There’s nothing like living inside a 20-foot shipping container for a week to slow you down. The Performance Arcade 2017 programme launched earlier this week, featuring New Zealand artist Rousseau (Clare Barrett). A line of shipping containers at the Wellington waterfront provides a venue for a selection of performance installations and a programme of events, from live music through to live art.
Pop and performance art come together, as Rousseau - a writer, musician, and artist based in Wellington – performs and films a music video in one week. hello, I know you’re busy, Rousseau’s debut EP (to be released in February 2017), explores themes of work, productivity, meaning, connection, vulnerability, and the passing of time. Taking these themes from the world of music to the world of performance art, this long form piece features Rousseau living inside a shipping container for a week whilst producing and starring in a music video to accompany the body of musical work. The boundaries between performance and life are blurred as Rousseau lets her audience in behind the scenes, exposing herself, her work and her life completely. The glamorous artefact of the music video becomes exposed to the politics of live art and exhausting, endurance performance. You might even get a chance to be on screen.
For more information visit: http://www.theperformancearcade.com/rousseau or you can find links to her first three singles here, or listen on Soundcloud