OCTOBER b. 2007 justout,»
Creative Juices
Gays gather at PICA's annual TBA Festival
abor Day came, and for the second year in
a row, my father-in-law arrived for the
Portland Institute for Contemporary Arts’
Time-Based Art Festival. I must admit I’m
I kinda proud of him; there aren’t many guys
his.age who’d open themselves up to 11 days of
avant-garde performance and cutting-edge music.
A retired insurance salesman, my father-in-law
is a showman at heart—a jazz musician who plays
the trombone with his toes. (His tagline is “How
about a hand for my foot.7”) As such, he’s found an
outlet to channel his creative energies. So the
topic of creative outlets was on my mind when
1 ran into Geoff Beasley and Jim Sampson.
Geoff recently retired from the medical field
and now works full time in his garden. “There’s
some kind of history there,” he told me, “perhaps
Native American, and 1 need to protect it." As any
lover of Pink Martini knows, his garden was the
inspiration for Thomas Lauderdale’s “The Gardens
of Sampson and Beasley. “It’s kind of scary how I’ve
spent my whole life creating it," Beasley said, “and
I feel when I leave, it will disappear.
Out Going
BY FLOYD SKLAVER
F
he’s shafted. He’s also organizing Portlanders as part
of a national event that will break the world’s
record for Most People Dancing the Same Dance at
the Same Time. (The current record is 127,000.)
Head to Holocene and hook into the fun (while
raising money for the Sexual Minority Youth
Resource Center) on Oct. 27.
Tony Rebensdorf used to sing with the Satori
Men’s Chorus and “misses it terribly.” He was
chatting with Scott Fedje, who, as creative direc
tor of Nau Clothes,
“hand-selected all 1,000
songs to be played in
Nau’s retail stores."
Jon Joseph told me he
“takes pictures and
writes bad poetry.”
Carlos Perez wishes he
could be a sculptor,
making papier-mache
pieces “like we used to
make in elementary
school,” and Just Out's
Jim Radosta finds his
creativity by following
The Artist’s Way. “I still
do Morning Pages," he
said. “They allow you to
start every day by
Floyd joins Sarah Dougher for the opening of TBA.
addressing what’s on
your mind and what
At the next table, Malina Rodríguez and David
you’re going to do about it."
Banyan huddled in discussion about the night’s
Aleks Peikrishvili told me his creative outlet is
performances. Both worked on the festival—
“authentic movement dance,” which means
Malina as lighting designer for Portland contempo “listening to what your body has to say.” He attend
rary dance troupe Teeth (“I find inspiration in
ed the festival with Willamette Week's Stephen
collaborating with other artists,” she told me) and
Marc Beaudoin, who “sings and plays recorder and
David as TBA’s program assistant. When 1 asked
trombone with FourScore." The next night,
about his creative outlets, David said he loves
1 caught Stephen showing off his blue striped
“writing and connecting people together.”
underwear to attorney Mike Long, who is making
The Oregonians Grant Butler answered this
a freeform structure out of more than 3,000 wine
way: “I’d like to adopt the artistic philosophy of corks he’s collected.
Taylor Mac. We should all celebrate our differences
Howie Baggadonutz, who recently sold
and strive to be fierce.” When pressed for an expla
Wonder Ballroom (where TBA’s late-night revues
nation, he said: “I’d start with my drab wardrobe
took place), told me, “If 1 had time, 1 would go back
and banish khakis. Let the fabulousness begin.”
to performing solo standup comedy.” Carlee
Speaking of the fabulous Mac, the self-proclaimed
“Ezmerelda” Smith, who calls herself “a people
“Bob Rope of Subversives" brought his outrageous connector,” misses her days as a burlesque
costumes and ukulele to TBA again, telling a near-
performer, pasties and all, and Geoff Watland is
sold-out crowd, “Nothing’s worth doing unless it
a burgeoning filmmaker working on a remake of
makes you nervous.”
“Little Red Riding Hood” starring shapeshifters.
PICA’s Brian T. Wilson (not to be confused
Performance artists like musician Holcombe
with my best friend, Brian “BoBo” Wilson) said
Waller certainly showed us the shape of things to
his creative outlet is “dancing in my living room.”
come, while the TBA Festival inspires all of us to
express
ourselves when we’re (Tut Going. ©
Boyfriend Eric Olson said he didn’t have one but
decided, then and there, to take up “underwater
basket weaving.” Alan Silver is creating a radio
FLOYD S klaver wants to know about your event.
E-mail him at floydsklaver^comeast.net.
play about a man who apologizes to all the women
£ -
Ml
Phillip Adams - "the number *
one choreographer in
Australia"
■
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THURS-SAT
OCT. 11-13
WHITE BIRD
psu dance senes
o 7/0 8
8PM
LINCOLN HALL
PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF FINE & PERFORMING ARTS
www.whitebird.org
I
I
TICKETS: $16 Students and Seniors. $26 Adult.
iM addonnai
SPONSORED BY:
PSU Box Office (inside Smith Center, 1825 SW Broadway),
503-725-3307 and txketmaster
Group Discounts/lnfo: 503.245.1600 ext. 201
WILLAMETTE
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WEEK I