Chimera’s Still Warm Body, a 4-act operatic performance with a libretto by Bitsy Knox and scored by the composer, percussionist, and vibraphonist Els Vandeweyer, is a retelling of the life and death of the Ancient Greek monster, Chimera. Drawing from original source material, chaos theory, free jazz musicology, and queer theory, Chimera’s Still Warm Body traces notions of hybridity, asynchrony, and the manipulative power of fear.
I had the great pleasure to open up an intimate and heavy evening of performances at an unnamed party in an abandoned train station near Dessau, Germany. So honoured to get to play with some fantastic musicians that evening, including Chrysanth, Minor Science, Grymnk, DJ Bricks, Physical Therapy, Objekt, CCL, and rotating finale. Thanks to Scott and Vicky for inviting me and organising.
Performed and live-streamed on January 27, 2021 at the Apartment Project, Berlin as part of Chromatic Wednesdays.
Chromatic Wednesdays is a culmination of our recent collective consciousness — the pandemic has disrupted our ability, creativity, and production. How do we as artists and intellectuals develop alternative forms of thinking and articulate this unclear existential situation? How can we get out of this limbo? How can we expel it? Addressing these questions, Apartment Project developed a program titled Chromatic Wednesdays, which consists of 33 individual events, that will take place within eleven months starting from December 2, 2020. Each month will revolve around specific themes on current issues such as; immigration, pandemic, ecology, sustainability, gentrification, gender, survival, boundaries, geography, freedom of speech, and future. On three Wednesdays per month, artists, musicians, performers, scholars, scientists, and cultural practitioners will be invited to collaborate and share their research, practices, and experiences. The space will host a variety of events such as; concerts, performances, workshops, film screenings, lectures, exhibitions, readings, panel discussions, and dinner gatherings.
- Photos courtesy of Bengisu Caglayan
- Filming courtesy of Emre Birismen, with sound by Melih Sarigol
Om Marrow was written in 2017 on Hornby Island. This reading of the poem follows an initial (unreleased) scoring with Roger 3000, and is here read at Hopscotch Reading Room (Berlin) during Flüssige Stadt, on February 19th 2020, a poetry reading featuring Jessica Aimufua, Ellena Basada, Adrienne Herr, Nina Kettiger, and Natalie Mariko.
Video documentation by Luzie Meyer.
Performance of “Made Me” (2020) at OHM, Berlin, on the occasion of the book launch for Mitch Speed’s “One Work” series (Afterall Books), Fiorruci Made Me Hardcore.
Performed at Project Space Festival Berlin, commissioned by Ashley Berlin, July 2019.
OM COLD BLOOD, by Bitsy Knox & Roger 3000, performed at E2Sterput, Brussels, November 24 2018
- Bitsy Knox & Roger 3000 perform at W139, Amsterdam, as part of a relocation, an exhibition organised by PEACH (Rotterdam), Sabrina Chou, and Hunter Longe
Untitled (The Power of Now), 2014, Knox & Tonner. Made in collaboration with Christian Tonner for the exhibition The Tiger With Three Legs at Organhaus Art Centre, Chongqing (China). The performer in this video is Takeo Ni.
- Video in accompaniment with a 7″ record release, produced with Olivier Douard for the solo exhibition, I Still Say Yes, Komplot, Brussels (2011).