Joshua Seidner Powderburn September 29, 2009

Powderburn, titled after a racial slur, is a performance piece that follows one man from his sun-burnt, war-torn homeland to an unnamed country in which cultures clash in cracked basements, men become brothers become enemies, and a class system assigns him the forever role of exoticized, eroticized, animal-like performer. As the performance (and performer) descends towards a construct that is intentionally volatile and unraveled, a persistent video camera becomes increasingly representative of the “audience;” it is through the constant gaze of this audience that each dance and demo becomes less sport and more spectacle. An actual audience is invited to view the Powderburn residency’s final performance of the week, the last stop on a downward spiral of dance and fight and charged dynamic between this small group of men that, over eight days, will have grown into beaten yet emboldened brothers. This video shows clips of their work through out Watermill and the grounds and was compiled by the artist.

Channel: Vimeo Video Length: 26m 34s Date Found: Mon, Jan 24 2011 8:12 PM Category: Home Video Date Produced: Mon, Jun 28 2010 4:23 PM View Count: 0