Gyrl Grip (Lisa Newman & Llewyn Maire) : KOBE FIVE HOLES series, FADO Production, curated by Paul Couillard, Toronto, Ontario, July 15, 2006 offthemapgallery 712 Lansdowne Ave (the back building) Photography: Miklos Legrady <--back to Fado main page Kobe beef are the Cadillacs of the cow world. They are raised in beautiful green open pastures, are fed beer to wet their appetites and are massaged with sake to keep their muscles marbleized and their skin soft. This performance considers the preparation of Kobe beef, as well as the fetishization of decadence through consumption. Assisted by her "handlers" and GyrI Grip collaborator Llewyn Maire, Lisa Newman will have her body "prepared" in the manner of expensive meat. This performance is not so much pro-vegetarian as it is an exploration of decadence, food, and sacrifice. The GyrI Grip is driven by the desire to reveal, and de-veil challenging issues that exist within postmodern life and society . Their goal is not to provide answers, but to expose the difficult questions hidden behind cultural taboos and media spectacle, and to provide a forum for dialogue (internal and external) through the performative act. The core members of the grip are co-founders of the Portland, Oregon-based 2 Gyrlz Performative Arts, Lisa Newman and Llewyn Maire (with their associated Avatars). Since forming in 1998, the GyrI Grip has manifested over 25 public showings. Notable performances include: the Proud to Put Out text-based performance series hosted in Portland by 2 Gyrlz, participation in the 2002 Black Sun Festival in Washington State, Full Nelson 5 in Los Angelrs (2003), Flu / concert PDX (2003), and street performances throughout the Pacific Northwest. Camp, which explores violence against transpeople through live action and media, was presented in Helsinki and Turku, Finland in 2004 as part of Studio La-Bas′ Contentions festival, as well as in Victoria, BC. Segue was performed at Lewis & Clark College′s annual Gender Symposium in March of 2006. About FIVE HOLES FIVE HOLES has been an ongoing Fado project of Performance Art Curator Paul Couillard since 1995. Presenting works that foreground our bodies, FIVE HOLES considers some of the ways in which sight (I'll be seeing you…, 1995), touch (Touched, 1997), smell (reminiSCENT, co-curated with Jim Drobnick, 2003), hearing (Listen!, 2005), and now, taste, allow us to perceive. Focusing on bodies - those of the performers and those of the audience - and on the relationships that are possible between and among them, FIVE HOLES highlights one of the most basic and essential elements of performance: we 'perform' when we bring our bodies into relationships with each other in time and space. matters of taste is the final installment of FIVE HOLES. Fado Acknowledgments Fado is pleased to acknowledge the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, and the Department of Canadian Heritage for their support of our ongoing activities. This series is co-presented with the Ontario College of Art & Design and offthemapgallery. <--back to Fado main page