On March 9, the local performance art collective, HoK (House of Kenzo) presented Permutations, a 20 minute production exploring systems, fluidity, work and cycles, at the Lawndale Art Center in Houston.
The trio, Ledef (sound production), Brexxitt (choreography) and Grapefruit (concept design) embodied possibilities through splash choreography and projection mapping.
Local carpenter company, Precision Woodworking Texas, assisted the group with an installation that included an indoor water trough, a 10 part pulley system and a network of clear bags filled with water tied onto natural rope.
The performance was inspired by Yanaguana aka the San Antonio River. The group spoke on protecting the watershed that supports the local river. The group also spoke on nudity in their performances and expressed how they wished the world was ready to respect a naked body.
“There is more than one way. Systems corrupted. How will we go back to the beginning? When the only laws are of nature. How humans can exist as naked as they were born into the world without society and police berating. Being as we were born and holding space for everyone without being limited to mature audiences,” said the group.
The piece also discussed work and how it relates to modernity. The group carried large bags of water across the space and their bodies representing a reappropriation of work, serving the incipient natural systems and themselves.
The group then performed a digital bath and washed themselves clean of modern systems that no longer suit them.
The curated soundscape that the production ran on features unreleased compositions from musical artists Der Kindestod, Ledef and Rabit. Sampling sounds of black metal, world music and industrial, the composition grounds listeners in the energy of the earth and the systems that are eroding it.
Derkindestod presented unreleased works during the reception after the performance.
Lawndale Art Center hosted an artist talk before the presentation that engaged the gallery audience.
The group discussed their origins in San Antonio, their team dynamic and the social limitations that they are transcending.
The performance is being expanded into a series of performances by the same name. The second installment will be performed in Copenhagen, Denmark this May when the group will appear at the Contemporary Art Science and Technology festival, Clicks.
For more information email houseofkenzo@gmail.com