Artist-in-residence Edward G Sharp and his collaborators form Future Death Toll: http://futuredeathtoll.com/
Forged from the figurative beauty that dance and movement provides FUTURE DEATH TOLL aim is to introduce work that uses light, sound, rope, dance, markers, fire, sweat, haircuts, phone calls, and flags as a metaphorical stand-in for issues like mortality, death, diseases, prison as a corporation, intellectual property rights, bdsm, and subjective destitution. Pondering questions like: how do we talk about performance art? how can we all hear each other? is silence important? how far does our voice reach? how can we make performances with people not in the same room (would that also work for several performers in several different places)? how can this engage the public? what’s the most minimal amount of material required to conceptually encapsulate the relevant point? how are we going to schedule and choreograph all of this? So in attempt to find some answers FUTURE DEATH TOLL has been writing software that allows for transparent multimedia collaboration amongst a small inclusive community of online collaborators both near and far. Answers become fodder for group collaboration and idea exchange through tools like open forum discussion, a/v recordings, and video chat. Reading poetry together provides a preemptive meditation that does not exemplify any individual. Black trash bags, heavy breathing, sweat, hair clippers, and orange jumpsuits obscure identity and provide an instrument in an otherwise somber soundscape.