Ancestor from the Future

Above:  Ancestor from the Future regalia created with interdisciplinary artist Christy Chow, at Djerassi Resident Artist Program in 2017.   Photo by Christy Chow.

I was at Djerassi Resident Artist Program in 2017,  with many artists from different disciplines. I was there as a writer, that was my sole focus.  We would eat a collective meal together, each evening.  One night, I performed music for all the other artists, after dinner, as an offering of my work.  They had asked for it, as they were curious.

I had brought the sunshine plastic zip tie "ruff" pictured above, and utilized it for my performance of the song, "Ancestor from the Future".  My fellow artists-in-residence loved the song, and were surprised that there was not a video of it online.  Choreographer Tori Lawrence was in residence with dancer Elanor Goudie-Averill and they offered to film the video of the song, as they had brought equipment.  Interdisciplinary artist Christy Chow offered to help sew the regalia, as she was extremely technically proficient at making patterns quickly, and I sat with her, showing her photos of traditional fancy parkas made with sunshine ruffs.  I bought the materials, and the blue plastic for the details was provided by another artist.  

We filmed the music video in front of the outdoor sculpture at Djerassi entitled, "Contemplator" which was erected in 2004 by Japanese artist Yusuke Toda. 

The regalia pictured no longer exists.  I took it apart to create a new one.  I saved the plastic kupaq (trim) used on the design.  The regalia traveled all over the world, and I was grateful for the regalia, the music videos and the photos (by Christy Chow) that came from this brief collaborative effort.