DEVIL BUNNY IN 2011
Devil Bunny is finishing the
final year of her Master of Arts in Visual and Critical Studies at California
College of the Arts in San Francisco. Since she began her graduate work, she
has taken an interest in Latin American visual cultures. During her first year,
she expanded her approach to theoretical concepts of hybridity and performance
by applying alternative aesthetics such as Mexican-Chicano/a rasquache and
Brazilian carnivalesque and cannibalist tropes to an analysis of contemporary
performance practices. In the spring of 2011, she received All College Honors
in the category of Critical Writing for a paper on Mexican-Chicana diasporic
performance practices. She also received scholarships from P.E.O. California
and the Chicana Latina Foundation.
She is currently interested in
exploring the intertwining of memory, corporeality and the politics of space
using the example of memory sites and human rights in Argentina in the
aftermath of the Dirty War. Recently, she came back from a research trip to
Argentina and is in the process of synthesizing her research for her Master’s
Thesis.
DEVIL BUNNY IN 2010
In the spring of 2010, Devil
Bunny presented "Exploring Metaculture with Devil Bunny" at the
University of California Santa Cruz (sponsored by the Art Department) and the
University of California Los Angeles (sponsored by the Women's Studies
Department, with co-sponsorship from the Asian American
Studies Center, the Center for the Study of Women, and the Chicana/o
Studies Research Center). The presentation included performance, writing and
video works, featuring a diverse cast of characters such as extraterrestrial,
feminist heroes, cinematic gorillas in pink-ray, ethnotopic inverted minstrels,
and supernatural mestizas existing along various points of the
time-space-culture continuum. The presentation also featured an artist talk and
Q&A.
In August of 2010, Devil Bunny collaborated with Choreographer/Cultural Activist, Pearl Ubungen, at ODC/SF
Theater, where Ubungen was in residence. The
residence culminated in a new work-in-progress, "Queen of Broken
Hearts." This new work featured Cria Merchant, Margit Galanter, Kara
Davis, Devil Bunny, Otter Cushing and Janine Trinidad - all exceptional
movement artists who have worked with Pearl Ubungen and/or her company
Pearl Ubungen Dancers and Musicians at some time over the past 17 years. The
music was composed by Gabe Celestino Higgins and Ubungen's longtime
collaborator, Randy Odell.
In April, Devil Bunny was a featured artist in Low Lives 2 (in its
second year). Low Lives was a one-night
exhibition of performance-based works transmitted via the internet and
projected in real time at numerous venues throughout the U.S. and abroad. International artists and artist collectives
participating in this exhibition transmitted their performances live from
countries including Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany,
Italy, New Zealand, Singapore Trinidad & Tobago and from the following
cities in the United States: Austin, TX; Houston, TX; Nashville, TN; New York,
NY; Miami, FL; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Minneapolis, MN; Las Vegas, NV; Gunnison,
CO; San Francisco, CA; Chicago, IL and Los Angeles, CA. Devil Bunny's
performance (excerpts from Big Pink) was presented to a live audience and
streamed from one of the sponsoring venues, Galeria de la Raza, in San
Francisco's Mission District.
DEVIL BUNNY IN 2009
Devil Bunny started out 2009 preparing for a two-week tour of
"Big Pink," which was performed as part of the Fringes-Borders-Margins
Festival in March. The festival was presented by Highways Performance Space in
Santa Monica, CA, in collaboration with the National Performance Network and
the Queer Cultural Center (San Francisco). The festival featured work by eight
performance artists based in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and began with a
weekend run at Highways Performance Space. The artists then performed at the
Claremont Colleges, and also participated in a panel discussion with the
students. The tour ended with a weekend run at Sushi Performance and Visual
Art, in San Diego.
In May, Devil Bunny and artist collaborator, Heather Cox Carducci,
participated in "EPIC: Visualizing Heroes Within" during the 12th
Annual United States of Asian America Festival. The event was sponsored by the
Gay Asian Pacific Alliance. Devil Bunny and Carducci presented a triad of
performance-based photographs of Zenitha, the pink-haired lady, a character who
also appears in Big Pink.
In June, Devil Bunny
presented "Big Pink" as part of MythFITS, a literary event curated by
Michelle Tea, which took place at the Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco
Public Library. The event was part of the 12th Annual National Queer Arts
Festival. Literary artists such as Sadie Lune and Robin Coste Lewis were also on
the line up.
In July, Devil Bunny and Carducci presented "Dimension of IS:
A Spectacular Future," at the 5th Annual Queer Women of Color Film
Festival, to a sold out theater. The event was sponsored by the Queer Women of
Color Media Project and took place at Brava Theater in San Francisco's Mission
District.
In the fall, Devil Bunny had the opportunity to present on a panel
with other performance artists, such as Guillermo Galindo and Tina Takemoto, at
California College of the Arts. The Performance Art Round Table was sponsored
by the Visual and Critical Studies Department and involved discussions about
performance art as a dynamic site of contemporary cultural production, and its
evolving status in art schools and colleges.
Devil Bunny ended the year preparing for
upcoming engagements in 2010 at UC Santa Cruz and UCLA.
DEVIL BUNNY IN 2008
HotLezbosInAction.com Provides a Social Justice Networking Platform for Artists and Activists to Explore New Strategies for Advancing LGBT Equality
San Francisco,
CA—January 10th, 2009—Today, Heather Cox Carducci and
Gigi Otalvaro-Hormillosa, the founders of HotLezbosInAction.com announce the
alpha launch of their online social justice networking platform targeting LGBT
artists, activists, and professionals, as well as their allies. Hot
Lezbos In Action is part of a small number of niche social networks that
cater to those seeking an alternative to mainstream networking sites that
haven’t been effective in addressing concerns specific to particular communities
and industries.
“We see the Hot Lezbos in
Action online community at the forefront of niche social networks that are
primarily focused on social justice issues,” says Otalvaro-Hormillosa, who is also
the Artistic Director of Aeromestiza, the sponsoring organization of the
project.
In recent months, anti-gay initiatives have passed in
As a result of participating in this online community, the
founders hope that their audience members will be inspired to have many
conversations with people within their communities and outside of their
communities, as part of the overall effort to raise awareness about LGBT
issues. Hot Lezbos In Action provides a highly effective online platform
that includes resources such as forums, blogs, and its own Action TV Station
featuring videos that address the most current issues around LGBT equality.
As the backlash against LGBT rights intensifies, LGBT activists,
artists and their allies will seek alternatives in working towards social
justice. Fortunately for them, Hot Lezbos In Action will have a strong
web presence. HotLezbosInAction.com will
facilitate discussions and provide a platform for networking opportunities and
the development of effective strategies for coalition building.
*****************************
Join Hands at “Love in Motion”
and Benefit Let
Marriage
Equality Fundraiser Promises Lively Performances, Sumptuous Treats and Decadent View
"Love in Motion" is an affiliated event of Love
Fest www.sflovefest.org/afterparty.php
San Francisco, Calif. —September
15, 2008—Local performance and video artists, Heather Cox-Carducci and
Gigi Otalvaro-Hormillosa, today announced the upcoming event, “Love in Motion,”
a marriage equality fundraiser to benefit Let California Ring, a public
education campaign that believes lesbian and gay Californians deserve the
freedom to marry the person they love.
Gathering a group of cutting-edge
performances, including Urban Folk Music Project by Khalil Anthony (www.myspace.com/urbanfolkmusicproject), Queer
Cheer by host artists (Heather and Gigi, www.devilbunny.org), and music by DJ Kinetic of
Drift
(www.myspace.com/Drift_SF), the event vows to
provide vivacious entertainment as well as delicious hors d'oeuvres and
beverages. Attendees will also have an opportunity to bid on an original
piece of art by local artist, Catherine Butler, during the silent
auction. In addition, there will also be a drawing for two six-month
memberships at Gold's Gym
in the Castro.
Day/Time: Saturday
October 4th, 2008
6:00—9:00 p.m.
Performances start at 7:15pm
Location: The
Ceremonial
Room and Roof Top / 4th floor
415-865-5555
To
Attend:
$15
minimum donation (tax deductible)
Generous supporters include 21st Amendment Brewery,
(a)eromestiza, Bi-Rite Market, Blue Ice Vodka, Catherine Butler, Colour
Drop, Drift, Frey Winery, Gold's Gym Castro, The Harrison Team of Sotheby’s
International Realty, Leslie Brody of Luscious Catering, Cheerleading Costumes
by Marilyn Yu, NCLR, San Francisco LGBT Community Center, Dara
Sklar, SpaceSuperStar, Trader
Joe's SoMa.
Donations to this event are tax
deductible and all proceeds will go to Let California Ring, a project of Equality
California. Let California Ring is a public education
campaign that believes lesbian and gay Californians deserve the freedom to
marry the person they love. More info at: www.letcaliforniaring.org.
Press Contacts:
Gigi Otalvaro-Hormillosa
415-699-4167
Heather Cox-Carducci
415-235-9091
*****************************
In
May of 2008, Devil Bunny was commissioned to create a new solo work entitled
“Big Pink,” which premiered at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco
as part of “Identity Shifts: Bay Area Response,” one of the performance
programs that took place during the exhibit, “The Way That We Rhyme: Women, Art
and Politics.” In this interactive
video-based performance, Devil Bunny encounters Big Pink, a pink gorilla which
symbolizes a conflation of stereotypical notions of femininity, colonialist
constructs of the “primitive,” and addiction / substance (ab)use. Approaching substance (ab)use from a hybrid
(fe)male perspective, Devil Bunny ruminates about the complexities of being a
well-healed woman in a world in which
ideas about “femininity” exclude those who choose not to be well-heeled, all the while attempting to
balance multiple perspectives and experiences only to find herself caught in a
perpetual state of addiction to substances, patriarchy, expectations of
“ultimate” forms of femininity, and the many other internalized ism’s and
phobias that obstruct women’s empowerment.
******************************
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 1, 2008
CONTACT:
Gigi Otalvaro-Hormillosa
aeromestiza@sbcglobal.net
The National Association of
Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) has selected Gigi Otalvaro-Hormillosa to
receive a
grant for the 2007-2008 cycle of the
NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA). This award supports the final phase of “Dimension of IS: A
Spectacular Future,” created in collaboration with Heather Cox Carducci.
The
final phase of “Dimension of IS” will entail the completion of the video
portion of the piece which was initially presented as an interactive video /
performance, and which incorporates performance, science fiction, sound design,
and video. “Dimension of IS” is inspired
by the history of world’s fairs which many have interpreted as being explicitly
racist in their display of non-Western people as specimens.
“We
are happy to support Gigi Otalvaro-Hormillosa through an NFA
award and look forward to strengthening our support of the Latino arts
community in
Funding
for this grant award of the NALAC Fund for the Arts is made possible thanks to
the generous support of the Ford Foundation, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation and
Southwest Airlines. NALAC is also proud to welcome new NFA partners the Andy
Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Heineken
Through
the NALAC Fund for the Arts, NALAC has provided 128 grants totaling more than
$379,000 to Latino artists, ensembles and small and mid-size Latino arts and
culture organizations throughout the
Abel
López, Chair of the NALAC Board said, “NALAC’s support of Latino artists and
organizations ensures that the nation’s cultural life is enriched and made
vital through the diverse artistic and cultural expressions of our artists. We
are pleased to support the creative process of Latino artists and organizations
across the country that engage communities, stimulate ideas and local
economies, and build audiences for all of the nation’s arts.”
The first phase of “Dimension of IS” was funded
by the Astraea Foundation, the Horizons Foundation, the San Francisco Art
Commission, the Zellerbach Family Fund, and individual donors.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT DIMENSION OF IS
(a)eromestiza (the arts
organization for which Devil Bunny acts as Artistic Director) presented the
video of “Dimension of IS” at the 6th Annual Encuentro of the
Hemispheric Institute on Performance and Politics (Body Politics in the
Americas: Formations of Race, Class and Gender) that took place in Buenos
Aires, Argentina last June at the Centro Cultural Recoleta. In addition, Devil Bunny and co-creator,
Heather Cox-Carducci, spoke on a round table discussion entitled “Utopic
Bodies,” along with other performance artists and academics from the
In 2006, Devil Bunny and Heather
premiered “Dimension of IS: A Spectacular Future” as part of their residency at
the Lab, in
Heather and Devil Bunny collaborated
with artists Elise Baldwin, and Eliza Barrios to create this historical and
science fiction based work in progress.
Elise Baldwin has been active in the Bay Area experimental music scene
as a sound designer, recording engineer and composer for theater, film, live
performance, and audio installations.
Eliza Barrios is one of the founders of the Mail Order Brides (MOB),
whose work ranges from performance, to installation, and video/film. Heather is a designer and performer who is
currently establishing SpaceSuperStar, a company that creates art and clothing
for individuals and their journeys.
Other collaborators include Valentin Aguirre, Alan Chun, emael, Gary
Gregerson, Kendall Li, Al Lujan, Tony Otalvaro, S. Trotter, Jenifer K. Wofford,
Marilyn Yu, and Soo Yuan.
(a)eromestiza’s funders for this
project included: San Francisco Art Commission, Horizons Foundation, Astraea
Foundation, Zellerbach Family Fund, and individual donors. Founded in 2001 by Devil Bunny, (a)eromestiza
creates dynamic live performances that incorporate complex sound, movement and
video components. Devil Bunny is
currently seeking funds to complete the final phase of the project so that the
work can exist as a video in its final form.
In June of 2006, Devil Bunny
performed an excerpt from the past/present segment of “Dimension of IS” at “The
Next Big Bang Conference,” at the Aratani/Japan America Theatre in Downtown Los
Angeles. She was also a featured
panelist on the “Dynamism of Aesthetics in Asian American Theatre” panel, along
with Alice Tuan, Mia Katigbak, and Esther Lee.
From August through October of 2006, the video of the future segment of
“Dimension of IS” was exhibited at MACLA in
In July of 2007, Devil Bunny and
Heather participated in “The Last American Icon: Under House Arrest,” a
week-long performance installation by San Francisco-based artist, emael. As part of emael's retrospective, Devil Bunny
and Heather appeared as the “elders” from the Dimension of IS to visit with the
artist, who was also an elder from the Dimension of IS in a previous
incarnation. They sat and vibed with each other, engaged in minor
calisthenics, and joined in communicine - a remnant ritual from MUVE, another previous
work in which emael so beautifully collaborated with (a)eromestiza and
SpaceSuperStar.
From November of 2006 through
2008, the video of the future of segment of “Dimension of IS” will be on
exhibit in venues throughout