Geneva Foster Gluck

Geometry of the West 

In the shadow of power

geometries formed

and the future stalked

prismatic, iridescent and teeth exposed.

Geometry of the West draws its inspiration from the evocative world of Wonder Shows - turn of the century public presentations where science, technology, and the mystical merged into spectacles of awe. These performances, as historian Fred Nadis reminds us, “originated from early scientific demonstrations that interwove discovery with entertainment, casting new technologies against the vast backdrop of planetary science, cosmic wonders, and the promise of abundant futures”. Yet, Wonder Shows were not confined to the enlightenment alone, they permeated sideshows, utopian-inspired consumer demonstrations, spiritualist awakenings, and traveling wild West spectacles.

Using rechargeable and handmade battery energy, geolocation and telematic storytelling technologies, Geometry of the West traces the contours of energy's colonial entanglements and the archetypes of Western expansion to include climate crisis and the all-to-slow decline of oil-fueled power. In a dreamscape bathed in twilight, clay batteries power flickering LED lights and magicians' assistants dance in a dust filled landscape shadowed by the ghosts of colonial technologies.

Original Sound Score: Gabe Sullivan of XIXA 

Original Cast: Serena Tang, Natalie Brewster Nguyen, Geneva Foster Gluck

Direction, Set Design, Costumes, Choreography, Video: Geneva Foster Gluck

Development support from The Circus Space and a Lab:time Award. 2014, London, UK; Tucson Pima Arts Council New Work Grant; Arizona Commission of the Arts, 2015. Produced by Sugar Beast Circus. Please reach out to me if you would like to program this work as an installation and/or performance.

http://azarts.gov/news/geneva-foster-gluck-geometry-of-the-west/