Time
Based
art Festival
by Alley Hector
FouNded IN 1995 By KRISTy edmuNdS, PICA (PoRTlANd
INSTITuTe FoR CoNTemPoRARy ART) IS THe SeAT oF PoRT-
lANd’S AvANT-GARde. veRy PoRTlANd ANd veRy QueeR, THe
ARTS oRG STARTed ITS Two weeK loNG Time BaSed arT feS-
Tival 10 yeARS AGo BASed oN woRld-ReNowNed CulTuRe
HAPPeNINGS SuCH AS THoSe IN edINBuRGH ANd AdelAIde.
SINCe THeN IT HAS GRowN INTo A PReSTIGIouS FeSTIvAl IN
ITS owN RIGHT ANd A loCAl CulTuRAl CoRNeRSToNe wITH
woRK THAT IS uRGeNT, CulTuRAlly ANd PolITICAlly TImely,
ANd evoKeS ReSPoNSe ANd PARTICIPATIoN.
A synthesis of international talent with a uniquely Portland flavor, first-time
TBA curator Angela mattox wanted this year’s projects to be even more
interdisciplinary than usual. “[This year’s work] often moves between
theatre, video, movement, and music in a single piece. It is a reflection of
current artist practices and of our own desire to have audiences move
fluidly between these experiences,” mattox says.
She values the casualness that Portland brings to the art world
making it accessible to our wide and weird citizens. ”we all end up
sharing beers at the end of the night,” she says, “The lack of
divisions between artist and curator and audience, that
audiences can meet a performer in the beer garden and ask
them a question [makes TBA a very Portland event.]”
Sometimes intensely personal, often epically political, these
artists work closely with lGBT themes. Here are some of
the highlights.
PICA.org
Portland
September 6 - 16
Claudia meza
PiCa's AvANT-GARde