Join the Rebellion: Crasis Presents (De)monstro – A Transformative Artistic Experience at Centrum
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Photo courtesy of Centrum [/caption]
A Centrum Residency Column by Melissa O’Neil
Crasis (/krey-sis/ from the Greek κρᾶσις, "mixing", "blending") is a contemporary art collaborative duo made up of Andy Davis and Anne Lukins. Their projects use participatory live performance to engage audiences with themes of transformation and human ecology, often challenging the ideas of consumerism, disposability, and isolation. They blend science fiction, ritual, and personal mythology to create immersive experiences using sculpture, puppetry, performance, music, and video.
Davis and Lukins met at an artist residency eight years ago, then realized that, by collaborating artistically, their work together was, as Lukins says, “greater than the sum of its parts.” Working in collaboration requires Davis and Lukins to practice being present in the moment, to be flexible and to avoid preconceived ideas about what will happen next. Though it both stretches them and is uncomfortable, Davis says, “It’s a part of the dance.”
Crasis has been collaborating for the last five years. They see their work as a social experiment, using live performance to engage the audience in questions about how humans depend upon, adapt to, and engage with their various environments and each other. And, really, isn’t anything involving humans a social experiment? We are unpredictable and moveable, and, as Davis implies, very porous. She suggests that the porosity of people is what makes us special, because we have the capacity to be many different things.
The audience is one of the unknown factors. Crasis works to mix the performance piece with the audience, so over time, the performance becomes a thing unto itself. The moments where it feels like they have tapped into something really ancient, a deep history of what it is to be human, to be in relationship with each other, connecting in this particular space, at this particular moment makes the real reason they make art come to the surface. It creates a vibration in the room, tells the deeper story of what it means to be here together, telling stories, connecting, as humans have done for so long. It’s like stepping back into a different time, tapping into that ancient piece of ourselves, of what it is to be in community, the exchange of energy and ideas, like sitting around a fire and telling stories.
Crasis is “rebellion against the acceleration of ecological twilight.” They perform (De)monstro, a participatory ritual blending spoken word, music, sculpture, and large-scalelarge scale puppets that honors “destruction in service of life”. The performance is on Thursday, December 18th, at 6 p.m., at Centrum, at Fort Worden State Park, Building 305, South Gallery. Please RSVP to lpratt@centrum.org to join the rebellion.
