Fly, Spin, Squirm, Ricochet

Imagine yourself wearing a red and black geometric print spandex suit from head to toe. The audience is clapping your arrival on the stage - suddenly the pounding of the taiko drum begins and your body is defying gravity and all the punishment that goes with it.
Last night in Portland the TBA-05 Festival (Time*Based Art) began in Pioneer Square with a free performance by STREB. To explain STREB completely is ultimately impossible; however, let me give it my best shot.

There were 7 (4 male & 3 female) members of the acrobatic-dance-gymnastic group. The stage was a large platform with a big screen, lights, trampolines, mats, and a large scaffold that was shaped like an upside down U. The top of the U (remember it is upside down) moved up an down during various acts. The title of the show was Wild Blue Yonder. The evening was broken into 15 different acts with emphasis on amazement and shock that the body and mind of the performer can continue to make the audience gasp!
The first act, Wild Blue Yonder, had all performers on stage bouncing and using the trampoline like it was made to be used. This was not your average backyard bouncing! It seemed like each performer was born to bounce. Not just bounce with their legs but with all parts of their bodies. Each member dove from the trampoline into the air and THUD onto the mat below - hence the name Wild Blue Yonder. At the same time the screen behind them was showing footage from the Wright Brothers flight and music was pulsating from massive speakers placed within the audience.
STREB continued performing for over an hour. Two of my favorite performances were Ricochet and Fly. Ricochet had all members on stage. A large piece of plexiglas was placed at the very front of the stage . It was suspended by tension ropes which made it appear as if the audience was looking through a window onto the stage. Each member would run (fast, extremely fast) and pound into the plexiglas with their full body to POW the ricochet motion of the body falling - THUD to the ground. Then the next performer would go - THUD, and the next - THUD, and the next - THUD. At one point, all of them had ran (fast), jumped and grabbed the frame of the plexiglas window in many different positions so from the audience you really didn't know where one body started and the next body ended. Truly through the looking glass (perception) - that is art!

The last act was called FLY! I really don't want to try to explain it, but I will say that on the walk home I wanted to put my arms out in front of me push my feet and legs out behind me and catch the wind and FLY!

Tonight we are partaking in another TBA performance. Paul D. Miller AKA D.J. Spooky will be remixing cinema, music and American history by reconstructing Rebirth of a Nation.

I was very concerned that I did not take my camera to the performance. Now I realize that without pictures you can develop a sense of the art in your own mind. Isn't that what art is? perception? Here we go with the question of "what is art?"