Monday, September 17, 2007

Radical Performance Group Guerilla Dance Party, Sat, September 22nd, 3pm


2057 Sporty Disco Outterspace beach Party presented by Radical Performance Group.

Buy Nothing.
Dance til dawn.

We are bringing the velvet rope, the bouncer, and the V.I.P. bar. to the coolest new Dance Club in town when Radical Performance Group descends upon the Abercrombie and Fitch Store. At 3pm we will line up outside at 56th and Fifth Ave. We hope to co-opt and reclaim this "lifestyle company brand" with some free, simple, fun, non consumer fun. Boas, Stilts, Sparkles, and Face Painting highly encouraged. To be placed on the V.I.P. list, 123rpg@gmail.com

Sunday, September 16, 2007

FEELING NOT SO FRESH @ INSIDE OUTSIDE


THE DOCUMENTATION FROM FEELING NOT SO FRESH IS IN THE INSIDE OUTSIDE GAIA SHOW OPENING RECEPTION AND PERFORMANCE SEPT 28TH, downtown Jersey City

Address: 159 Second Street, jersey city, nj 07302 between Marin Blvd &
Provost St.

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&q=159+2nd+st&near=Jersey+City,+NJ+07302&fb=1&cid=40722122,-74039567,5884139026038161632&li=lmd&z=14&t=m

If you are coming by train go to www.hopstop.com and put in the address.
Use the exit opposite the stairs (to your left if you're coming from NY)
this exit puts you on Marin Blvd & Christopher Columbus Blvd. Make a
right and walk down to Second Street.

If you are coming by car take the last street before the Holland tunnel
Marin Blvd and make a right. Go down past the Shoprite pass Second St.
(it is a one-way) and make a left onto First St., left on Provost St. and
a left onto Second St.

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&q=159+2nd+st&near=Jersey+City,+NJ+07302&fb=1&cid=40722122,-74039567,5884139026038161632&li=lmd&z=14&t=m

Thursday, July 12, 2007

FEELING NOT SO FRESH

Dear Luke

Just wanted to let you know that last weekend's performance, "Fashionably Late for the Relationship," inspired me to do a performance of my own in the same spot.

My piece is called: "Feeling Not So Fresh" and will be 7 hours and twenty minutes long and take place on Sunday the 15th. Radical Performance Group is getting involved and Sofia Holten (ICP) will video tape my performance, Kristi Hall (ETW Tisch) will video tape the whole ordeal, my MAC BOOK PRO with Jitter will time lapse capture the ordeal (no permit, no tripod), and Sabrina Asche (ICP) will photograph. At first we estimated our budget at $100 dollars, then it got cut to $75, now we are at $45...but we are proceeding. We are also calling in a lot of favors from generous friends.

The most I can say right now is that I picked up a small generator today to run my blow drier, am building a solar shower tomorrow, am totally engrossed in setting up the ordeal, and I plan to pluck out ingrown hairs off my bikini line in public.

As a founder of HollabackNYC, I began thinking a great deal about the feminine performance, and life as a performance in general. A lot of my current work is exploring Gender Maintenance Art and I hope to spark a dialog with you and Ms. Sifuentes regarding some of the topics that your performance addressed including: the secrecy of the feminine beauty regime and other topics that swirl around those issues. Particularly the consumerism that is a necessary part of being a cute girl.

Hope that you can pop by, you may even see some titty.

Hopefully I won't get carted away by the fuzz, but video of a dripping wet, half naked, partially made up me in hand cuffs might be worth it.

xoxo Larken

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Gender Maintenance Procedure

Gender Maintenance is an intricate art form, absurd reality, and nasty process. Come see all the behind the scenes work that goes into making a pretty girl. Sunday, July 15th, just East of Union Square and slightly north of 14th Street. For 7 hours and 20 minutes Lauren Larken will get ready to go out. Sofie Holten and Sabrina Asch will direct and capture. Come visit us an 1-8:20 p on the traffic island off of New York City's Union Square lies north of 14th streeat off of the east side of the park. Dividing Park Avenue South into Broadway and 4th Avenue, the island contains a park and a sidewalk area, and draws a lot of pedestrian traffic going to and from Union Square and the subway entrance on the corner of the park. By choosing a highly populated park at a very busy intersection, we hope to heighten the shock effect of exposing what is supposed to be invisible and un-seen.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Everybody Dance Now!


Join RPG as we transform into GO GO COPS and ticket any non dancing people we encounter at the Dance Parade to protest Cabaret Laws!

Street Harassment Summit

Thank you to Sisters in Strength and Girls for Gender Equity who organized the Street Harassment Summit which featured the movie War Zone, and workshops from SAVI!, Right Rides and The Street Harassment Coalition, and RPG with HollabackNOW!

















We had a great time using finger puppets to illustrate some assertive HOLLABACK techniques that work to empower yourself against street harassment. We look forward to your Gender Equity Festival in July!

Saturday, April 28, 2007

BUSH IS SO LAST SEASON


As a part of N28, the national Impeach Bush Day, we decided to hand out peaches in Union Square, have people eat em and throw the pits into a box, which we are sending to the white house along with some special messages. One read, "Dear Pres. Bush, A leader must have the well being of all of the fruit of the country...all communities, all people. You are a PIT-iful excuse for a leader!"

Friday, April 27, 2007

MPEACHW



As a part of National Impeach Day,
JOIN RPG in telling
W that with him as Prez it's the Pits!
Sat. 28th
11:30am Union Square!

Monday, March 19, 2007

Trashy Lingerie Show-- please distrubute

Victoria's Dirty Little Secret is that she is a feminist and not onlywants to recycle her catalogues but also her bad image as she repaysher karmic debt to the world and forgets about her Think Pink!campaign and launches the Just THINK! campaign at the TRASHY LINGERIE SHOW, (that is lingerie-made-out-of trash) presented by the FREEGAN FASHION TEAM and RADICAL PERFORMANCE GROUP at the Wetlands Collective18th Birthday and Victoria Secret Victory Party! After many protestsVickie's has agreed to quit their dirty little habit of printing 360million of their catalogues on endangered rain forest.
Founded as the social justice and environmental arm of the late, lamented Wetlands Preserve nightclub, Wetlands Activism Collective hasdevoted almost two decades to successful advocacy campaigns on issues like forest defense, anti-consumerism, animal rights, anti-globalization, indigenous people's rights, resource waste, and labor rights.

Come see how FreeganSexy it is to dance with activists to music spunby DJ Suggested D, eat free food (prepared by
Freegan.info ; a projectof Wetlands Activism Collective); and hear updates on forest defensecampaigns featuring activists from Wetlands Activism Collective, Rainforest Relief, and Forest Ethics, environmental films; as projections and glimmers of images from forest defense protests and direct actions dance through your head.
No RSVP is required. Admission is free, but donations are welcome. The party will be held at:

Times Up! environmental space

49 East Houston Street
(btwn Mott and Mulberry
7:30 pm
Fashion show at 9pm!


Take the B, D, F, or V toBroadway-Lafayette, 6 to Bleeker Street, or the N/R to Prince Street.For more information, call Wetlands Activism Collective at (201)928-2831 or email
activism@wetlands-preserve.org.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

News flash: New Yorkers on subway actually smile!

In its second action, several Radical Performance Group members gathered in Union Square at dusk to descend into the subway, where we tried to engage random, isolated strangers on the 6 train in a friendly game of Telephone. For those who don't remember what it was like to be 8 years old (or simply had the misfortune of never playing), Telephone is a game in which one person whispers a message - anything - into the ear of the person next to them, who in turn passes it down to the following individual, and so on, until it reaches the end and usually turns out garbled and distorted - but nevertheless meaningful and relevant! - by the end.
It's an interesting exercise in communication but also in observing how people who are so isolated from each other and normally wouldn't dare make eye contact, much less whisper ridiculous messages into the ear of a stranger, interact with each other. Personally, I didn't think it would work, but on a minimally crowded uptown train, the idea took off instantly. Soon, in a quintessential yet truly unexpected New York moment, people from all walks of life were whispering down the car and - gasp! - smiling and - EVEN CRAZIER! - actually laughing IN CONCERT WITH ONE ANOTHER! Like we're some kind of community or something and not just bored-looking, alienated commuters who hate each other and compete for seats!

It was amusing and heartening to observe individuals you never would think would take part in a game of Subway Telephone take off their headphones or put down their book or drop their cold 'don't fuck with me I'm on the 6 train' stare to eagerly jump in. It was equally amusing to watch casual bystanders let themselves be seen smiling and laughing and emerge out of the bubble in which everyone tends to hide themselves in closed, public spaces.

All it took was a little RPG magic to remind me (I hope others) that beneath a cold, hard, thin surface of isolation and fear, New York is actually a bubbling, breathing, genuine community whose people still have a spark for spontaneity and a cautious affection for each other.

if anyone can remember the slogans we used - and the messages that came out at the end - please post them because that's the best part.

Friday, March 9, 2007

Make Pillows Not War

RPG has it's first Action. We decided to see what people thought about the war in Iraq by constructing an IRAQ shaped pillow costume that we wore to the Union Square Pillow Fight on Saturday February 24, 2007.



The RPG Iraq Pillow Costume stunned even the most violent and dedicated pillow fighters into a truce as feathers parted and settled on the concrete on this cold and sunny day. Fighters were too stunned for words and chose instead to write their feelings about the war in Iraq. Most everyone wrote messages of peace. No one dared to attack Iraq, saying that it had suffered enough already.