Brushing X [old format]

Shelley arranges landscape of branches to move through

Brushing is built by a series of performances through various neighborhoods of Neukölln, scavenging, gathering, and carrying large quantities of brush (fallen branches, sticks, and logs.) These materials formed the improvised score performed in the Deck Drei collective workspace.

zoomed out image of shelley in studio with audience, amongst fallen branch landscape with city skylight on the right side

My arms grew with branches which unfurled and extended far beyond the boundaries of my body. An urban oddity. Despite the ancient task of gathering brush to build fires and dwellings, this same action in the context of the city seems out of place, even absurd.

Motivated by a frustration with the sealed-off insular nature of performance spaces, I seek to de & re construct the architectural landscapes made by this thicket of brush. Audience members are invited to place associative words inside the installation to begin the performance. The improvised score attempts to imaginatively inhabit and move through shifting landscapes, responding as fully as if I could really give weight into a tree trunk or hang from a branch.