Rhys Rodgers is a multi award winning Performance Poet based in Melbourne Australia. He explores political themes of sexuality, youth and belonging from a humorous gen Y perspective. He is touring his new spoken word album What We Think We Know About Dinosaurs, through Europe and the UK in May and early June.

Artist Statement:
What interests me as an artist is the ongoing reformulation of a set of key interests. These interests are drawn from my observations of some of Western society’s less considered compulsions. Looking into the performance of gender, specifically masculinity, the valorization of labour, the pursuit of leisure, and the marshalling of amity, I explore language and paralanguage, that is, both the spoken and gestural aspects of human communication.

Biography John G. Boehme
MFA, University of Victoria, BFA Emily Carr University, Diploma Camosun College.

Weaned in the Windansea of La Jolla, California through boarding schools and graduating from Army and Navy Academy. John G. Boehme’s early art practice included painting, sculpture, performance video and digital technology, installation and photography. Boehme describes recent work as "trans-disciplinary" often employing performance, video, audio and objects in a number pieces simultaneously, Boehme is not constrained to any particular creative mode and therefore utilizes integrated approaches to realize the work. John continues to have exhibitions, screenings and festivals across Canada, the Americas, United Kingdom, Europe and China. John is an adjunct faculty at University of Victoria and Continuing faculty at Camosun.

Live artwork presents a direct relationship with material, with action and process, with human interaction. As I understand it, physical involvement is the most embodied way in which to create meaning. Through durational works both the artist and the audience gain access to the experience uniquely available through such commitment. This is of course the archetypal modality of ‘performance art’, an experience that unfolds through an extended period of time. Nothing can replace that learning, that specific duration of being. But although there is no alternative to the durational aspect of performance per se, I remain interested in the question of representation of performance, the very clear and obvious problem of making the ephemeral available to a larger audience at a different time. Using video to “reconstruct” an event makes publication and discourse possible. Despite its material concerns I believe that art is rendered ultimately in the social domain.
With regard to multi-disciplinary works, I prefer the alternative term “trans-disciplinary”, as it refers to integration between media, as opposed to, say, a sequential use of different forms. For instance, I employ performance, video, audio and objects simultaneously in a number of my pieces. I am not constrained to any particular mode; rather, I utilize integrated approaches within my practice.

NON GRATA - ART OF THE INVISIBLES: Voluntarily Out of Focus Around the name NON GRATA there have been different hushes and shushes for a long time. Already from the point of view of death of conventionalization of art it has embodied the horrible and unwanted disembodiment of the human person, from which the meaninglessness of nowadays art, is pouring out. NON GRATA is a international performance group from Estonia with floating membership. In Non Grata there has been more than 300 members during the last 12 years from all over the world. The main characteristics is anonymity in group work, ignorance of local art world and mass media. Non Grata Group has performed in Asia, Europe, South and North America with street actions, chaotic space and context specific performances and long lasting ghetto marathons.

"incognizant" Thank you for noticing me. Thank you for your attention. I not only crave attention, I deserve it. Thank you big city. Thank you New York City. I not only watch all of the people pass, I beg them in thought. Thank you eyes. Thank you night rain. I not only tear, I have a rotting soul. Thank you screams. Thank you listeners. I not only have a bloody throat, I have a mangled body. Thank you for your order. Thank you for your time. I not only smile through my sop, I rustle.

Matthew Silver (picttured below)

Matthew Silver is a Performance Artist and Village Idiot clown. Mostly known for his work on the street, you can see him at Astor Cube, Washington Square Park, Union Square and the L-Line Subway. On stage and in art galleries he's performed at Goodbye Blue Mondays, Grace Space, Panoply Lab, IV Soldiers, Gowanus Ballroom, CPR, Sidewalk Cafe, and Spattered Columns in Soho. When he performs outside its for smiles and Laughter, and getting others to act silly too. When he performs inside his motivation is also to make people confused, scared and awkward. His most current and interesting work: Union Square "Fountain Gang" Bullies Performance Artist.