MAP Live Evening - The third Live Art Northwest collaboration between ‘Matrix Art Projects’ and ‘In Transit’
The MAP Live Evening was held on 4th Feb in the Source Café, Nelson Street, Carlisle and was a credit to the organisers.
The programme began at 6.30pm with ‘The Best Party Ever’ by the Belgian artist Leentje van de Cruz. The intentionally small audience was invited, by means of a short video, to transform the venue into a surprise party for ‘Anita’ (aka Van de Cruz). She arrived on cue after 15mins of our frantic obeying of written instructions that turned the clean, tidy café into what closely resembled a party aftermath. If nothing else, the ‘ice’ was broken for the rest of the evening when the public audience arrived and saw Krissi Musiol ‘Making a big deal’ as Crystal Wineglass. Dealing with obsession and addictive gambling, her breakneck performance swung between uncomfortably tragic and very funny.
Simon Bowes ended his short lecture about time, the universe and his grandfather’s thoughts versus those of Prof. Stephen Hawking by releasing every shredded page of Hawking’s book into the air to exist as their own brief history of time.
Katy and Peter Merrington followed with what turned out to be the most enjoyable performance that I have witnessed for some time. They introduced us to the Compal Galaxie model 870, which is a computerised, talking sewing machine made in the 1970s by Brother. It is difficult to imagine how a sewing machine demonstration could be so entertaining, but their delivery and comic timing was very, very funny.
Andy Avery and Aliki Chapple assisted Chris Fitzsimmons’ autobiographical performance, which was darkly humorous and has been fairly accurately described as weird. The Pink Panther costume and Fitzsimmons description of why womens’ genitalia differ from mens’ was somewhat challenging.
Throughout the evening, Andy Wilson as ‘Burkha Boy’, quietly cycled on an exercise bike dressed all in black. Although normally a woman’s outer garment, the Burkha transformed Wilson into a mysterious, sexless being who laboured in the background with expressionless eyes, thoughts hidden yet thought provoking.