An evening of drama and visual performance,

featuring the play ‘The Ugly One’, directed by Mike Stubbs

and continuing with

‘Your Face, Your Fortune’,

created by Tamar Daly and Sara Popowa in response to the play.

New Venture Theatre, Bedford Place, Brighton

bar opens 6 pm, show starts 7:45 pm

16, 17 (matinee 2:30), 19, 20, 21, 22 January

Premiere Saturday 16th

Tickets £8 or £9 final Fri/Sat. All tickets £6 on Tuesday.

Reserve online at www.newventure.org.uk or phone 01273 746118.

‘The Ugly One’ is a sharp and bizarre comedy on beauty, identity and getting ahead (or a face) in life. Lette thought he was normal. But to everyone else, including his loving wife, he is ‘unspeakably ugly’. When the extent of his ugliness is revealed he turns to a plastic surgeon for help. But after the bandages come off, Lette soon learns that there is such a thing as too beautiful. This play owes glancing debts to the Marx Brothers and Kenny Everett and laughs at our obsession with external beauty.

‘Your Face, Your Fortune’ extends the themes of ‘The Ugly One’ into a live happening. It toys with the possibility of changing one's fortune by changing one's face and invites the audience to participate in a 'photographic facial surgery'.

Be prepared for it to get a little sticky….

NEW YEAR FORTUNE

I went to an amazing, happy party at Pop-up Studios, Lewes, organised by friends p&i (who are cycling to Japan in 2010-12, this night was their fun & fund-raiser). They spent weeks doing up an unused and junk-filled part of the studios, making it into a perfect party-space; two dance floors, a bar, two chill-out spaces and even a wardrobe!

I arrived just before midnight to do a 'anti-countdown-performance'. The night then continued into the next day, full of wonderful friends and people enjoying what may be the best new year party I've been to since my clubbing days in Tokyo (and that's more than a decennia ago!)...

After a snooze at the studios on New Year's Day, we went for an epic walk in the downs, climbing iced-moss-covered hills with clear sky and stunning views. Having no walking-shoes with me, I looked stylish on the hilltop in heels as pictured above :)

For the midnight performance I used the idea of o-mikuji, literally meaning 'sacred lottery'; fortunes printed on strips of paper, popular in Japanese shrines and temples.

By email I asked people I know to give me 10 words to use for the paper strips. The words were collected in the last 24 hours of 2009, printed, cut strips, and attached with yarn to a gorgeous white dress. 168 words in total!

Entering the main space of the party minutes before midnight, I wore a black detachable dress over the white one (have no photos..). At 12, in the middle of the space, i ripped the black dress off revealing all the paper fortunes hanging from the white dress. The next hour or so I moved around in the crowd, offering people to pick their fortune off the dress. Here are some of them:

Here are all the words people sent me.

I asked for words that make you happy or you wish for

18 participants (living in 7 different cities/towns, and 3 different countries)

Korg microphone holidays sun water dreams spring swim south music

warmth love intimacy pink lime green clean clear sparkle taste plant

mas fuerza, mas energía, mas amor, mas hacer el amor

yes friends too play remember soft love path today unfenced

お父さん、お母さん、すし、うなぎ、そば に うどん ありがとう

Mesmerification Dodecahedonism Talismanagement Sausages Second rate Woody Grill Kinichiwa Singapore noodles Ember viridian

belong in the wind

belong in the snow

belong to the trees

the rain and your love

belong to the water

belong to the sun

belong to everyone

and no one at all

mountains flow dance faith clarity kisses love openess stars hope

ים שמש אהבה שלווה בריאות חברות יצירה הגשמה שלום חלום

chocolate charcoal skin eye lashes lips rain primavera planetas air landing

Blessing upon harmony of action and inaction reaching lasting beauty

transformation mysticism friends myth adventure growth enlightenment schpongle-juice doitch 'oh' wheels cranks fast cars & bitches loveguns pistonpower pistonlegs

tweek rising sun together regenerate east

amal, baraka, rahma, farah, iman, salam, wahab, ihsan, rachid, noor

Vårmorgonsgryning i skånsk skogsdunge. Dofter. Ljus.

Uppvaknande fåglars intensiva sång. Svensk naturromantik.

Hälsa, Pengar, Strand, Hav, Himmel, Sol, Växter, Min docksamling, Opera, Skönhet i alla former, Vackra ting, Lieder, Måla, Skapa

let your blossom blossom and everything else will follow too.

your passion will transcend into a flowering process within and outside of you

peanut-butter morning better later keys Earl Grey act car snow soup

YOUR FACE, YOUR FORTUNE

Documentation of a live performance by Miss Daly & Miss Popowa: YOUR FACE, YOUR FORTUNE - a one-to-two performance.

This 5 min performance ran for two hours in a small closed space within Supperclub @ The Basement, a live performance venue in Brighton, UK. The theme for the night was 'Fortune'. During this time, Miss D & S read 26 audience members' faces/fortunes with their hands. The resulting reading - a printed portrait with peelable features - was given to the audience with the invitation to CHANGE their fortune by changing their FACE.

Concept and performance:Sara Popowa & Tamar Daly
Technical performance operator: Michail Mavronas
Camera: Ruben Woodin
Graphic design: Sara Popowa

'Your Face, Your Fortune' at Supperclub WHITE NIGHT Special, The Basement, Brighton

A collaboration between Sara Popowa and Tamar Daly, concocted especially for SUPPER CLUB SPECIAL: FORTUNES OF WHITE NIGHT.

The Basement

24 Kensington Street, Brighton BN1 4NJ

In this one-to-two performance, Miss Popowa and Miss Daly offer a Facial Reading plus a Ticket of Fortune which gives you the opportunity to CHANGE your face and fortune on the night!

The fortune tellers will be available for two hours between

11pm - 1 am.

Fortune Tellers: Miss Sara Popowa and Miss Tamar Daly

Machine Magician: Mr Michail Mavronas

Base concept: Sara Popowa, developed in collaboration with Tamar Daly

SUPPER CLUB SPECIAL: FORTUNES OF WHITE NIGHT

FREE

6.00pm – 4.00am.

Cooked up especially for White Night, Supper Club presents a night of chaos. Leave your expectations at the door. They wont help you here. Indulge yourself in a frenzy of live performance intoxication, a 10-hour odd-athon for the fortunate few. With music, live art, video art, invisible art, explosive art, art that makes you go ‘what the hell was that?’ and art that shouts ‘Don’t just sit there, DO something’, Supper Club Special demands your presence.

Concocted from the most exciting new performance in the country by Basement Supported artists Janine Fletcher, Avis Cockbill, Victoria Melody and Luan Blake, Supper Club is fast building a reputation as night not to be missed.

You won't know what's on the menu until it's served…

Documenting Cloud Body 03

Cloud Body 03 at Bristol University

I spent 3 days in Bristol last week, attending a seminar on digital documentation of performance organised by JISC Digital Media (hosted at the Institute for Learning and Research Technology at the University of Bristol).

During this stay I made a version of "Growing Bodies from the Cloud" on Thursday 24th as part of Speaker's Corner at Arnolfini. The piece was very different from Lori's and my joined forces on Park(ing) Day on Friday and I don't think it worked quite as well. Apparently it seemed fine from 'the outside' but I think much more time needs to be spent on contextualizing the piece for each different time and location. I am still waiting to receive the documentation photos from this event, they will be up here soon!

On Thur night I was asked by JISC seminar facilitators Stephen Gray and Paul Clarke if I wanted to show the piece once more, during the lunch break the next (and final) day of the seminar.

After spending some time thinking and planning I agreed and this time I decided to make the piece into more of an intimate, introvert version - naked but crouched up and hiding my face in my hair, only seeing the sheets of stickers laid out in front of me, and sticking them to my own body. I also choose to place myself on a table as the space was a meeting/work type of room, and (with the help of the very helpful staff - thanks!) made use of the number of cameras the department has - four SLR's, which two on tripods.

This is an idea I have wanted to explore for a while - the documentation being integral to the live performance, and the audience participating partly by documenting, or seeing through the camera. Well, more could have been done in terms of me planning the event... Apparently not every audience member had managed to read the background/instructions - too discreetly stuck on the wall - they must have thought I was completely random! :) I also was made aware of how tricky it is to ask people to use SLR cameras - even with auto settings, most images came out blurry. Possibly an issue to do with lighting as well.

The bottom line is that despite having very little time I DID it, and this I am happy about. Again, great support from staff at JISC, thanks.

Photo documentation of CloudBody 02 at Arnolfini Speakers Corner, Bristol

Cloud Body 02 showed at Arnolfini, Bristol as part of the 100 Days Countdown: a series of exhibitions, performances and talks highlighting climate change, social justice and art and activism, running between 29 Aug - 6 Dec 2009 - up to the Copenhagen climate conference. My friend and former course mate at Brighton University, Pablo Perezzarate, had the idea of one gig per count-down day, and is now organising a huge number of gigs through Climate350, a Bristol-based charity. He invited me to come and show some work and it luckily coincided with my plans to attend JISC's documentation seminar.

Working on my own made quite a different piece from the version shown at Park(ing) Day, where me and Lori O'Regan had three hours in an outdoor, public site with a mainly 'accidental' audience watching and taking part. On my own, and with much less time at hand, the piece felt rushed and with less defined borders than I would have wanted. Nevertheless, the feedback I had seemed ok. So, at the end of the day I have had a chance to practice a favourite way of performing - structured improvisation, and to use this in something different from movement work, which I would normally use it in. It was interesting to see the improv limitations of this more conceptual piece being different from a more movement orientated piece, where you can fall back on 'doing something dancy' when you run out of flow.

Arnolfini is 'one of Europe’s leading centres for the contemporary arts' according to their own website, and as far as I understand it is true. I ended up there all of my three days staying in Bristol and I enjoyed their open setting by the canal in a buzzing, stroll-friendly part of town, and the culturally minded, good-looking crowd who were casually hanging out in the cafe/bar.

All images by Pablo Perezzarate

Next Body happening on Thur 24th, Arnolfini, Bristol

Another Body from the Cloud will be made by myself Thur 24th Sep this week in the foyer of Arnolfini, Bristol. 1 - 1.30 pm, as part of their lunchtime programme "Speaker's Corner": Performances, talks, presentations, recitals programmed in response to the 100 Days: Countdown to the Climate Change Conference (which takes place in December in Copenhagen).

This performance I envision being quite different from the one past weekend, although many elements stay the same.

I will be on my own, and I have 30 mins for the performance.

The space is the foyer of a respected arts venue and my space will be central, on a small vinyl circle. (?!)

My movements will more performative and probably silent.

I will outline my own body with crayon or similar, then get up and fill in my own outlines.

Documentation of 'Growing Bodies from the Cloud', Park(ing) Day Brighton 2009

Thanks to all of you who contributed with pictures of hair, skin and ground to the BODY which grew and came alive on Park(ing) Day Brighton 2009. The live event on Friday went really well, we loved it and had very good response from audience/participants.

Today we are happy to feed these images back into 'the Cloud' - creating a sort of feedback, or dialogue.

This performance/event/installation is made for both a live and an online audience. And we like our audience to be part of the art - we still need photos, and for YOU to take part! :)

Keep sending them in to sara or lori or post to our facebook page.

The next body will be built by myself Thursday 24th Sep at 1pm in the foyer of Arnolfini, Bristol as part of "Speaker's Corner"

Park(ing) Day Brighton was organised by artist CiCi Blumstein in partnership with BLANK Studios Gallery. Publicity Design by Sara Popowa.

The live performance was made possible with the kind support of The Basement, Brighton. Thank you Sam!

The following text was displayed during the live event on Park(ing) Day:

Our idea is to collect digital 'pieces' of human bodies through our online social networks, using these pieces to create a “physical body’’, montage style. A small gesture to materialise our virtual connexions with our friends “in the cloud” (the cloud is a geeky metaphor for the internet).

This is an ongoing project and you can ‘grow’ with us too - give us photos of your skin, hair or the ground you are standing on. Mail or post on them our facebook group.

Thank you for taking part!

Sara Popowa and Lori O’Regan

Location: The Basement's private parking spot right in the middle of Brighton, Kensington Street - The Basement is visible opposite the street. Our own take on the open-source Park(ing) guidelines!

Duration: 2-5pm.

start. composites of images are printed on sheets of sticky labels and laid out in a 'parking square'

outlining Lori's body with small white stickers

the location. next to us are another two (unused) private parking spaces

the body is outlined and surrounded by what will become its 'content', the stickers

we start filling in the body

audience/participant

"finally i get to have hairy arms!"

eyes in place, put there by audience/participants

creating a 'scene' with passers by

the body coming into completion...

Lori, Sara and the Body of all of you are pleased with the result!

end

Friday, 7pm

Sat night, 3.30am

Sun, 5pm