Photo by Nikki Sneakers
On July 29th 2015 Breathing Problem performed at Nothing Changes in New York City... We were very excited to be given another chance to play at NC as it is known all over as an incredible showcase of amazing experimental and current electronic music all around...
At the beginning of our set there were some unfortunate technical difficulties... Usually (in our current set) we perform 4 traditional songs and then move on to a performance we call 'Mouth to Mouth'... We have been perfecting this performance for the past few years in various iterations.. Some people in NYC saw a different version of it on our last tour in November 2014... This version was more focused on the sounds of our microphone and the interplay of the mouth / throat and water / spit... But in the last 4 or 5 months we moved away from the water interplay and focused more on a physical reaction between both Emelia and Rusty...
On the 29th we decided we could not perform the best versions of our 4 songs due to the technical issues (no one's fault... there was an unknown malfunction in our gear) we decided we could only perform 'Mouth to Mouth'... We were already charged up and anxious and excited about performing at the location / event / crowd...But when the technical difficulties occurred it intensified these feelings even more...
We began the song on a mattress (the mattress is bare and on the stage in front of our gear) facing each other with a microphone in Emelia's mouth... Rusty wondered if this was the right decision ... No one had seen our previous songs and we usually "build" into the final track / performance..Usually during the 4th song Emelia gets on the mattress and signals Rusty to join her...Emelia decides when and if 'Mouth to Mouth' will begin or even if it will happen at all... On the 29th Rusty looked at Emelia and asked "should we stop?" she said "no, please.. we need to do this"... From there our performance was highly charged and intense... We decided to not hold back and to simply go as far as we could with our bodies and ourselves...
Mouth to Mouth is the act of taking what is ours in a private setting and placing it in a public setting to be shared...It is also an act of controlled violence between Emelia and Rusty ... We both enjoy the feeling of building intensity and sensory overload ...We both ultimately enjoy the feeling that this sensory overload and intensity is in our control and that we can start and stop it at ANY TIME WE DESIRE... We are the architects of the performance and we alone built it up conceptually and through repeated performances for years..
There is no political statement for us to make.. Again this is a performance and an act we have created and we enjoy performing in front of people that desire to see it...It is for our enjoyment above all else... We started this act privately and now it has leaked into the public sphere..
The only reason we have made this statement is to let people know what we do has always been a joint effort ..Any critique is appreciated and ignored... Any feelings of disgust or anger are appreciated and ignored... As artists we reserve the right to not put a trigger warning in front of our work / set...
Thank you to our friends, accomplices , comrades and those who support underground music and art.. You know who you are...
BREATHING PROBLEM 2015
Emelia McKay / Rusty Kelley
No comments:
Post a Comment