Eternal Oyster is an earth body research-response container for ecopoetics, earth shapes, and animal architecture grounded in landback, and food and climate justice.

Social practice performance scores produced to site and community specificity, intuitive psychedelia, and sensory attunement as an intimate dance.

Interaction

Clay Seed ° Reflection Procession ° Rain Drum ° Larval Dance

Embodied inter-activation with mylar bridge, distributed clay, glass vessels, morf beats tongue head snare drum, hydrophone, water, watering can, calcium carbonate, broom, bells, soundscape - “port drip” by gushes

Clay Seed: The audience receives clay seeds to shape for the duration of the performance. They choose a seed from a humid glass sphere.

Reflection Procession: The audience treads lightly down a mylar pathway between trees and shrubs, from one concrete circle to another. PROMPT: tread lightly. gaze down at the distortions in your reflection and the sky maded by your weight and force unto the earth. gaze forward out at the horizon. gaze upward toward the sky.

Rain Drum: EO waters a drum as tribute to the rain.

Larval Dance: EO mixes water from the drum with powdered calcium carbonate (chalk)— a significant element in seashells, eggshells, and snail shells. Participants paint this mixture onto the concrete with EO in a partner dance. The resulting lines create a communal dance map, akin to the feeding trails left by fly larvae on snakeroot.

2024.07.14 Three Circles of Cashmere, Prospect Park, Brooklyn presented by Center for Psychic Technology + Momenta

The Hive ° Reflection Procession ° Rain Drum ° Larval Dance

Offering for Kinstillatory Fire: Sound composition through cell phones via QR code design, mylar bridge, morf beats tongue head drum, watering can, calcium carbonate, broom, bells

The Hive: Participants scan one of three QR codes, each of which play a different sonic drone. The three channels make up the piece Port Drip. Participants play the tracks on their phone speakers for the duration of the activation.

Reflection Procession: The audience treads lightly down a mylar pathway through the Abrons Garden. PROMPT: tread lightly. alternate between gazing down at the distortions of your reflection—feel the force of your weight against the ground; think of those who live beneath: mycelium, root systems, decomposing microorganisms. then gaze upward through the canopy to the sky; think of those above— the birds, the clouds, the soltice moon, weather systems, and feel yourself as the point of reflective contact between both worlds.

Rain Drum: EO waters a drum with a metallic tongue head as tribute to the rain, finishing by watering themself.

2024.06.20 Emily Johnson & Catalyst’s Kinstillatory Fire at Abrons Art Center, NYC.

Burn Bouquet ~ Squish Dish

a ritual sequence in which we smush flower heads into clay between our hands, do the larval dance, contribute the tangible impression of our grasp to a co-creative sculpture, light the candles, and make a wish

set within an ambient installation of sound, bubbles, video, wind + tinsel, & native plants stewarded by Miss Philip for THREE FLOWER FREAKS at Hex House, curated by Cy X on September 9, 2024.

🤎It’s been so liberating to play this way, to embrace the erotic, to connect one-on-one (the introvert's delight ;) in this heightened & vulnerable state that begs the brave surrender of silly.

i could wax on about the poetry of carnations who represent the incarnate loop of infinitely♾️ especially when fused with bday candles activated by wishes, but truly i just think fire & flowers look so beautiful together. its also the nostalgic glimmer of birthday wishes, and receiving bouquets from family after performing in countless school plays.

Installation

the shore is a birthdeathday party, 2024 | please y.s.

the shore is birthdeathday party is a site-specific installation in the sunroom of an historic brooklyn home, former residence of Shirley Chisholm and the West Indian Day Parade headquarters.

Inspired by Chisholm’s social work in childcare, the tropical culture of the Caribbean, met with the artist’s reverence toward shorelines growing up in the Bay with archipelagic Filipino heritage, the installation regards the beach as a portal for sacred play where beginnings spilled into endings. Visitors are given clam shell candles and are invited to stay for as long as the flame dances.

most materials imbued with the following significant memories— atlantic surf clam shell from ft tilden, ny with matt evans • oyster shells from feast with serena stucke, dan tesene, alec fellman, maria takeuchi • tea candles • sand from marsha p johnson park with estrellx supernova • carnations • wind • rattan tray • julia anrather’s deer skull & goose • tinsel portal from gushes show with nick cowman and ida belisle • video projection on amplifier from 1000 steps beach, california & grutas tolantongo, hidalgo, mexico with matt evans • soundscape: glass tide field recording from dead horse bay, ny + guitar drone from gushes “game one”

Research-Response Seeds

experiments and observations

grutas

video of hot springs in grutas tolantonga, hidalgo, mexico on terra cotta with draecena

kelp clocks

found cassette tape-like ribbons of seaweed dancing in the sea breeze like kites anchored to the garnet and magnetite-marbled sands near montauk point, new york