Yackez is the arty rap group/multimedia collaboration of Larissa and Jon Velez-Jackson, aka Twitta and Papi Jon, as well as dancers in all manner of drag king and queen-ness. Their urban “DIY” aesthetic incorporates the sound of non-commercial hip-hop to document their grievances with popular culture, politics, contemporary art, American urban life, modernity, and, most notably, themselves. Yackez will perform with their queer backup group, The Star Crap Dancers and trusty mascot, YackMan. For more info go to: yackez.com
VIGILANTLY BOLSTERING SONIC DIVERSITY SINCE 2003: Talibam!’s Matt Mottel (keys) and Kevin Shea (drums) have remained devoted to their belief that the application of sonic diversity is paramount to the appreciation of human diversity. For this performance, Talibam!’s ultimate goal will be to wed disparate ideologies threaded with proficiency and questioning. Most recently, collaborated with legendary Fluxist artist Yasunao Tone at MoMA, completed three theater residencies in NYC (at the IRT Theater, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Swing Space, and at the Incubator Arts Project where they presented their opera Discover AtlantASS with collaborator Sam Kulik), and collaborated with world-renowned choreographer Karole Armitage, and so on. To date, Talibam! has traveled to 40 countries, completed more than 30 international tours, and released 27 albums. Their newest release, Puff Up The Volume (Critical Heights), is uninhibited meme-team pop. Currently Talibam! has seven albums in production.
Talibam! has released over 50 videos on their YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/talibambam/
Talibam!’s “cultural improvement” Launchpad series on Bandcamp:
http://talibam.bandcamp.com/album/talibam-launch-pad-2-frank-ocean
Talibam! on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Talibamnyc
Talibam! and Sam Kulik’s opera Discover AtlantASS:
http://bellykids.bandcamp.com/album/discover-atlantass
“I turned 30 and I want to be a teenager again.” – Gwen Stefani
Beth Heinly will be performing a re-enactment of a youtube video where Tickle Me Elmo gets annihilated by a group of teenagers. Blowing up Elmo commemorates a pastime from the youtube community thus celebrating populist interests. Beth’s persona for the performance is her fantasized high school self as chola. Her aim in this performance is to prove that a woman can piss out a fire (pun intended).
Beth Heinly is a performance artist and sometimes curator who draws comics under the pseudonym 3:00. Her work has been included in many exhibitions in the Philadelphia area and Paris, France including The Philadelphia Museum of Art (2012), Little Berlin (2012), Space 1026 (2011), Extra, Extra (2011), Bodega (2011), The Institute of Contemporary Art (2007) & Black Floor Gallery (2006). She is currently a member of Philadelphia artist collective, Vox Populi. To view more of her work please go to domesticwildcatrefuge.com. You can follow her at the3oclockbook.tumblr.com. Sometimes she tweets @bethheinly.
Melissa Krodman is a deviser and performer of original, experimental theatre and dance. Recent productions include The Sincerity Project (Team Sunshine Performance Corporation, currently in progress), Vainglorious (Applied Mechanics, 2012), Elephant (Kelly Bond, 2010), Handbook for Hosts (Happenstance Theatre / banished? Productions, 2010), and Tactile Dinner (banished? Productions, 2009 / 2010). Mel’s most recent work, Colony (2012), is a 50-minute experimental dance duet, co-choreographed and performed with Kelly Bond. Colony has been performed in Sweden, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and New Orleans, and has upcoming presentations with Pieter Performance Space, Los Angeles (summer, 2014) and with Thirdbird at Christ Church Neighborhood House, Philadelphia (January 2014). Mel is a recent graduate of the Pig Iron School for Advanced Performance Training.
