Praxinoscope: Signs of the Zodiac: PerformX Documents

PRAXINOSCOPE

PerformX | Documents No. 2

SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC

Los Angeles, California

June 12, 2022

Signs of the Zodiac

Works performed June 12, 2022

1642 Bar Los Angeles

California Derek Denckla, Editor

PRAXINOSCOPE

Signs of the Zodiac

PerformX Documents

No. 2 Works performed June 12, 2022

1642 Bar

Los Angeles

California Derek Denckla, Editor

SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC

EDITOR: Derek Denckla

02 EDITOR’S NOTE

Praxinoscope Phanesfesta | Essay | BY Derek Denckla 17 ARIES

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Matthew Bussa

DESIGNER: Tattfoo Tan

Bound-Aries | Poem | BY Diosa Xochiquetzalcóatl

19 ARIES

Swimming | Poem | BY Shelley Golan

23 TAURUS

The Taurean Mind Wanders | Poem | BY Ellington Wells

| Poem | BY Ana Paula Palombo

33 CANCER

Dedicated to You...The Zodiac | Music Video + Essay | BY Moon Chola

LEO

odetoleo/oletoleo | Intro + Soundscape | BY Cato Gilmour

Virgen | Poem | BY Iris de Anda

LIBRA

Sabor A Mi | Performance | BY Moon Chola

53 LIBRA

Empty Space is Never Empty | Poem | BY Diosa Xochiquetzalcóatl

57 SCORPIO

Scorpion

| Song | BY DaRow

59 SCORPIO

The Eyes Don’t Align

The Last Dream | Poem | BY Liu Kincheloe

65 SAGITTARIUS

Truth

| Poem | BY Christian Perfas

71 CAPRICORN

The Goat and The Crab | Poem | BY Pilar Duralde

75 AQUARIUS

Aquarius

| Sound + Poem | BY Derek Denckla

85 PISCES

Pisces Ponderings

| Poem | BY Brenda Vaca

91 PISCES

Desperate LA | Film Script [Excerpt] | BY Jeanetta Rich

101 PISCES

Alrescha

| Sound + Poem | BY Julianne Reames

Editor’s Note

Praxinoscope Phanesfesta1

I. Performance is a fragile art form

Fleeting. Bittersweet. Participatory. Part Mystical.

We aim to present, preserve and punctuate its living spirit.

Performance is a unique art form that transforms time and space. And then, it disappears. Just like our lives. We want to find ways share the energy of this lightning in a jar.

It’s a lovefest followed by famine. It’s a staycation of the collective imagination. It’s a clothed orgy of strangers soon-to-be in love.

Audiences get comfortable with each other quickly in an intimate shared space, experience heightened emotions, and then leave discreetly.

As the curtain (or mic) drops, we often gasp aloud, “What was that? What just happened?”

II. Let’s peer behind the curtain together, fix our gaze beyond the “fourth wall”

We are artists who aim to animate performance as a living, breathing form of expression.

So, we’ve launched an energetic new platform to present new work, to look

1 “Phanesfesta” is a play on “Manifesto” — a portmanteau of “Phanes” + “festa”. “Phanes” is a Greek word meaning “to bring light” or “to shine” and also a goddess of goodness and light, who emerged from a void to give birth to the universe. “Festo” in Latin means to means “to grab” from “Manifesto,” which means to make public, grasp with your hands. “Festa” is a feast, festival or party in Latin. I choose the feminine “a” ending of the work and embrace this double meaning. To grasp the light of the festival.

Bound-Aries

|

Poem

| BY Diosa Xochiquetzalcóatl

It’s been years. Still doing the same old shit. You piss me off. I send you to hell. Then, we are left to dwell on the passion of our fire as we begin missing it.

We hook up. Then it’s all good. ‘Till there’s a new hyna in your ‘hood.

You piss me off. I send you to hell. Again, I’m left to dwell. How the fuck do I quell the fires that burn being bound (to an) Aries?

Swimming

| Poem | BY Shelley Golan

Woke up after 9 hrs of sleep

I had a dream I was back in NY and the elevator buttons were different and I got stressed

Cloudy day but the ravens keep flying so close to my window

My arm aches but I feel great My coffee tastes good

Yesterday I started making plans for a trip in the Fall with my dear ones and I didn’t feel like we were lying to ourselves

Sally told me about an abandoned pool in our backyard and for the first time this morning I saw it after a month of seeing and not looking

My body spent a year in the dark

Yesterday it received instructions via a needle in a rite aid in San Bernardino Kinda feels like my birthday

Maybe I should get a cake

THE TAUREAN MIND WANDERS

| Poem | BY Ellington Wells

HOME COMFORTS

I’m tracking my period on two apps now. That’s right – two. I enter all the same information and then I make them compete over predictive accuracy.

I use Thinx now, the underwear that allows you to fully experience your period and definitely isn’t a fancy reusable menstrual diaper, but I’ve tried it all. Pads, Tampax, OBs, the cup. I hated the cup. I was surrounded by do gooder hippies my whole formative life, growing up in Vermont and then attending Oberlin for college. That’s where some lesbian Captain Planet told me I HAD to try the cup, that it is “Soooo easy to install.”

So I got one, folded it up like it showed on the instructions. I LOVE instructions. Instructions are my love language. I wish people came with user manuals. What a different world it would be if I knew the function of the button I am repeatedly smashing on the psychological remote of my partner.

So listen, I got the Diva Cup up me no problem. And it works, no complaints filed under “effectiveness,” okay?

The problem comes when you have to take it out. Because it’s a suction cup that, again, works VERY very well.

So it’s hard to get out, I use it for three cycles and then it gathers dust in the next three apartments I live in before I concede that I in fact will not be cutting down on waste in this particular way. Why do I have to be intimately aware of my body?? Can’t someone else do it? I don’t have time to pay attention to my PMS constantly.

FOOD

I just ran out of my costco box of Uncrustables. I like to line them up like militia men in my freezer

Gems

| Poem | BY Ana Paula Palombo

Here is to

All words

On standby

Beating

Inside a treasure chest

Loosely sheltered

Pilling hidden

Spread all over

Some falling apart

Others broken

Some dormant in a coma

Created or Invented

Made-up & Misspelled

Ambiguous or Disguised

Not to mention their thesaurus

“Me too” & “look a-likes”

Soaking & Brewing

Macerating

Stringing into each other

In Symbiosis

Metamorphosis

Loudly amplified

In other sounds

Languages & accents

Striking chords & notes

Goosebumps on my skin

To the left of my chest

Pulling all strings

A whirlwind of words

Sun, Moon, Rising & Venus

Rearranged in the sky

Can’t deny the signature of

The self-proclaimed Gemini

Dedicated to You...The Zodiac |

Music Video and Essay |

BY Moon Chola

This series of cover songs and music videos are inspired by the Art Laboe Connection, an LA-based radio show that gave people the opportunity to call in and dedicate an oldie but goodie to family, friends and distant lovers. These dedications told stories of apologies, longing and joy.

I spent the majority of my childhood barbecuing on Sundays, listening to “The Dedication Hour” on 92.3 The Beat and wondering what became of all those who called in. As my love and passion for astrology grew, I began relating the astrological archetypes to the songs and stories I heard in the oldies. “Two Lovers” — Gemini! “ Just my Imagination”— Pisces! Etcetera! Blending my love for oldies and astrology birthed this series.

I decided to dedicate an appropriate oldie to each of the 12 signs. For Praxioscope I shared “Sad Girl,” the music video for Cancer, a Cardinal water sign, that can be empowered by their emotions. Though they cry, they are strong. I also performed the dedication to Libra, “Sabor a Mi.” Being one of the more Venusian and romantic signs, Libras tend to be lovers you won’t forget. This homage transcends beyond my love of oldies and the Zodiac. It is a representation of mi cultural.

As a native Angelena, Chicana, from East Los, my creativity is a reflection of where I come from, where I’m going, and where my passions lie. Anytime I need reminding, I just simply have to look up at the night sky.

odetoleo/oletoleo | Soundscape | BY Cato

Gilmour

Cato Gilmour presents “odetoleo/oletoleo” — the emperor’s new clothing, or is substance around:

---

The concept for putting together this “electro acoustic electronic” instrumental base, created for improvisation at “Praxinoscope - Signs of the Zodiac”, June 12, 2022 at the 1642 Bar, was the thought of “does the Leo wear his imposing, flamboyant exterior, or does it wear him?”

To sonically attempt painting this picture, or question, for the listener to decide upon, I selected a cheap, knock-off of an African thumb piano, complete with a built in piezo microphone, this instrument itself of course a loose reference to boldness and authenticity, then running it through a Hong Kong sourced digital resonator, ensuring that none of the notes actually played would come out the same at the other end, or through the speakers, if you will.

The results would be further obscured, not by clouds, but by other “effect pedals” and “loopers” of both pristine lineage and questionable origin. Do the notes still represent a truthful, valid artistic expression, given these parameters, or are the resonating cloak obscuring them, changing their pitch and timbre, albeit not always at random, but certainly not under full control of the performer, invalidating their expression, thus creating a work of questionable value, maybe even that of a charlatan?

Virgen

| Poem | BY Iris de Anda

The Maiden

La Doncella

Color-coded Queen

There is no in between

Slay you with a look

But loves you loyally

Between perfection & royalty

Ruled by Mercury

Communication comes effortlessly

Ignites conversation & overthinking

Control freak in the streets

Tho generous in the sheets

Le dicen la Virgen

Porque no es cualquiera

La Reina de Otoño

Cosecha de todo

Harvests your dreams

While cleaning up messes

The 6th house in the Zodiac

Earth element brings grounding

If you find one-stop looking

Keep it real

Seals the deal

It’s all in the details

Sabor A Mi

| Performance| BY Moon Chola

| Song | BY DaRow

Let me be your frog And swim across this river

You be the scorpion

Ride up on my back

We’ll cross to other side

And when it’s over I will feel your sting

There will be no pain

My thoughts go back To the one who called herself

A friend of mine

My thoughts go back To the one who calls herself

A friend of mine

All I wanna do Is help you

All I wanna do Is to hold you

All I wanna do Is help you

All I wanna do Is to hold you

Let me be your frog And swim across this river

You be the scorpion

Ride up on my back

We’ll cross to other side

And when it’s over I will feel your sting

To the time we part Scorpion

There will be this pain

From the place we met

There’s things we’ll never do I will wish we had

Truth | Poem | BY Christian Perfas

I’m a Sagittarius and a fire sign and I realize that may mean something to some people, but I’ve never been one to let my future just happen to me. I don’t follow all the rules— I don’t always listen to my GPS— I check all of my pockets every time I leave the house. I swear I’d lose my right arm if it wasn’t attached.

I often get lost in thought, but I intentionally get lost in love. get drunk off the high of falling for someone, never used to the feeling of hitting the ground. co-dependence keeps cosigning my relationships— I’m still trying to find a new roommate.

I grew up the youngest of three and quickly learned how to speak the fastest— sprinkle full sentences in the space of syllables, otherwise risk being unheard.

I like writing in other people’s voices because I still haven’t found mine yet. self-confidence is a four letter word. eye contact? a work-in-progress, and I’m trying to sublet thank you where I’m sorry usually lives in my vocab.

I’m kind of… extra in almost everything I do. am always a little more than people ask for because sometimes it’s fun

The Goat and The Crab | Poem |

BY Pilar Duralde

It’s not a hurdle, it’s a chasm!

One Capricorn tries to keep their voice in control –As a thesis statement on maturity.

If one can spear the problem’s core and take responsibility, That can tell a story that butted feelings cannot.

But Cancer only sees feelings –Her sister sign

The opposite side of the same coin. And one breakup threatens to be the age-old cat fight Between the moon and her shadow.

Relationships take work, and I was in a depressive episode Says Cancer, you’re really going to quit now?

And it strikes a fucking nerve,

And all those invisible strings tugged by sweet little crab Are seen clearly.

Isn’t it a reasonable reason, they goad, To throw a pity party over your boundary?

Who are you to tell this goat about work?

Language is useless here

Because if you were to wipe off the board

Left with sooty streaks

You’d still see the writing on the wall

You’d still have a distracted pupil

In the class of loving you –

Undedicated.

And how can you leave your heart in such hands

Your solid earth cracking open?

And so.

No more wasted work gets thrown into the ocean Or stuffed in the shell.

Back to climbing for your many reasons.

AQUARIUS | Sound + Poem |

BY Derek Denckla

We, Children of Heavenly Winds seem like airheads to some. To others, too aloof, not of this Earth. Beware the Life of the Mind.

We are Seekers of Change. Investigators of the Strange. Waking Dreamers Alert to Dream Logic. Cultivators of the Inchoate and Unexpected.

We roll in rebellion.

Thrive on surprise.

Invent individualism. Electrify eccentricity.

Content when we can walk our own path. Step alongside us— or get out of the way. Restless when we feel fenced. Don’t try to tie us down— or we’ll wriggle away.

Freedom is our love language. Definition defies our self-realization. Limitless, we live in possibility. Infinity shapes our arithmetic.

Our essential self is easily suffocated. Sometimes we find ourselves on a path in a dark wood, blinded, whistling from the old playbook. We stumble until we see our own way ahead.

Follow us to find the rainbow’s end. Get lost with us in myriad glittering chambers.

Pisces Ponderings

| Poem | BY Brenda Vaca

One

Pisces can see her shadows without shame. A guayaba tree grows inside. My own Diosa shakes awake barefoot, belly out.

Since I did not birth babies from this womb, they shall be brought forth on pages, in books, on airwaves.

Coyolxauhqui – my Cancer moon – creeps slow over the horizon. ¿Me vas a cumplir? she asked him as she got in the car.

Dipping down to the dark ravine between her legs, I don’t love you anymore. Your breathing ripe within me, rising in steam from my piel. In my nightly wanderings, I am the queen of abortions.

Two

i am of the earth and i am of the sky Soy una mujer y voy a hacer que me da la gana. My right hand is a slave to this writing life, a bridge to the promised land. The concept of home is turned on its head: revised, rewritten, maybe left for dead. A drum beats for those lost in ancient days. A river of tears and rage surges through my veins.

To – harder still – love the self. To learn to sit quietly with our filth. Yet, there is this lighter thing,

DESPERATE LA

| Film Transcript Excerpt | BY

Jeanetta Rich

Synopsis: A woman is pregnant by a man who ghosted her. Her attempts to seek consolation from “friends” have been met with indifference. Nothing can remedy this situation, not even a bath or cup of tea. It’s not a surprise when “Homegirl” nearly has a nervous breakdown at a Woman’s Clinic in Crenshaw. Desperate LA: anti-romance on steroids. Can you relate?

DESPERATE LA

Monologues from the Screenplay

(Excerpt 0:00 - 7:47)

Opening Scene: Interior. Day. Loft Apartment.

Sound of distant hiss of traffic.

Open on a moving image of a young black woman She is lying face down on a mattress placed directly the floor, sheets are tangled around her. She is wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt and panties.

This is my dead cat pose.

Her back heaves up and down She cries gently to herself, still lying on her stomach, her hands tucked under her hips.

She pushes herself up on her forearms and reaches for her phone on the floor. She holds it in both hands and begins to go through her messages.

I practice holding my breath mostly

She unlocks the phone, punching in a code

Alrescha

|

Poem

| BY Julianne Reames

out here, where midnight sky unclouded by the moon merges with sapphire seas like the melding of glass we swim laps in darkness with specks of light puck’ring from caves little fins dotted with space sand guide us to a distant haven for mother and her son open scales out of danger ajar heart out of virtue and you may grow a new lake and you may learn scars are gills but if I wonder about the sea beyond the sea, I’ll witness the equinox of water lilies, blooming on Thursdays maybe the eggs will hatch will I keep them all quenched the guppies and cupids until the ram awakes Dear friend, you from arched terrain sleep is but dreams of passing death is a light ripple and birth is a soft wave but you, sister, yet you, brother, you tug my tail pull my head back towards the moon like always we are joined in life but were we at birth it was sky and sea when they tied our pearls like a bow to the bowl swimming ‘round and around in the loops four everour pond has green windows to make a palace into a cabin for us to watch the stars spiral two stars fishing

I am We are my own person and my other the fermata is holding on to the cord for music is two parts closing in they birth a drop a new of blue alpha piscium

Praxinoscope PerformX is a platform created by artists to foster and feature work by emerging performance and display artists through quarterly curated, themed events and post-event documents including printed matter, podcasts, and online interviews. Soon, we hope to publish reviews, research and critical inquiry.

Signs of the Zodiac: PerformX Documents No. 2 includes artworks by the following artists presented in response to a specific Sign of the Zodiac:

Aries

Diosa Xochiquetzalcóatl

Shelley Golan

Taurus

Ellington Wells

Gemini

Ana Paula Palombo

Cancer

Moon Chola

Leo Cato Gilmour

Virgo Iris de Anda

Libra

Moon Chola

Diosa Xochiquetzalcóatl

Scorpio DaRow

Liu Kincheloe

Jennifer Leiva

Sagittarius

Soulstuf (Christian Perfas)

Capricorn

Pilar Duralde

Aquarius

Derek Denckla

Pisces

Brenda Vaca

Julianne Reames

Jeanetta Rich

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Praxinoscope PerformX Documents

Series No. 1, Volume No. 2.