performance documentation of people dancing in a pink room with sculptural objects

LAUREN PROUSKY

CAFKA.23 | STAY WITH ME

GOING UP THE DOWN ESCALATOR (LOOKING FOR A NEUTRAL PATH)

Performance: July 9, King Street to Ethel’s Lounge.

Performance: July 15, Victoria Park

Going up the down escalator (looking for a neutral path) is the culmination of the artist’s  long-suffering pursuit of body neutrality. Forever fretting over what to consume and what to expel (both physically and artistically), intestines eventually became Prousky’s muse. In a pair of performances for the CAFKA biennial, she will parade through public spaces in downtown Kitchener-Waterloo, dressed as a sexy intestine. Strutting confidently along King Street, as it seamlessly blends from King Street East, to West, to South, to North, starting in Kitchener and crossing over into Waterloo, Prousky will be followed by a paparazzi-style photographer. She will eventually arrive at Ethel’s Lounge, whereupon and when-upon you are cordially invited to join her for a burger and a beer. Similarly, for Kitchener’s Ribfest, members of the public are invited to dine with Prousky, dressed in her glamourous intestinal costume. Admiring the radical indifference and quiet power of our intestines, Prousky proposes that by honouring them we honour the various processes that keep us moving, even when we feel stuck.

 

Gallery

The artist is dressed up as an intestine, wearing sunglasses, a painted pink bodysuit, red platform heels, with a sewn pillow-like intestine scarf/boa. Here the artist is sitting at a restaurant table waiting for food to arrive.
The artist is posing in costume with one leg up on a planter.
The artist is walking down the street in costume.
The artist is posing with the tall sign for the restaurant Ethel's.
The artist is posing in front of BBQ stands at Ribfest.
The artist is posing in front of BBQ trophies at Ribfest.
The artist is in line to buy ribs.
The artist is sitting at a table eating ribs.

Lauren Prousky is a multidisciplinary artist, writer and culture worker. She has an MFA from the University of Waterloo and a BFA from Concordia University. Recent exhibitions include her AGO x RBC artist-in-residence project Black Tie Soup Night at the AGO, Public Sweat x University of Waterloo Art Gallery, School of Art Gallery at the University of Manitoba, the plumb, Xpace Cultural Centre and Cambridge Art Galleries. Lauren has had residencies at Studio Kura in Japan, Fish Factory Creative Centre in Iceland, Caetani Cultural Centre in British Columbia, Co-Create Residency in Ontario and Maple Terrace Residency in Brooklyn. In 2021, she was selected to participate in the COVE/COVOX program, facilitated by Inter Arts Matrix and funded by Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, to develop the large-scale collaborative performance piece, When we speak at the same time we speak the same language. Lauren has published work with Public Parking, Hoax, Untethered, SUM and Peripheral Review and has curated exhibitions within a variety of contexts including Lumen Festival, Gallery Stratford, Apollo Cinema and a public pool.

 

This project is made possible through the support of the Good Foundation, Region of Waterloo Arts Fund and the Keith and Winifred Shantz fund for the arts held by Waterloo Region Community Foundation.