The Vancouver Art Gallery and the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival will co-present the second special edition of FUSE x PuSh on Friday, January 30th, 2015. Pushing boundaries where art and performance collide, FUSE x PuSh is a spectacular and unforgettable evening featuring artists from the PuSh Festival, once again transforming the Vancouver Art Gallery into the hottest hub of interdisciplinary art, experimental performance and cutting edge music experience. Take out a selection from the Human Library byZee Zee Theatre, experience an interactive installation by Hong Kong Exile, listen to the lyrical nostalgia by The Chop Theatre, challenge your senses in Experience Spheres, and embark on a physical journey with MACHiNENOiSY before heading to the Courtroom Bars.
FUSE x PuSh’s extraordinary lineup of artists, musicians and performers include:
Sonic Elder – The Chop Theatre
Can a song change your life? What is hidden in the music of the past? In this newly commissioned work, six Vancouver music legends come together to form a band, sharing their greatest hits and deepest heartbreaks. The latest creation from Vancouver’s The Chop Theatre, Sonic Elder examines the music from the 1950s and the 1960s, and how it has shaped the youth culture and spawned a generation of social and political agitators whose words and actions continue to resonate today.
Human Library – Zee Zee Theatre
Human Library is a selected collection of “human books” that cover a diverse range of topics from “Hitchhiker”, “Autistic Actor” to “Invisible Minority” and more. Pick from one of thirty distinctive human books and start a one-on-one conversation. The rest will be an adventure that will open your eyes to the world. This enormously popular participatory performance began in 2000 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Ever since then, Human Library has popped up across the globe.
Time Machine – MACHiNENOiSY
The boundary-pushing MACHiNENOiSY aims to upset conventional ideas about age, differences and the division between dance and theatre. This excerpt of Time Machine challenges our perceptions of children and their abilities. With visuals from sculptor and costume designer Natalie Purschwitz and sound from composer Chris Kelly, this work takes us on a physical adventure, where meaning is formed from chaos and ideas are born from the body movement.
Experience Spheres – Tangible Interaction
We invite you to step inside the Experience Spheres to challenge your senses, delight yourself in the most unexpected ways, and see your surroundings anew.
Lang(lang)guage – Hong Kong Exile
Lang(Lang)guage investigates the role of piano in contemporary Mainland Chinese society. While the instrument was invented in the Western world, its skyrocketing popularity in Mainland China has made piano a symbol of the “Eastern future”, resulting in an unprecedented number of child piano protégés. Hong Kong Exile examines the consequences of piano ownership and worship on such a mass scale.
In addition to performances, FUSE-goers can also see the following exhibitions: Unscrolled: Reframing Tradition in Chinese Contemporary Art, Emily Carr and Landon Mackenzie: Wood Chopper and the Monkey and The Poetics of Space.
Tickets: $20 (+tax) | Free for Gallery members and the PuSh Festival’s pass holders
Website: http://vanartgallery.bc.ca/events_and_programs/fuse.html
About FUSE: Since its inception in July 2005, thousands of FUSE-goers have converged at the Vancouver Art Gallery for this unique adult event. Live performances and music in the Gallery spaces, DJs, eclectic Gallery tours, contemporary dance and unexpected surprises have made FUSE Vancouver’s favourite art party—a place to see and be seen.
