Birthday for Art sakes
Trixie Moon
What do you get art for its birthday? Aside from a bitchin’ tea infuser, you probably get it some art.
The Boreal Electroacoustic Music Society (BEAMS) will do just that, with a little help from some friends.
Art’s Birthday is an annual event first proposed in 1963 by French artist Robert Filliou. The artist chose Jan. 17, which is also his birthday, as the date of the event. Art’s Birthday has been celebrated in Edmonton annually since 2008, with BEAMS hosting the event since 2010. This year local artist Trixie Moon will be a part of the celebration.
“This particular show is going to be something you haven’t seen before,” Moon said.
Moon, whose real name is Marni Benazides, will perform a mixture of improvisational and modern dance set to the sound of experimental music performed by Stephen Sereda. This is something that Moon sees as the perfect gift for ‘art’.
“Sound experimentation,” Moon said of Sereda’s music. “ It’s very free and open to interpretation. It’s not something you could choreograph to.
Moon in action
“It’s not your typical burlesque music, by any stretch of the imagination.”
For Moon, Sereda’s experimental music is a perfect fit for her syle of dance. With that said, her style is a little bit of everything. From burlesque, to circus art, to belly dancing, Moon likes to keep it original and fun.
“It’s always a bit of improv,” she said. “I like it that way. It gives me a bit of an edge. If it’s too choreographed or too planned out, it can be a bit boring at the end. It makes each performance unique.”
Moon will be joined by composers and performers from three countries outside Canada. According to a BEAMS release, Italian dancer and performance artist Alessandra Zerbinati, who goes by the stage name Lametàfisica, will have her piece “Yummy Gummy Corpse” performed by Edmonton experimentalists Agaperaygunexperiment.
Japan’s Okada Koichi, a.k.a. Tamayurakurage — a native of Hiroshima — will feature his anti-nuke work and video “We Must Prevent the Collapse of the World” include accompaniment on clarinet by Don Ross. “Sorry, but it’s turtles all the way down!” by UK-based Argument Club (a moniker used by Edmonton expatriate Paul Morris) will beaugmented by local musicians Bill Damur and Don Ross.
Kevin Maimann photo by Girl Named Shirl Photography
Also on the bill is award-winning songwriter Kevin Maimann with his band The Pretty Thing. No stranger to bizarre subject matter, Maimann and crew will do their best to gracefully break minds. Also expect a noisy session with Pizzarrhea!!!, practitioners of schizophrenic camp. Himiko, whose recent CD Victims of Greed dominated national campus noise charts, will also perform solo and with worldbeat metallurgists Tribal Garage.
Rounding out the lineup will be Shawn Pinchbeck, Skrunt Skrunt, John Osbourne, S’sE SESSIONS and Lutra Lutra.
Tickets for the event can be found here.
The Moonlight Surfer from John Osborne on Vimeo.
