FESTIVAL OF LIVE ART 2018 — Writing Notes in the Dark

This week the Festival of Live Art takes over the city, so get ready to twerk, wear onesies, swim, get sledged and everyone’s favourite, audience participation! The festival returns for the third time and is Australia’s largest festival of live art that celebrates contemporary, experimental, interactive and participatory artworks that are unlike any other – you won’t see the same thing twice.

We’ve looked at some of the festival highlights and most unique acts that get the audience involved, including some special one night only events.

Worktable – Kate McIntosh

Workable is a slightly secretive but live installation with you at the centre. Taking place in several rooms over several days, you can stay as long as you like. Once inside, you’ll find instructions, equipment and safety goggles – it’s up to you to decide how things come apart, or how they hang together.

Put together by New-Zealand born artist Kate McIntosh, who is inspired by the misuse of objects, being playful with audiences and offbeat humour, the show can be active, meditative, creative or destructive – it’s up to you and what you do with it.

North Melbourne Town Hall – 33 Errol St, North Melbourne
14 – 25 Mar 2018
From 4pm – 8pm Wed – Sat and from 12pm – 4pm Sun

Wowzzzeee – Adele Varcoe

Delve into the true cost of fashion and the sweat shop – Wowzzzeee unites people through the making and wearing of onesies. You’ll be provided with all the tools you need to make a glittering onesie and to share in the transformative power of fashion to democratise and fabulise. During the Festival of Art, 500 wowzzzeees will be released into the world, in all colours, shapes and sizes, and you’ll be encouraged to wear them all evening following the show or until you go to bed.

The show will inspire you to sweat to the humming beat of your own machine, to keep up with the demand throughout the festival.

North Melbourne Town Hall – 33 Errol St, North Melbourne
14 – 25 Mar 2018
From 4pm – 8pm Wed – Sat and from 12pm – 4pm Sun

Landing – Tanya Lee

An absurd one-night only swim-a-thon at City Baths, you’re invited to swim or observe – you can don a styrofoam island hat and attempt to collectively swim the distance between Manus Island and Australia (approximately 1,000 km) in an impossible attempt to highlight Australia’s absurd immigration policies and our fixation on being an island but sending our problems to islands.

Through the murky waters of past and present immigration policy, participants will move both towards and away from the idea of home. Sign on and suit up or barrack in the grandstands – a range of performers and speakers, and those new to swimming, will guide you and cheer on the swimmers in a collective contemplation of home and histories of Australian immigration.

Melbourne City Baths –420 Swanston St, Melbourne

One night only: 17 Mar 2018
8pm til late

SQUASH! – Meg Wilson

“It’s more than a hobby – more than a game – more than a sport. I am WILSON. I love WILSON. Almost as much as you love WILSON. Squash is my life. This is WILSON vs. THE WORLD.” For one smashing night only, fictional female sports star WILSON will compete against public challenges and audience members in an epic game of SQUASH! at the City Baths. You will probably be sledged and you’ll probably lose, but that’s just women’s sports. A fiery show down, complete with bright lights, glitter cannons, cheer squads and pure excess.

Melbourne City Baths – 420 Swanston St, Melbourne
One night only: 17 Mar 2018
8pm til late

The New National Sport – Cigdem Aydemir

A live endurance sport event, for every time #Terrorism appears on twitter, a tennis ball will be fired at Cigdem Aydemir. As a Muslim Australian she will vigilantly return serve in public. With tweets appearing around every 15 seconds, the performance will question the stamina of a society ruled by, or desensitised by the news of terror. A specially designed court, connected to an iPad, firing unpredictable tennis balls – it’s a testament to technology, performance, politics and the treatment of the Muslim community in Australia.

Argyle Square, Carlton
24 Mar 2018
11am – 7pm

Capitalism Works for Me! True/False – Steve Lambert

A cheerful, 20 foot retro billboard will ask you – does capitalism work you for? American artist Steve Lambert takes on the language of advertising to create a space to evaluate and talk about the system, how it works and how we could improve it – focusing on both symptoms of ‘crisis’ and how to fix the problems themselves.

Love it, or loathe it but does capitalism work for you? Wired for instant update, Lambert’s electronic scoreboard registers visitors’ votes via a nearby panel with two buttons: True and False.

Various locations through Melbourne CBD: see http://fola.com.au/program/capitalism-works-for-me-truefalse/
13 – 25 Mar 2018

There are so many more exciting and challenging performances on until 25 March, across multiple venues across Melbourne. More info at: http://fola.com.au/

This article first appeared at: http://www.theatrepeople.com.au/festival-of-live-art-2018/ on 15 March 2018