fill til full  (2018) 

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containing

spit & sweat & skin & space

counting

balloons & breaths & blow jobs & beds

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Squished in a glass case, I blew up balloons until there was no more space and tried to fall asleep. You can see me and everything my mouth is kissing. It feels like there isn’t a line between public and private. Or if there is, it’s as thin as a piece of glass, as clear as a translucent balloon. The more I exert my breath, the bigger each balloon gets, the less empty space there is. It becomes full, and I’m no longer alone in the empty space!

This performance explores broad, sticky concepts of intimacy and the illusion of balance with stale but flexible materials that require activation. Intimacy takes up space, while demanding giving up space. Intimacy is carried in many forms: familial, platonic, romantic, casual, passionate, inanimate. There’s something about being socialized as a woman and growing up through Catholic school that has made me obsessed with what can be public and what should be private. There’s something else about growing up and living it up that destroys boundaries and creates complexities. What you give is what you get but it’s not quite that simple.

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photo credit: Chelsea Couch & Cayla Skillin-Brauchle