Shade at La Pocha Nostra 2007
photograph by Carl Newland for La Pocha Nostra/Arnolfini
The New Barbarian Collection Fall 2007: Designer Primitives on the Runaway Runway - a new project by La Pocha Nostra and guest artists
shown at Arnolfini, Bristol, UK on Nov 10 2007
La Pocha Nostra (Gómez-Peña, Roberto Sifuentes and Violeta Luna) has a history of appropriating popular cultural formats such as museum dioramas, the rave, reality TV, and sideshow attractions. “The New Barbarian Collection” engages the audience with a variety of highly stylized fashion-inspired performance personas stemming from problematic media representations of foreigners, immigrants, refugees and social eccentrics, as both enemies of the state and sexy pop cultural rebels; haute couture inspired by the ‘street chic’ of third-world immigrants and young hipsters, and by the racy iconography of terrorism and guerrilla movements. The “show” is about politicized human bodies and far more than clothing. (extract from La Pocha Nostra’s call to artists to participate in the New Barbarians project.)
This project started with a call to artists in August 2007, to create a residency and event in November 2008. As an artist and maker I was selected to help with costumes and props. As part of the opening act of the performance I wore the Hostess Shade suit, interacting with audience as part of the red carpet preview and escorting our first guests down the runaway runway….
…….a ritualistic spectacle of exploded identities from Bristol, UK to Australia via America, Sri Lanka, Italy and old Persia. Within the current climate of global tensions, religious opposition and military conflict, La Pocha Nostra have set about the task of crossing (and erasing) the borders between art and politics, artist and spectator. Will you cross the borders with them? Come dressed for the red carpet. (extract from Arnolfini event publicity)
further links:
review by Tim Atack on Live Art UK
http://www.pochanostra.com/