Thursday, October 8th, writer and performer Justin Allen continues his 2020 ISSUE residency with the premiere of Bass, a performance stemming from ongoing research into how to emulate, experiment with, and better understand the performance practices of punk singers. This performance is co-presented with The Chocolate Factory Theater, and will be streamed from their theater in Long Island City, New York.
Building on his work Explain Totality (version 4) in which he performs as a singer of a four-piece punk band, Allen is preparing a series of performances in which he sings and experiments with screaming vocal techniques, accompanied by three isolated instruments: electric guitar, electric bass, and drums. The performances focus on the individual instruments, incorporating both rehearsed and improvised material as well as movement. The second performance of the series, Bass, will feature electric bass by multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist Taja Cheek.
Justin Allen experiments with performance and writing. His work focuses on the ways aesthetic, structural, and conceptual features in art and language communicate social histories. He has performed at Performance Space New York and Brooklyn Museum with frequent collaborator Devin Kenny, and performed solo work at Movement Research at the Judson Church, BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, and ISSUE Project Room, among other venues. He has read his poetry, fiction, and nonfiction at venues such as The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, Kampnagel (Hamburg, Germany), and Artists Space. His work has received support from Franklin Furnace, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and The Shed. He is from Northern Virginia and lives and works in New York City.
Taja Cheek is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist who records and performs with her band under the mononym, L'Rain. She has performed at venues and festivals including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Getty, The Kitchen, FORM Festival, and Basilica Soundscape, and her work has been featured in publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Hyperallergic, The Village Voice, and Pitchfork
Audio description by Azure D. Osborne-Lee, captions by LC Interpreting Services.
[Image description:Justin, a Black person in a yellow shirt, holds a microphone up to a megaphone in a dark space. The megaphone emits light that partially illuminates Justin’s body and the paneled wall of ISSUE’s 22 Boerum theater.]
