Eaten to a Pulp
Between the chrome tinsel, black fur frames, fifty-six cherries hanging from the wall and red satin draped over a small parlor table and chair, everything in the exhibit was eye-catching. And that was not even part of her photography. In a 200 square-foot space, UC...
Uncharted Waters
When professor Anna Friz saw that UC Santa Cruz had an underwater speaker, a 50-meter pool and creative students, she figured why not put on an underwater concert? With the film and digital media department, she created the show Submerging Artists. Submerging Artists was conceptualized...
Give and Take
Her breathing became more labored, raspy and desperate before stopping. The audience was transfixed as Ramona Parrotta depicted death in UC Santa Cruz professor Gerald Casel’s experimental movement theater show, “Give.” When Parrotta’s breath stopped, two other dancers closed her eyes and moved her body...
Models of Free Expression
Over the sounds of static, screaming and bodily functions, the creatures of the art piece “19 Rusted Antennae” stalked on stage. Despite a trigger warning for “vomiting of goop onstage,” this year’s Queer Fashion Show (QFS) audience remained in their seats on May 13 and...
Free Love
It was the first time they could be themselves. Over 120 people from around the Bay Area arrived at Cowell College on Dec. 4, 1971 for the first ever homosexuality conference hosted by UC Santa Cruz. The conference, “Homosexuality: Exploring an Alternative in Sexual Expression,”...
Fit for a Queen
It was hard to miss. Three feet long and covered in sequins, the “disco dick” turned heads as Brent Farmer walked onstage at Drag Ball on April 15. Under the stage name Bryce Plow, Farmer pelvic thrusted and helicopter swung the disco dick to “Get...
We Need to Talk… About Art
A dozen Ducati motorcycles, an angry baby head sculpture and gallery attendees riding around on Onewheels in an old warehouse seem strange. But all of this was found on the way to the R. Blitzer Gallery, where the second half of the art show “In...