Monday, October 18, 2010
We didn’t really know for sure if we were going to THE POW! POW! POW! until we got into the van to go to it! That was because of my trach and PEG tube. But performances need risk! It turned out I was up to it! But we had looked up the nearest hospital just in case!
The question of did I have a plant at the performance will never be answered. But if I had, here are my directions to her:
I’m performing Saturday [if my health allows] as THE EROTIC GREETER. I will be in the lobby with a sign EXPLORE THE EROTIC GREETER DEEPLY BY TOUCH. Would you be my erotic plant, going under my robes to rub me erotically magical arousing? This would be when the audience is coming into the theater. The rubbing is the magical focus of the piece... Small, intimate, explicit, practically unseen. In the seventies I had a big padded box into which before a performance i got into with someone to play nude with. The lid was closed before the audience came in. So they didn’t know what was happening in the box. But the erotic focused fun inside the box totally affected the performance outside of the box.
Well, there was erotic rubbing. But not the needed focused sustain turning on to generate a core mass. This can’t be done with people in a long term relationship like Linda and I because of the comfort factor [which we used in the jams]. But in this kind of performance what generates the erotic core mass that sucks everything deeper is erotic exploring breaking through risk into sustained focused arousal. That didn’t happen. The closest was Marz.
But other factors kicked in, making it a powerful demanding performance. Joyful intimacy tends to call attention to what is happening or not happening.
And my conversation with Guillermo Gomez Pena was the cherry on the top! Never know who you are influencing!
Erika:
Last night Frank was The Erotic Greeter at the Pow Pow Pow arts festival in SF. We caravanned to SF, Frank, Linda and Mikee riding in the new van that Frank's wheel chair can be pushed onto. Mikee has been painting bright colored tribal designs on the dark blue background of the van and it looked great driving through the night. We arrived at Viracocha the gallery and performance space where the festival was and got settled in. Guillermo Galindo welcomed us and told us where Frank would be for his performance. The upstairs where Frank would be greeting people was filled with restored household things like lamps make out of old birdcages and tables with old radiators for legs. There was a guy playing the piano in the back and other performers walking through the space in various costumes including a woman with doll parts attached to a big hoop skirt.
Frank had a beverage and got into his new poncho, purple with multi-colored peace signs on it, and he had a sign that Mikee made strapped to the back of his wheelchair. The sign said, "Explore The Erotic Greeter By Touch." Frank was positioned by the doorway to the downstairs performance space so that everyone would pass by him. Frank sat ready and available with a big grin on his face. He was looking good! It was his first performance since being in intensive care for six weeks and then recovery at home after that. It was very tender and moving seeing Frank back in performance action and fun watching him grab for people as they passed by. The tech guy Travis who had been the tech guy last year went over and rubbed Frank's head and came over to Linda and said how great it was that we were there and said how important touch is. Soon Marz who might have been a plant arrived and started touching and exploring Frank which she did for most of the performance.
An announcement was made that Guillermo Gomez Pena might be making an entrance on his motorcycle and it wasn't clear if he was going to ride right into the space. Just in case he was Frank moved back a little bit. Tomek arrived who had been to the performances the night before. Soon we were ushered outside to the street where the first action would take place. Alexi and I went out to see what was going on. Guillermo Galindo on a mega phone kept making announcements that they were almost here, that they were one block away, that it would be just a few more minutes. It was some time before a low rider car pulled up and out of the car several characters immerged. There was Guillermo Gomez Pena with a chain around his neck being lead by a black woman in black face with a noose around her neck. A woman dressed in a berka wearing an American flag bikini, and a guy with a Arnold Schwarzenegger mask and long fur coat and little else on. Out of the trunk of the car emerged Lula, who had been a participant in one of Frank's performances. She was dressed in a wedding dress and being carried by a soldier with braces on his legs and an oxygen mask also wearing little. He carried her around the performance space for most of the night and later came up to see Frank and said his name was Roberto. Frank said that he and Roberto both had oxygen and Roberto said "Yes." Guillermo Galindo said that now the action performances had began and he said everyone could cross over the threshold, the doorway, into the performance space.
Everyone gathered upstairs for a while and there was Frank the Erotic Greeter with Marz and Linda exploring him. Frank would grab people as they passed by. Someone behind Alexi was saying, "Look that guy is fondling the erotic greeter or maybe the erotic greeter is fondling the guy". "Yah well we've had people fisting each other on stage". "Yah you're right I guess that's pretty tame." Everyone was gathered in the room upstairs for a while and some people were going through changes watching Frank, Linda and Marz. One woman looked like she wanted to go up and touch them and then she stopped herself. Other people tried to sneak by Frank sidewise to avoid getting grabbed by him. Everyone who went down into the downstairs performance space had to pass by The Erotic Greeter.
Once everyone had gone downstairs an announcement was made that Frank was upstairs and anyone who wanted to see the end of his performance could come up and see him before he headed home. Lula and Roberto were making their way around the room, into the bathroom and then stationed themselves on the other side of the room and were interacting with some other people. Linda and the woman in the berka went around and invited people to come over and touch Frank. Tomek started playing the piano. One woman who started to explore Frank said that she didn't know what to do, she did not usually explore anybody. A few people came over and explored Frank for a little while and then would leave. One woman said that she was shy and Linda said she could explore Frank shyly. Another woman sat with Frank for a little while exploring his arms and legs and then Linda asked the woman in the berka if she would like to explore Frank and she did briefly.
Then Guillermo Gomez Pena and the black woman in black face came over. They kneeled in front of Frank and looked at him.
Frank said to Guillermo, "I like your "Defense of Performance Art". I found it online ."
Guillermo said to Frank that If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't exist.
Then followed a deep and intense conversation that was very moving.
Frank asked "How so?"
Guillermo: You opened the door.
Frank: What door?
Guillermo: The door to freedom and the door to a different kind of beauty.
Frank: I am honored. I am recovering . (Linda explains that Frank was in the hospital over the summer, six weeks in intensive care.)
Guillermo: Thousands of people were beating with your heart.
Frank: I got emails while I was in the hospital that kicked my ass!
(Guillermo asks if he can kiss Frank? Frank says yes, and Guillermo sits next to him on a bench, and kisses him on the side of the head and cheek, very long and soft .)
Frank: We should get together to talk . We should do a performance together.
Guillermo: From the time I moved to L.A., I was a young, angry, immigrant rebel. I never missed one of your performances.
Frank: I am that old? (smiling big)
Guillermo: Well, I am only a couple months younger than you. but spiritually much younger.
It was an extremely moving, powerful and tender interaction between Frank and Guillermo and Frank said it made the whole night worth it. Frank being at the festival brought it down to another level. It was very tender watching Frank interacting with people, reaching out to people, sitting available and ready particularly after all he, all we have been through with Frank in the hospital. All night watching Frank interact with people I just felt how much Frank loves us, how much he loves everybody, how much everybody loves Frank and how much we love each other and how lucky we are to have each other and the life that Frank has created for us.
Da Boyz:
"Frank's first performance since being in the hospital!" That is what we would tell everyone when we were spreading the word about Frank's performance at this year's POW!POW!POW! Action Art Festival Saturday night, October 16th. It was really fun to be doing a performance again, after everything that had happened, to know how much better Frank was ... how it was only months ago that we were all basically living in the ICU at Alta Bates, and now look at us!
Of course, we weren't used to the performance routine, so there were the last minute snags, the running back for a forgotten item, but we were all there in plenty of time, at Viracocha space on Valencia ... Corey dropped Alexi and Erika off with the sign, and the cooler full of Frank's San Pellegrinos! Frank, Linda and Mikee parked the new van a few blocks up, and everyone met up at about the same time in front of the space, and we all went in. The sign that Mikee designed for the performance, and Alexi would be strapping onto the back of Frank's headrest, read: "Explore The Erotic Greeter By Touch"
Viracocha is a really neat space, old salvaged doors, windows, lamps, bikes and all sorts of wood, metal and glass objects turned into art on the walls, lamps, tables, and chairs ... The bathroom was beautiful, and was the first stop before Frank had a drink of San Pellegrino before getting into position. Guillermo Galin Dog had met us as we came in, and described how he imagined Frank could be stationed right in front of the entrance to the downstairs performance space ... he would gather the audience in the main space, and they would all have to walk past Frank to get downstairs. Afterward, Frank could be stationed in the room leading to the bathroom, where people could interact with him there too ... As Frank beveraged, we looked at all the stuff on the walls and in the space, and there was a guy playing intensely romantic classical music on a piano against one wall ...
Soon the sign was up, and Frank was in position! No one would be able to squeeze by him outside of his reach! There were some minor adjustments after we found out that Guillermo might be riding into the space on a motorcycle! But this didn't end up happening. People started coming into the space, and Frank would reach out and touch people as they walked by ... mostly it was performers and the folks setting up the performance ... It was fun! Travis, the tech guy that had loved Frank's performance last year, came by and rubbed Frank's head affectionately ... he would come back again later too to explore the Erotic Greeter! And soon another woman, Marz, arrived ... she might have been a plant??? She was soon exploring Frank, and did so for most of the performance ... It had not officially started yet ... Soon Guillermo was ushering everyone outside onto the street to see the first "action" outside ... Erika and Alexi went to check it out too, and Marz as well ... The rest of us stayed inside with Frank ... Corey was stationed behind Frank to rush in if his wheelchair started tipping dangerously ...
Outside, Alexi and Erika said that they were all waiting for a while as Galin Dog kept announcing that "they will soon be here!" "They are a block away!" "One minute away!" ... Soon a low rider car pulled up, and out came Guillermo Gomez Pena with a black girl in black face ... she had him on a chain and collar ... there was also a nearly naked man in an Arnold Schwarzeneggar mask, a girl in a burka (wearing a stars and striped bikini underneath), and Lula Chapman, an alumni of Frank's "Erotic Friction" performance, coming out of the trunk, and carried in by Roberto, who later introduced himself to Frank. The two of them later shared the upstairs space with Frank, doing their own ongoing performance together with the Schwarzeneggar character.
As everyone filed into the space, you could see everyone notice Frank, but almost no one approached him ... a few people came up to touch Frank ... Marz was there with Frank, and Linda had joined them too, exploring Frank erotically ... Tomek showed up too. He had emailed earlier that he would be coming, and did Frank want him to play music? There were no plans for music, but it did turn out that he backed up the second part of Frank's performance on the house piano, which was great.
Kaye came too ... she had written some very moving things about Frank during his stay in the hospital, and was overjoyed to see Frank again. She has come to performances for years ... she had also donated money to help us get out of the hole when Linda and Mikee lost a month of income when Frank went into the hospital. Linda and Mikee were saying later that there was a whole level to the performance that was the five of us, and most likely for Kaye too, filled with the joy of just seeing Frank there, doing his thing again, after all that has happened ... just standing there with big smiles on our faces, watching Frank.
Corey described later how it was interesting to watch people experiencing Frank ... most did not come up to him, and many made sure that he didn't touch them as they walked by! There were others who you could see contemplating the Erotic Greeter, thinking about it, possibly considering going up to him, and then maybe reaching out to him briefly as they filed down into the performance space. Guillermo Gomez Pena touched Frank as he came in ... Travis came back to play with Frank briefly ... there were others who came up briefly ... but for the most part, it was Marz and Linda.
Alexi overheard a funny conversation! A woman with a guy standing right next to Alexi started talking about what Frank was doing ... The woman said to the guy, "Look, that guy is fondling the Erotic Greeter! Or maybe the Erotic Greeter is fondling that guy ... that's pretty wild!"
The guy said, "Well, we've had people fisting each other on stage ..."
She said, "Yeah, you're right, I guess its pretty tame ... but he looks like he's having a good time ..."
Once the audience had all filed downstairs into the main performance space, Frank was thinking that this might be it ... he had done great! We relocated so Frank could have some more water, and soon Lula and Roberto came up to say that they were going to soon make an announcement directing people to come up and explore the Erotic Greeter, and that they would be doing their thing up there too ... Frank pointed out that Roberto had oxygen too! Frank had his oxygen on for the night, a mask over his trach, and was outfitted with a gorgeous "cumber bun" to protect his PEG feeding tube around his stomach and a soft peace-sign fleece poncho both sewn by Erika for the occasion. Roberto had an oxygen mask attached to a plastic bag with the american flag inside it ... he said he was trying to get his life breath from america, but of course it wasn't working!
The announcement was made downstairs by Galin Dog, and people started coming up, in twos and threes, sporadically ... Frank had Linda guide people to him to explore him, but the girl in the burka also brought people up to Frank, which was great! Several people came up and sat on the bench next to him, or stood next to him and explored him for a little while ... one woman said that she didn't know how to explore Frank, that she doesn't really ever explore people! But she did explore Frank for a little bit ... Another woman said that she was shy, and Linda encouraged her to explore Frank "shyly'! Another woman was more active, and sat next to Frank for longer, exploring his stomach, and his legs ... Linda invited the girl in the burka to explore Frank too, and she did briefly as well, playing with his legs and leg warmers ...
Then Guillermo Gomez Pena came up and kneeled in front of Frank with his female partner in black face ... he and Frank talked briefly and intensely. Afterward, we wrote it all down right away to try and recapture what they had said, because it was so amazing what Guillermo was saying about Frank, and what Frank meant to him. Frank said that it was all worth it if only for that meeting. We had heard about Guillermo for years, but he and Frank had never met or corresponded ... but Frank had come upon his "Defense of Performance Art" online, finding that it had a line about Frank in it too.
* * * * *
Conversation between Guillermo Gomez Pena and Frank Moore, Pow!Pow!Pow! Action Art Festival 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
(Guillermo played with Frank toward the beginning of Frank’s piece, “The Erotic Greeter”, but then returned later and sat in front of Frank to talk … he would lean forward softly and intensely each time he spoke to Frank.)
Frank: I like your “Defense of Performance Art”. I found it online …
Guillermo: If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t exist.
Frank: How so?
Guillermo: You opened the door.
Frank: What door?
Guillermo: The door to freedom and the door to a different kind of beauty.
Frank: I am honored. I am recovering … (Linda explains that Frank was in the hospital over the summer, six weeks in intensive care.)
Guillermo: Thousands of people were beating with your heart.
Frank: I got emails while I was in the hospital that kicked my ass!
(Guillermo asks if he can kiss Frank? Frank says yes, and Guillermo sits next to him on a bench, and kisses him on the side of the head and cheek, very long and soft …)
Frank: We should get together to talk … We should do a performance together.
Guillermo: From the time I moved to L.A., I was a young, angry, immigrant rebel. I never missed one of your performances.
Frank: I am that old? (smiling big)
Guillermo: Well, I am only a couple months younger than you … but spiritually much younger.
* * * * *
After that, we got ready to go ... the night was a major success! Frank had done great, was doing great ... after some more water, and a bathroom stop, we packed up and headed out ... we all walked first to the van, talking about the night, and about being hungry! Looking foward to those Zachary's pizzas! After Frank was loaded in, we headed back to the other car, and were soon riding home!
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MORE ABOUT THE EROTIC GREETER PERFORMANCES HERE
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