bluffs. The piece imagines Native people's life and the notion of water once flowing through the site. The dancers go through different manifestations of life from plant to animal to human. The human exploration is an existential one, inspired by the self reflexive nature of Naomi Fisher's sculpture, which they dance with. The music compliments the choreography with a minimalistic score referencing elements of the body and the materials of the sculpture.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
At the Brickell Station, Naomi Fisher created #PUZZLED, an architecturally-scaled participatory sculpture incorporating a motif of large anthropomorphic puzzle pieces. The hand-drawn shapes of the puzzle pieces will be laser cut onto mirror-finished steel, and include functional ballet barres. Furthering the dialogue of dance and performative practices within the realm of contemporary art, #PUZZLED combines sculpture and performance in a single work. The sculptural installation will be activated by dancers to create unique performances throughout the duration of the artwork, open to the public for use at all times.
This is part of the inaugural public art program for The Underline, a planned world-class linear park designed to transform the underutilized land below Miami-Dade’s Metrorail into an urban trail and art destination. This project is in collaboration with The Underline, Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department and Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs’ Art in Public Places program.
⊖ at BFI continues a series of ambient residency programs framed by ⊖ and hosted by various institutions including ACRE, WI; Waterfront, NY; and MCA, Chicago. ⊖ at BFI will be their most ambitious iteration to date, spanning three days of programming. December, 2016.
Programming culminates in a 12-hour-long Artists Residency: an opportunity for a group of Artist Residents to take as much inspiration as possible from as little context and material as possible. The goal is for residents to return from ⊖ with more, but also less than when awarded residence.
I was given a residence and here are a few images of what we did.
October/2016 This was a collaboration with musician LXV from Philadelphia. The piece explored the concept of transcending the self through movement to music focused on the act of transcendence. A soft choreography set around the parameters of creating a ritual space using the materials of rope and water. Jenna enacted the ritual based upon different sections of the musical piece. She eventually exited her own being to find the energies and thoughts of those in the crowd. The dance that followed was no longer her own, but that of those watching. Here is an excerpt, captured by Nikki Rollason.
Dance: Me
Lighting: Dennis Fuller
Music: LXV
[embed]https://youtu.be/hJANTBzuyHs[/embed]
LXV : https://lxvlxv.bandcamp.com/
Commonfield Miami: http://commonfield.org/convenings/2016
Miami Music Club: https://www.facebook.com/miamimusicclub/
The piece is a response to past collaborations that Jenna had with Misael. The work is about relationships. The two movers, Jenna Balfe and Misael Soto are best friends and past lovers. The musician is the current fiancé of Jenna. The development of the piece feeds off of these connections. It informs the language of the movement. Jenna has performed for Misael in several different pieces of his. Of mention was the performance at The Artists Ball at Vizcaya during art Basel 2015. In this piece Jenna along with other performers took turns performing different actions throughout the garden. The actions were: 1. To dress as a gardener and plant and re-plant a rose bush in the gardens. 2. To swim out to a coral sculpture of a boat in the Bay and lounge/exist on it as though it were a private paradise. 3. To walk about the house and inner garden with a sense of ownership and to engage with off beat objects and details with the weight of the performers presence.
In this piece Jenna experienced the space in a way that was empowering. By being given "permission" to be fully present and contemplative in public while also acting under the premise that Vizcaya was hers, she settled fully into her skin.
In particular the witnessing/viewership given by Misael, gave her a feeling of being well reflected and thus able to more deeply engage. This manifested as she would draw people into her viewership and experience of Vizcaya, as she felt her power.
The piece looks at the difference between the role of witness and viewer. Exploring the roles we take with people that we are close to us in our life and the delicate balance of acceptance and influence. The environment in which this conversation takes place will also be considered, as this informs the act of being present.
The musical component helps Jenna and Misael to remain present and in the space that they are actually performing in. The music is ambient in nature and allows the two to enter the next stage of their exploration.
In these violent times, coming together is what is needed. Witnessing someone for who they are pure and simple, can invite them into a space of peace.
