Lo and behold. TPT has been quiet while she was thinking and watching and learning (and being schooled) this year. It's très trite, but she's thinking about Art and it's relationship with the institution. Heaven knows, this is a subject that is well documented by those who are more qualified to do so than TPT. And as some might have guessed, TestPerformanceTest was started in reaction to an institution but who wants to come off as reactionary? So overdone in these times c'est vrai? Yet at the end of the year of thinking- TPT's chin is dragging on the ground. And no amount of juvaderm/restalyn/botox cocktail has dragged it up yet- so i'm wondering if I should do a cleanse instead. non? hmm. or just a colonic. get it out in one fell swoop. So with sincere apologies to all the PhD's I've loved before….

What the fuck up with cultural institution building at the expense of Art? One can't go about making that the title of their Ford Foundation papers… so what the hey here's another- and TPT knows this is dirty territory- what is the relationship of patron- no, philanthropist is the word I want- what is the relationship of the philanthropist to Art?

swing and a miss. Did you think that TPT should have said relationship to the institution? There are tomes written on the non profit board member's appropriate relationship with it's non profit. We know all the rules ad nauseum and here's where it's a little dicey- we make the choice how to follow them. I mean hell, it's a non profit- it's not an actual business. And we are giving our time. And our funds. This makes the non profit a wee bit leery of us and doesn't that make the philanthropist a tad more comfortable? Gives us a nice sense of superiority that we don't get at home? I mean, the board is set up to be in loco parentis for the institution correct? That's the structure of a non profit. The Executive Director runs the institution and the board's most crucial role is to act as a periscope for a director that what? doesn't have the intelligence to see financial and social trends? doesn't have the experience to make a budget? can't read an audit? The board is there to make sure the crazy art people don't go belly up.

So this relationship- is it symbiotic or parasitic? And if parasitic who is doing the sucking? If one chooses to follow the rules, the relationship between the philanthropist and the institution is the mediator between the patron and the art. The philanthropist who engages with an institution gets all sorts of goody perks for joining with the institution which in some part make up for this mediation. We get to "meet the artists". We get to "explore the process". We get to "fund new works". But where we can really "get" something good is to be able to put our names on stone. In stone? In arts giving, the type of giving that Warren Buffet's older sister Doris calls "S.O.B. gifts" the orgasmic moments are those in which your name is put on the wall. The closer to the outside the better.

And what does the institution get? Primarily cash up front. Secondly, cash meted out over multi year gifts and then hopefully a big bonus gift when you kick over of either more cash or choice pieces of your collection. This is how it works in the US. In western culture, some THING has to be there to receive or make the art. And good heavens yes yes yes, the institution that receives is crucially important because art, of course, is a heavily valued output of culture. That's art with an a, the physical output of artists, the representation of our culture.

But what about Art with an A? The continuation of quality work in an art form. Or hell- make a new art form. Or at least institutionalize a newish one- thank you Performa. As it rolls, the philanthropist/institution relationship puts the full responsibility of the art form in the hands of the institution. Cultural institutions - be they fine art or performance based- can act as a museum that works to preserve existing art. Or institutions can act as facilitators of new art. Or, and this does NOT contribute to the art form but is a relevant activity for an organization, institutions can act as educators that try and keep up an evolving audience for their product.

As one groans through pages and pages of "strategic plans" belched forth from various non profits- one can see arts organizations struggle with their proper place in this strata.

But let's call it a spade- is a somewhat engaged group of people who are working for free and who have wildly different levels of knowledge about the ART WORLD and the HISTORY that is germane to their specific institution really who western civilization wants deciding these questions? TPT posits yes to the decision as to whether to be an educational facility. TPT posits NO to the other two.

Now what this non profit board is pretty good at doing is knowing how to make decisions to run a more sound business model. It's what the board is selected for n'est pas? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look over the numbers and see what brings in the cabbage and it's not challenging art. And the board's main responsibility is to be financially prudent. so. So long art. Hello Dr. Suess.

The gold standard is an institution that is so huge that it can absorb this risk- an institution that can says hello art and hello Tim Burton simultaneously. And we know a small institution can also be a gem. It can tolerate risk because it doesn't have to please a large donor base. That entire sentence pains me to write.

But let's wade into it. We know there are institutions- and these are generally medium sized institutions- that very much consider their art product as a way to attract a donor base- be it foundation support, individual gifts and of course ticket revenue. And please don't get me started on organizations in which the programs that are in support of audience building and education take more of the budget than the act of the art making or presentation itself. It's a pathetic catch 22 - to receive funds they must make art accessible. In these organizations a paradox is glaringly evident yet never truly acknowledged with in the boards. Prodding an art form forward requires unacceptable levels of risk. I accede the premiss. But if the board has as well, it cannot be acceptable to have the word "excellence" in one's mission as it pertains to the art form if the board has disallowed the ability to meaningfully strive for this quality.

So really- what is the raison d'être for an arts institution in this position? If it's not the art- it must be the existence of the institution itself.

And even more disconcerting is where does this leave the patron? Best I can tell after 15 years in the business, it leaves us supporting institutions rather than Art. And what the fuck up with that?

Sweet jesus TPT is having a major life upheaval. The result of which has at the very least left her nervous to return to the almighty mother ship: NYC. But it is spring and there is much to see, so she strapped it on this week and squeaked back into town. Unexpectedly or possibly predictably, major cultural plans were ditched in lieu of retail therapy. Fashion is an art form too non? Mon favorite, Alexander McQueen took his life a few weeks ago- exactly my same age, and obviously having a life crisis much more major than mine. I’ve been wearing him literally everyday since his death in some form or another. What an intimate way to touch someone -by dressing them. Your art touches a body while also giving it armor as all great fashion does. This to explain, un petit peu of my NYC cultural experience defaulted to word of mouth.

As such, a good friend who also lives in Austin was in the city mainlining some culture simultaneously. Many are worried that I may jump off my 14th floor terrace so are keeping a good eye on me and as a result she ended up in my pied- a- terre giving me her weeks’ download.

“the New Museum show is shit- Koons picked all fucking fucking and sex and dirty and it’s boring i’ve seen it all. I mean, it’s good work, but? Oh- oh!! but you’ll really like the Whitney Biennial this year”

“cool- why?”

“because there is a lot of movement based work”

“awesome- where are they showing that??”

“oh, it’s all on video”.

slightly deflated “ but don’t you always feel a flatness and disconnect when you see movement based work on video? I just go stone cold.”

“no no, it’s all the same to me, i get it in my head. But oh oh oh, also I saw the final night of Kentridge’s The Nose at the Opera”

And she goes on to say what an amazingly incredible experience she had, her first time at the Met and seeing Kentridges’ eye live. Live or live. You could tell it was all over her. In her. And I had to say- really? there’s no difference b/t the video monitor and this?

So today, I drag myself from Madison ave and brave the New Museum show anyway and some of the work is good, and there is a lot of sex and TPT is newly single and thinking about sex a lot. a lot. like way too much. But the show doesn’t make me horny in the least. It’s just a bunch of penises and Paul Chan lesbianiac karma sutra drawings and like nada. I feel nothing and this pump is primed so what up with that? And I’m meeting another friend in the auditorium for a “performance” and I’m a little late so I sneak in- it’s noonish. And there I see a woman performing in an S & M bra thing- right by the door i’m walking in, and then this giant video of some 60’s porn flick, and an imac with a more current porn flick going and 2 live artists reading some government housing crisis material and i’m all like fuck me. And I have to sit now, b/c I’m almost on the stage. So I sit, and I’m trying to tune out the performers and maybe learn something from the 60’s porn flick- which is minorly boring, but a lot of gay guy porn which i don’t really know anything about so it’s interesting from a practical point of view when thank the lord my friend is brave enough to escape- from the front row mind you-so we burst into the sunlight trying to figure out what not to say.

And so here is TPT’s evening- she hauls it downtown to see a “stumble through” of a piece that I saw a snippet of at APAP and it was delish, so I’ve signed on for next year’s Fusebox festival. But when I get there, they are slogging through lighting cues and I’m thinking- maybe she’s really just going to mark the whole evening and I’m stuck here again in a theater. But then I think, fuck it, i’m here. Be here. Stay. BE here. And watch the dancers do what they do best- perform like seals, mark it here, start it there, pause as if they were a video- but always be in their bodies. It’s 9.30 at night and they are asking the sound man to put a tune on and they are grooving around cracking each other up with moves. And I remember what it was like to always be right there because my body was required and how far I’ve come from that because it’s not an accepted way to interact in rich people polite society. Eventually, the tech crew gets to kvetching at the choreographer about time and they begin the run through. And it’s good. Very good. And this choreographer- artist -is thinking about sex too. But her thinking about sex is so much more advanced or maybe just more effective than Koons’ thinking about sex- because hers is naturally in her body and his is in his head or in his hand. Who would know more about being in the body than a dancer? And this is just a “run through” which means that the structure is inherent but there is still another layer to be added which is performative- and what do the performers give to the artist that allows her to give to the audience? A step that is missing with visual art- the interstitial link between the artist and the viewer- the performer- the performance- which requires an audience to be complete.

Which all gets me to thinking- maybe just maybe as an art world if we are so fucking interested in fucking we should be paying more attention to our more advanced choreographers. They have something to say and they can share it in a way that shoots through the gray matter and straight to the ----. The what i guess is the question. In art history we are taught that really “great art” graces through the gray matter. Don’t be sucked in by cheap beauty or excessive sentiment in lesser works. For a great work, it seems to be a requirement that the content filters through the intellect kind of analogous to water filtering through a swamp so that it cleans the material before it goes anywhere really juicy. It’s brazenly obvious that the art world is casting about for the last decade trying to find ways to the reptilian brain- either to titillate or to shock, to desensitize or to truly desperately connect the artist and the viewer at least in some base way?

But really, can visual art stimulate two of our best spots at one time? The brain and the sympathetic kinesthetic urge tweaked at the same time can be a meta experience- creating a connection that goes straight to the soul- no swamp required. We are wired to naturally filter from experience to intellect not vice versa. Why not collect some movement based experiences that inform that interaction with an artists’ intent so that in real life we can have another tool to recognize a connection with others? Or at the very least allow us to practice fucking with our bodies and our brains at the same time. That’s worth 50 minutes and a $20 ticket isn’t it?

A long time ago in a land far far away, TPT spent a mostly fun summer and wee bit of the fall snorting cocaine. It was pretty fun in a short term rush sort of a way, but I was forever the obnoxious hyper girl made even more hyper urging my fellow partiers to get up. Let’s all dance. Let’s walk around the block. Let’s get in the car and drive real fast. Let’s GO. Suffice it to say I loved the go. It felt fantastic. When combined with an addictive genetic make up, coke is a nasty little drug and I had to bid it adieu but I am grateful to it. It’s quite relieving to know that a craving or a yearning or a searching can actually be identified and have its bell rung even if just for a little while.

I grew up a little and began to recognize that the craving was more than go. I did some thinking and reading and understood of course that I, like everyone, yearned to occasionally jump out of my self. But what really felt amazing was a joining of the self with another even if only for a moment. I know you think TPT is being hippy dippy but trust me, this is what we are all searching for-religion, drink, drug, bungee jumping, heli- skiing, meditation, those whirling dervish guys- it’s all aiming here.

Imagine my delight then to discover that watching a super energetic dance performance could ring this bell for me. And although it happened only a few times, like any good addictive personality, I was all over this. Crave that bell ring. Ring it. Please. But wouldn’t you know, there were too many attempted ringings and it got harder and harder to ring. What the fuck? Was my soul habituated? No no no, what I was craving was a more sophisticated rush. I needed the right stimulation to get there. (hey TPT is 40 she is at her peak- she is not talking about sex. yet)

So, now here I am thinking about the components of successful movement based work so I can more intelligently get my fix. I use this euphemism, movement based work, because some, while seeking their own rush, screech to a halt and slam into reverse when they bring their assumptions of various disciplines with them to the theater. So let’s use MBW as a calming euphemism as we continue to poke around the blurring lines between the disciplines of dance (everyone jump around), theater (mommy I’m scared), performance art (lovely time for a nap), experimental music (occasionally causes permanent damage) and spectacle (circus animals!).
All would be much more enjoyable if these lines were blurred unintentionally. But I’m not sure many artists are working with out an underlying intent relating to structure that isn’t completely manifest in the finished work. ITPTHO, artists working at the most sophisticated level are able to rise above their intent.

Performance of course differs from strict visual art in that the performance artist includes the viewer aka audience in the artistic equation. Painters can toil away their life in a basement and die with an unseen treasure trove. Same with poets bless their hearts. Unlike performers, they don’t require viewers to complete their work. Thus shall we say a successful MBW, in addition to its content, which we all hope is sufficiently interesting, must also deal supremely with a set of core instincts the audience brings to the project. To create a transcendent piece or even just moments with in the piece, the artist must on some level recognize these components and deal with them or not- which of course is still dealing with them. The audience on the other hand gets to just sit there and let it wash over them. If the artist wants us to work, she needs to push the right buttons. As I tell my first husband, nodding off is a legitimate reaction to performance based work.

So what are these components that are now preludes to our successful bell ringing? Survey says
#1. Beauty. We unconsciously seek it be it via the eye or via the ear. Ooh, the stage is bathed in red. Those tutus are so white and fluffy. And yes we know that its opposite can be surprisingly beautiful.
#2. Emotional and Kinesthetic Sympathy. We are wired to feel for and with the beings on stage. If we don’t, we feel like sociopaths and that is disturbing-and I don’t mean interesting disturbing. The kinesthetic urge should be what makes us all rush to see each dance performance but it doesn’t does it? Most of us get this primitive fix via watching sports. My particular vice is NCAA football. Nevertheless, it’s a powerful tool.
#3. Sex. Yes please. It’s everywhere now because it’s always there. It can be quite overpowering- use sparingly. ring a ding ding. ding dong which brings us to
#4. Intellect. Must everything always be about sex? Might we move up the hierarchy beyond reproduction? What is beyond beauty? God- I’m thinking about the transcendence of beauty. I’m a fucking genius. Premature ding! I always find it a special treat to have my intellect triggered after the piece please.

TPT told you it was a non original list. But, aren’t we always surprised when an artist is just rubbing rubbing rubbing on that one spot and you are all like- it’s numb sister please do move on.

Of course now we see a MBW is at its best when all these instincts are sufficiently attended to so that our self is free FREE to sneak out and join the artist’s. Take me on your ride let’s go go go. Plain and simple right?

Are you yearning for a bit more? This discussion has hopped over the most basic of all the components we bring to the theatre. I’ll write an answer and you supply the question. Culture is the highest expression of civilization. Culture is our highest expression of our civilization. In some way, I suppose it should be added to our list. But don’t we deserve to give ourselves the gift of forgetting about it and our list and letting our bells be rung by surprise? It’s much more fun that way isn’t it? Simon Cowlie or whatever is leaving American Idol- so quickly after Paula Abdul’s exit. I do wonder how I know this- I have never watched American Idol nor read Star People et al? Maybe it's because Paula has rung our collective bell twice, and Simon, to the extent of my knowledge has only rung once. Simon’s a loser. He’s the mean one. Hey, where is that present I’m giving myself? Is it hidden it so that I can go and search for it like in a scavenger hunt? I’ll go and look for it as long as someone wraps it up real pretty.

TPT thought that she would start out her second season and simultaneously fulfill a new year's resolution by posting a bit of thinking about the Test Performance Test experiment. And I promise also to collect quick missives about TPT's experiences out in the wild looking at performance work.

There is something wrong with TPT, as she spends her off hours on a quest to collect art, aka acquire, possess. Then, just as when she was a strange little kid who made fantastical dioramas, I like to take my “artifacts” and arrange them so that they talk to, connect with, attract and repel one another creating private stories to walk through daily. I do it also with shoes and fashion so unfortunately one can’t call it an elegant attraction to high culture. It’s just some weird hamster urge.

Living in this manner puts me at direct odds with the overarching mindset of my mother city Austin, Texas. Early in my adult life, my family and friends would come to visit and look discreetly or pointedly away from my walls as you would kindly overlook a friend’s onset of alcoholism or dementia. I was still strange.

But lately, my urge to collect has taken a turn to include performance experiences. Finally, I am feeling much more in tune with my community’s culture. And for this evolution I heavily implicate Austin’s water supply. I do believe one can get a good feeling for the character of a city by knowing its drug of choice. And for Austin, that is weed. Weed. Weed. Weed. Our parents acclimated us to it via the crack under the bedroom door and then peed the THC into the water supply so that eventually the entire community was suspended in a complacent (I mean this in a good way) state of quasi secret bliss. Even newcomers, if they can stand it long enough, join us at our stasis. It’s quite a comfortable state of being- we are more or less non acquisitive- note that Westlake Hills and the McMansion infection that plagued the ring outside the city is not on the Austin water supply. Coincidence? I think not. So yes, we are non acquisitive, interested in experiences, ideas and extreme grass roots democracy. Being a precinct captain here is sincerely respected, neighborhood associations are to be feared an obeyed. Antoine Predock, the architect who built our newish city hall deemed us “terminally democratic”. We nourish a significant live music scene and expect and endure live music breakfast, lunch and dinner. I believe because of our now innate “patience” via our water supply, we are inured to sitting through countless occasions of excruciatingly inane anti capitalistic folk music written by checkers at the Randalls. We can’t escape it so we have all become quite good at recognizing the good and just ignoring the bad- while still wishing their artistic souls well. This ability has also made for a lively independent film festival scene. With only lanyards for protection, we repeatedly stumble out of hole in the wall theaters blinking like moles brandishing our piece of shit movie experience like a battle wound. “dude that sucked” “epically” “let’s got get a beer and discuss”

In her newly enlightened state, TPT finally sees in this culture of acquiring shared performance experiences a place to fit. Let’s talk about collect-ing and collect-ive experiences. Isn’t a major piece of the equation body surfing the pit supported by like minded strangers? I remember Jane’s Addiction blowing my 19 year old mind at, yes I’ll say it, the first Lollapalooza. Last year, they came to Austin during SXSW to play a late late late show. I desperately wanted to go to see if I could still have the same feeling after all these years. Ultimately, I couldn’t find anyone to go to the show with me at 1.30 in the morning because I am a grown up and live amongst other grown ups. But I continued to think and grill my friends about whether or not we could have the same mind blowing sensations as an adult. The cumulative answer seems to be kind of. Part of having your mind blown is not expecting nor noticing the blowing. And it’s harder to catch your mind off guard the older we get. I was able to reach back and remember a stupendous experience at BAM (in NYC) several years ago and it eventually it has come to me: William Forsythe is my new Perry Farrell. Perry Farrell has the talent and the intellect to work on the same platform as Mr. Forsythe. Decision: Rock Star or Internationally Renowned Super Star Artist what do you want to be when you grow up? When both are working at a very high level are they really that different? No one can say that Madonna is not a genius. Cultural gathering, creating, synthesizing and presenting it all in a way that permeates the self: that may be the definition of mind blowing. We seek the sensation because the resultant calm and connectedness that occurs in its wake. Isn’t this a sneaking similarity to our early drug of choice? Of course the ultimate is to sustain the state but that’s a privilege that only a few ever attain. But the practice and seeking of it is deemed a worthy endeavor.

testperformancetest

testperformancetest is a multi-year experiment that brings a curated mix of national and international performance work to Austin. Occasionally the fund will commission performance works for Austin audiences.