The Sponge
Panicattack Duo and friends
31 May 2019
The Change Room
7-9pm, durational performance (one day only event)
Participants: Zish Alexander, Andreia Afonso, Kate Howard, Harry Bix, and Hugh Smyth.
Both a public changing room and a public bathroom are spaces that refer to various binaries. They are spaces with a history deeply embedded in racism and class-ism, as well as they desire certain ‘attributes’ of an extrovert neurotypical personality, an abled body and gender conforming person.
We want to take this loaded public space and try to create an intimate environment where everyone can be their most inner self. ‘THE SPONGE’ is an invitation to an immersive encounter where you can either observe or join. An encounter between bodies, characters, mediums and voices. A space where we can interrelate, respond, create and co-exist.
Booklet handout (*interview with artists Naz Balkaya and Emily Demetriou of Panicattack Duo enclosed)
About the artists
Panicattack Duo is an artistic and curatorial collective formed by Emily Demetriou (Nicosia, Cyprus) and Naz Balkaya (Istanbul, Turkey), who are based in Margate and London. Collaboration is at the heart of their practice, used as a tool against the individualistic tendencies formed by commercialized structures. Their research evolves around the context of collectivity as resistance, friendship as methodology, direct action, alternative pedagogy and anti-institutionalism. They explore these topics through the means of participatory performance, live art, sound and photography, as well as through a curatorial practice, facilitating community engaging projects, workshops,exhibitions and round-table discussions. Ultimately, Panicattack urge to create and be part of intimate public spaces.
Panicattack Duo has been awarded the Chelsea Arts Trust Award (2019) for their work as part of Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2018, and have shown in various places in the UK and abroad including: South London Gallery (London, UK),Liverpool Biennial 2018 (Liverpool, UK), Centrespace Gallery (Bristol, UK), SALO Raume (Braunschweig, GERMANY), Istanbul Biennial 2017(Istanbul, TURKEY).
