I hosted my first little market with performances. We had four vendors, Miles Pekala, Wesley Haack, Dominique Nigro, and myself. We had five performing acts Simone Bloch, Squeakie, Light Pollution, The Green Wheel, Dominique and Kevin (duo), and myself.
A note about hosting this show/market. It was a doozy because I was experiencing cold/possibly CO-VID symptoms and I had tested a couple days prior to event day and the results hadn’t come in. I thought they would but they hadn’t. I told everyone in an email and on the Facebook event page that it would be a masked event and not cancelled but there was a potential risk. Then a half an hour later, I had the results but I’m sure that made some attendees pause and evaluate their safety and decide not to come based on that.
We had a great time and it was a relatively small and intimate event. I had a great time hosting. I would like to host more events. I live streamed the performances on Facebook and it felt nice to share with the online world that we were out and experiencing “live art.” A feeling that is rarer these days with concerns of the plague of the day roaming about.
Some great things that I did: order two large pizzas and have some sparkling waters about, collected money for the performers by having a small jug passed around and putting my venmo information on it (after an audience member asked where they can put their money), and holding a raffle (oddly the prize was a half-gallon of 2 percent milk, but audiences love a raffle, don’t they?), introducing each artist and then addressing the audience after each act (which is something I don’t typically do, but I think this event is helped by a little framework). I also liked the feeling of divvying up the tips at the end of the night and sending out those payments to the performers. I love it when organizers remember to give me my money, lol. I liked decorating the yard with streamers and signage. Two people said they liked the streamers on the stairwell leading up to the path to the yard as an indication “this is the place.” I like that sense of arriving to a place with increasing confidence based on visual cues.
Some not so great things, I wish I took more photographs. I have a nice camera and I could have had some of my friends (who know how to use it) take some photos for the history books or posterity or what have you. I would like to do a photo booth for next event. In these strange times, I think photography is a nice way to squeeze out some more of the memory when everything is over. I also would like to experiment with more Instagram stories. I think there’s a great trend to make little videos of performers and vendors, too and tag them in the stories and watch them get reposted. I would also remind my future self to clear the stage for each act, just lift that microphone stand and power cord and PA and put it on the grass. It was a bit intense watching the dancer try to not hit these things I left on the stage (sad face).
I loved the feeling of selling some embroidery and modified clothing. I think I would have made more money if I was showing people my stuff but I think I was too focused on other tasks. It would be interesting to have a friend who is the host of the show when that time comes and I can just hang out by my little booth area to entice people to purchase.
I’m excited for the next big backyard event. I think it will be at night and have a lightshow involved.
Big thanks to everyone who supported the event by participating, to my friend Jason for lending me his PA, and for my housemates for co-hosting this event at our residence.
This year’s threadlife includes patches, mobiles, and wall hangings. I was blessed with a commission from a new father to make a mobile and it made me think about other ways to use the loads of embroidery floss I have. This year, feels like a leap into three dimensions and I’m for it.
In February, 2017, I started a new art practice: zine making. Since then I’ve been making one a month and I started a patreon as an easy way to manage subscribers. Sometimes, I have the wherewithal to blog about an individual issue, but that’s been pretty rare. For the most part, I don’t archive them. It’s interesting to think about creating work with a limited edition and also a kind of ephemerality. It does make me think about reorganizing my room to incorporate a special shelf so I keep at least one copy of each zine I make on there.
The process. The last week of every month I collect/create 32 pages of zine. Copy it and bind it and mail it out. I decorate envelopes. It feels really great to have something ongoing and anchored by a little bit of income. I was thinking this morning about how money and art sometimes work together. It can be emotionally confusing when giving art to people– in some ways we are programmed and conditioned to create an equitable transaction.
How do I come up with the content? My goal is to have a bit of variety in the format, so it swings from non-fiction to fiction, image driven to text driven, mixes, original content, someone else’s content. It’s interesting thinking about how most people have minor fixations that passes them undocumented, where I leave a trail of little books about things that I thought were the coolest at the time. I still think they’re kind of cool, but art and writing is interesting because the more I do it, the more it changes and I find something else that draws my attention.
When the pandemic hit, I handmade the batches, aka didn’t use a copier. Lots of stamping, repeated writing, etc. I also made them 4 3/8” x 5 3/4”. I really like the new size. It seems a little friendlier. I also started binding them with embroidery floss instead of staples which I really like the look of and the feeling of threading paper is pretty unique. Now, in the last few months (after my vaccination), I’ve started going to the copier again. It has felt good to use a copier.
(above: stills from the Documentation video Mark McBeth produced at the show)
‘Last Sunday was the one-night-only performance of Pluot Season. The devised theatre piece performed in the backyard of where I currently reside and the first in-person show I’ve produced since before the global pandemic of Covid-19. Some safety notes, all audience and performers were vaccinated and during the performance, the audience wore covid-masks.
It was really gratifying having a vision for a show where I was the “head costumer,” and then this being born out of it. During the pandemic, I spent many an afternoon embroidering what I called “collar bibs” and other handsewn accessories, at some point, I told a friend, if I were to go back to school, I’d want to get into costume design (in some world where I didn’t have any practical concerns and could follow my heart unabashedly). The curiosity of most endeavors of a grand scale, would I even like it? So I thought, maybe just do one show where I am doing the costumes and see if it still has the flavor of a dream after that.
So, I reached out to my good friend and collaborator Fenner about co-producing this show and becoming the director. They agreed and we manifested a list of performers to pitch to and created our team. We met for four sundays (this includes the show sunday) and shaped something that would become a 35-minute piece of performance art.
It was interesting becoming a host of the rehearsals. The venue was at my house and I had the responsibility of returning the props and costumes to the basement after the two workshops and show and making sure there were plates and forks for our dinners/snack breaks. Fenner is a director known for their rehearsal craft services. They provide the performers with a healthy and substantial snack or dinner and bake it into the timeline of our time together.
There was a fundraising component to this show. It was fun coming up with donor perks and even more fun getting money for the show. I’m reminded that I still want to do a post-mortem budget where I articulate for my own edification how much it costs to do a DIY show (aka no venue). A thing I would certainly do differently is analyze what needs to happen for the donor perks to be realized in ideal quality. I promised our lovely donors a commemorative zine and a commemorative postcard, but I didn’t have a photoshoot with the performers and that seems to be a bit of an oversight. I ended up using a photo from the promo photoshoot I had with Fenner for the postcard and to my minor horror, for the commemorative zine, I used screenshots from the video Mark Mcbeth produced from the show (see above photos). This is my responsibility to insist (as a producer) that we need to have fifteen minutes taken out of rehearsal time to do this thing. Better yet still, just map out the meetings and their goals in the pre-production phase. Ah, next time. High-resolution photos are very important if one is trying to make a portfolio of costumes to present to future collaborators. Sigh. Just continuing to learn over here.
It was a weird time watching the devised theater process (as you know most devised theater is weird). It was a curious thing because in some ways it’s anarchic, though Fenner was the director, there’s a lot of openness for people to suggest and pull into the show what they want to do, and it seems kind of cruel to get together such amazing people for such a short time and see what they do. These people bonded, but I think the upcoming deadline made for an intense process of working together. In some ways, too, I think that in creative processes we are curious to see what other people bring naturally that it feels imposing to have too much structure, perhaps. I think that’s the interesting thing about this particular process: it’s a combination of factors that create a unique atmosphere that is a universe onto itself and if we tried to do it again in the same way, there might be a completely different result.
Co-producing is a really great experience. Often in my work, I’ve done solo shows, and shows where I’m the only producer, so it was nice having meetings to go over the details of what to put into the cast emails and logistics about the show itself (there was a big to-do about how to get 25 chairs to my house). Fenner is a powerhouse, dedicated to a vision, and worked really hard to make the event one to remember. The day before the show, we had an errand hang and went to get stone fruit from Berkeley Bowl for the reception.
This was easily my favorite show reception because I knew we could stay in the backyard as long as we wanted. Most venues have a load-out time. Small details: I was happy with the quality of the fruit and its presentation. I washed them and made sure each one was good eating and that felt nice after watching our ritualistic celebration. I was also happy with Fenner’s choice of small cups, made the wine more savorable. Our wine sponsor that Fenner secured provided eight bottles of wine (red and white). It was a lovely way to finish the night. The reception was a great place to hear feedback about the show. I heard some very complimentary things. The costumes were appreciated (mission accomplished) and I give credit to Fenner as more than half of the costume pieces/props were provided by them and to Demi/Alex Ayuna for our “Jeremy” (the blank cloth doll). I mean credit to everyone, too, for being professional and creative. It was a huge success.
At the show, someone asked me “What’s your next show?” and it caught me off guard. I love the idea of having an answer to this question. I told him, I am interested in putting on a yard sale. I’m glad that there are more in-person shows to be watched this Summer.
I’m reminding myself to add to this post when the edited version of the show documentation comes in and some reflections about that. A non-traditional stage is not going to have great lighting baked into it and it was a unique endeavor as a “sunset show.” I accept that the documentation video is what it is. Like a lot of beauty, its fullness is lost in a photo or video. Performance art is an experience to have with your own eyes and ears and to inhabit a space where you can choose to look and focus and the heightened experience of being there with other live humans.
Another round of gratitude for everyone that made this possible. To the people who witnessed a very lovely time and to the people who gave themselves to a process.
*edit– here’s a highlight reel edited by Demi/Alex Ayuna
(program text) Pluot Season
A backyard multi-sensory experience
Sunday, June 6th, 2021
Director’s Note
Pluot season is a time that comes once a year, as most seasons do. All is ripe with juiciness and we are so thankful that you are joining us. This fever dream awakening was merely slightly shaped by my directorial eye. It is as much for us creators as it is for you, and was lovingly created in three or so wild meetings of this sensitive and versatile group. When Kat approached me with the idea – a title and some visions – I flowered to the project for us all to ease back into the joy of togetherness. Let us bask in the glow of many voices laughing, embrace the unfolding seasons after so much wintering through all sorts of weather.
-Fenner
About the Performer Collaborators
Baylor Odabashian is a music, screed, and play writer,, tutor, occasional performance artist, and constant striving maker of good enough stuff. @spinningbaylorproductions
Demi / Alex Ayuna is a mixed media improviser, photographer, and dancer.
IG @dkay.dac
Dominique Nigro is a movement artist of varied vocabulary, endlessly inspired by the natural world and highly emotional feeling states. She also enjoys taking photos. IG @earthenergy
kevin corcoran improvises, arranges sounds and collaborates across disciplines in his bay area home and abroad. IG @orcora
Puja Tolton is a theatre artisan and illustrator based out of Oakland. IG @ladypujington
Simone Bloch is a French-American versatile performer who’s currently exploring the challenges of recovering from surgery. She’s happy to be one of the pluots today.
About the Producers
Katarina Countiss is a visual artist with interests in improvisation, costuming, and book-making.
Fenner is primarily a Devised Theater maker, actor, and creative facilitator based in Oakland.
We are about to embark on an artistic voyage through the obstacles of the pandemic: a multi-sensory live outdoor event we affectionately refer to as “Pluot Season” (like the fruit). We need your financial support in making this dream a reality.
Our Team and Process
We have handpicked six artists to work with us on creating this vision together. This performance art piece has yet to be written! We have sent the performer/collaborators an inspiration packet, filled with references to movies, plays, and images, to create a broth from which our minds will align. This broth has notes of butoh, tibetan rituals, and a dreamy poetic approach.
The vision is that each of us will offer up our strengths and find ways to intertwine sound, movement, color, texture, word, etc. during our rigorous workshops which will happen in May. Fenner is bringing their bold directorial visioning. Kat is enthusiastic about creating one-of-a-kind costumes for the cast. Our team has skills ranging from wordsmithing, dancing, to music making, and creating unforgettable theatrical experiences.
Timeline
Three rehearsal workshops in May and the performance night is Sunday, June 6, 2021.
Donations
We are seeking to raise $2,000 in addition to our own contributions. Your support will be used to purchase materials for costumes, set pieces, props, and compensate the performers and crew. If you wish to contribute, venmo directly to @Katarina-Countiss.
donation levels and perks:
Friend ($1-$25) receives a commemorative postcard and recognition as a supporter in the printed program of the production.
Lover ($25-$100): receives a commemorative postcard, recognition as a supporter in the printed program of the production, and a signed copy of the script of the production.
Dynamo ($100-$500): receives a commemorative postcard, recognition as a supporter in the printed program of the production, a signed copy of the script of the production. For those who cannot attend this premiere, we will send a small personalized video with a scene performed just for you!
About The Producers
Fenner is primarily a Devised Theater maker, actor, and creative facilitator, also skilled in directing, music, improvisation, writing, dramaturgy, props and lighting. They are interested in guiding the unfolding of this piece and balancing the absurd with the universal.
Katarina Countiss is an interdisciplinary/multimedia artist based in Oakland, California. She has experience in theatre production, facilitating workshops, improvisation, music, directing, writing, performance, and theatre tech.
Please join us! With your support, we’re one step closer to producing our wondrous vision!
One day I was scrolling instagram when I saw Miranda July’s post. It struck me that there could be some kind of collaboration between choreographer and dancer over zoom. I was thinking a bit about how to make the work I’ve made in the past in my dance pieces happen with less people and more process. Part of this inspiration came from local theatre-maker, Evan Johnson who had recently talked to me about his process in making his works where he reached out to collaborators, a sound designer and a director. This idea of making with a team of three seemed really doable.
Process
I reached out to Kevin Corcoran (a percussionist) and Hannah Ayasse (dance artist). I have worked with these people in a few ways before this project. Both of them have had collaborated with me on psychobotany at different iterations.
In separate phone calls, I described the idea about meeting on zoom for five sessions to see what we’d create in a devised work process.
Here’s the brief that I sent out prior to our first meeting.
UnNamed Project 1
Choreographer: Hannah Ayasse
Musician: Kevin Corcoran
Performer/Producer: Katarina Countiss
Stipend for each person $100, deliverable by venmo after the fourth meeting.
Meetings: Each meeting will be about 60-80 minutes through Zoom, Kat will provide the link to the meetings.
Each meeting will have an agenda 1) check in 2) go over the agenda 3) review old business 4) attend to the new topics 5) closing statements
Meeting 1- checking in
Goals: scheduling out the meetings, defining what we want the end product to look like, getting to know each other, understanding where we are at and what we envision for our collaboration, what we want to explore, questions we want to ask, etc.
Meeting 2- workshop 1
Goals: collaboration experiments, discussions, etc.
Meeting 3- workshop 2
Goals: collaboration experiments, discussions, etc.
Meeting 4- finalizing deliverables
Goals: deciding if we want any kind of live show or premier or internet event to commemorate the birth of a piece
(between meeting 4 and 5, the deliverables will manifest itself into a dance video or some other kind of product if we decide on some other format or execution)
Meeting 5- reflection
Goals: reviewing the process and the product, getting each other’s feedback, what went well, what we would do differently, special acknowledgements and conclusion
It pretty much went like that. We ended up having three workshops, and the fifth meeting was essentially another workshop, but the zoom meeting was recorded. And we decided against having “deliverables.” We both agreed that the improvisational and feedback process in our experimentation worked best as a live collaboration and felt more stifled with preloaded ideas for how the “cycles” were going to go.
The “press-go cycles” were timed containers for entering into a experimental space. Hannah administered narrative prompts for choreography, Kevin provided a soundscape, and I did movement and also lighting.
The layering, I think was crucial to a smooth initiation into our collaboration. Our first press-go cycle was just me and Hannah, (no music and no lighting). Then the next cycle had music. Then the next cycle had lighting, but it was one look. Then the next cycle, lighting could happen at any time. The next cycle had prerecorded sound. The cycle after that had prerecorded sound with improvised precussion on top of it. The next cycle had the idea of a resolution for the narrative prompts instead of a hard-stop.
More about the lighting. I bought an overhead projector (5-088 Manufactured by 3M) for use in the first psychobotany. I had technical difficulties with using prerecorded projections with a computer and a video projector in performances and when I saw someone using an “old-school” projector in a play, I was very much hooked on the accessibility of its tactile approach. I knew I wanted to have this element in our devised work. I chose some light looks. In past works, I’m not the mover, and so I can choose and change lighting more flexibly because that’s all I’m doing. In our cycles, being the mover as well, it was interesting to be dropping into the narrative and then feeling some moments where the environment felt ready for a change and then stopping movement for some lighting readjustments and then continuing to move. I think this is fairly innovative. I have not seen a dancer in control of the light before. It is a lot of fun working with the stage environment in this way.
More about the “stage environment,” this was my living room at 8am. I cleared some furniture and added blackout curtains to prepare for our sessions.
I really enjoyed all of our discussions and reflections. We met for five sundays, every other sunday. Starting from Dec 27 and Ending Feb 7. It was quite a time and having the meetings spaced out like that was good. There was a lot of energy about the holidays, the new year, the inaguration, the pandemic. It felt nice to take something slow.
At the end of our collaboration, we reflected on what we worked on and how we felt about it in some way like a primer, an exercise about devised work, still fresh and exploratory on the last day, and it was a nice place to leave it. We talked about what happens next. I’m planning on cutting the recordings into two pieces, one is a short video using the documentation from our last two cycles “The Corridor and the Treasure,” and then making some kind of documentary/documentation, capturing the nature of our zoom meeting. That’s going to happen at some point. I feel like I have to point out that the reason why I’m not doing that anytime soon is pandemic related in that I prefer to edit video on a friend’s computer due to processing power. So, it’s an interesting feeling about having that in the hopper of projects not quite completed.
I’m really grateful to Hannah, Kevin, Evan, Miranda, and my housemates, and zoom.
I recommend structured meetings as well. Having an agenda for collaboration meetings felt really organized and able to feel grounded even though we were miles apart.
Stay tuned for the art documentation. I imagine that it is pretty funny to read about a process without seeing the “art” or the performance, the goal of the gathering: The music, the choreography, the lighting, and the movement feeding each other in dance-theatre.
This is a post describing an ongoing work/practice in progress, Lanna Cotta.
Last year (during the ides of march), my world changed. A lot of people’s world’s changed. Essentially, the pandemic related to coronavirus escalated to the point where both my part-time jobs shut and then had a lot of time at home with the existential question, what do I do?
Inspired by some of my friends and their pivoting to the world of Zoom communication, I created a morning meeting group called Webinara (then later named Lanna Cotta) that would meet and check in and do creative exercises, mostly drawing and writing.
This practice, bolstered by the social connection, gave me something to anchor myself to during this long and continuing “bunker-down” situation that many of us continue to find ourselves in.
Above is a video I made explaining how the sessions go.
It’s interesting and challenging because I feel like I have a lot of catching up on the lanna cotta blog to make it up to date. I have run over two hundred exercises at this point which seems pretty great. And I have to give a lot of credit to my consistent participants, mostly Simone, who has been Lanna Cotta’s greatest supporter.
The main thesis of Lanna Cotta is that it’s a practice and its unique structure features social support. I recently started a meetup group and since then one person has come through that to find the meetings and she seemed to really appreciate it, although she doesn’t come regularly.
So, it is in some ways just beginning as a journey for me. I think that being an art-session facilitator has some legs for me. I’ve spent some time in art nites and sound jams, and it feels like a great place to be. My goal is to continue to explore ways to find people who are interested in this kind of practice that is actually uncommon, a drop-in micro-workshop zoom meeting. Sometimes, I think of it like meditation or yoga. Creative exercises are a lot of fun and I am glad to have gotten this far with it and will continue to find ways to improve the experience and share the experience.
In playing a game of “catch-up” or “catch-all,” here are images from the year 2020 of portraits where to varying degrees of styling and photographing embroidery/sewings– it’s by no means exhaustively catalogging all the things that passed through my hands this last year.
Possibly one of the saddest things about art/craft documentation is that you cannot examine the product, only the flat representation through the photograph. I think it’s important to acknowledge that some of these works are not practically finished, which I suppose is fine for fashion photography, but less suitable for say theatrical work where you would want something to stay positioned for over two hours with physical movement and look great from all angles.
I spent a lot of time in the land of “collar bib” which is some kind of statement piece “jewelry” that I really think is fun aesthetically, but I wouldn’t wear it to the grocery store. It’s some kind of outfit accessory that might suit a trip to Meow Wolf or an eccentric garden party, which is fine, but yeah, a little awkward because that currently isn’t my lifestyle, so it’s a bit aspirational like skinny jeans that are for when I lose 10 pounds, except it’s for when the world changes and I get some big break that allows me to travel and get invitations (or host) lovely art parties.
That being said, it felt very affirming to spend most of this last year in my “studio” aka my bedroom, living my best life with a needle in my hand, making soft and imaginative things. And I hope this year is a lot of the same, though albeit also different, but in the same vein of following my bliss.
Kismet Arts Tangent 