TBA Diaries: SQUART! at the Works

By Rebecca Jacobson

If nothing else, Wednesday night's SQUART! show at the Works proved one thing: Artists don't need fancy residencies and thousands of dollars in grants. Hell no: Give 'em three hours and a box of sidewalk chalk and—provided they're willing to eat said chalk, wrestle naked and yank around folding chairs with their teeth—they're all set.


SQUART!, short for Spontaneous Queer Art, is a project by Laura Arrington. She's a familiar performer at PICA's Time-Based Art Festival: She appeared in Keith Hennessy's batshit-crazy Turbulence two years ago, which featured a Champagne-drenched naked slip 'n' slide, and last year she recited Auden loudly and unintelligibly while fellow dancer Jesse Hewit thrashed around beneath silver tinsel.


This time around, after leading a mass aerobics routine, she took a backseat to the action. Volunteer performers had arrived earlier in the evening and been divided into four groups, then tasked with creating original performances that incorporated various elements: a moment of chaos, goats, pica, "critical ass" (in other words, at least four naked butts).


The TBA program billed SQUART! as a “usurped imitation of a reality TV show.” In practice, it was closer to a mefloquine-induced nightmare. Two performers—those suffering from pica, presumably—ate sidewalk chalk for their allotted 14 minutes. (“It’s really bahhd,” one wrote on the concrete floor.) A man in a wolf mask stripped off his one-piece bathing suit and stole someone’s drink. Buttholes were inspected. One woman ran through the audience and touched her naked ass to 65 chairs. Another jumped rope while holding a dog named Giovanni in her arms. Costumes included pig snouts, luchador masks, black lipstick and a skein of bright pink yarn strapped atop someone’s head. Glitter was thrown.


And it was all judged, of course. Chanticleer Tru complained about having to pee; Holcombe Waller compared a performance to soggy cabbage; Luke George made out with someone.


Here's a glimpse of how it all looked. Warning: lots of butts. Photos by Briana Cerezo.


Read more TBA Diaries here.

WWeek 2015

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