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.
*****************************
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
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