Video by Alicia Gonzales
Curious onlookers enjoying the First Friday festivities stopped and stood outside of 5th Row Dance Studios, transfixed by the four screens of video art in the window.
Some of those spectators wandered inside the dark gallery and were surrounded by more video and performance art, all with the common theme of death. Whispered comments were exchanged, often that it was “trippy” or “strange.” Yet all who stepped inside seemed to be fascinated or contemplative.
This reflection is exactly what the new Oscuro Collective was hoping for with their first show, Ofrenda. The event focused around the theme of spirituality and death in the Southwest, including the recent Dia de los Muertos.
Oscuro Collective is made up of Flamenco Por La Vida artistic director and founder Angelina Ramirez, Space 55 performer Steve Wilcox and digital media artist Sam Angiulo. “Oscuro,” meaning darkness, captures what the collective is all about: exploring darker themes in Southwestern culture.
“Ofrenda” translates to offering, more specifically to the collection of items traditionally placed on Dia de los Muertos altars.
“I think we all have a strange fascination with death. We’re all headed that direction and it’s going to touch all of our lives in a significant way,” said Wilcox, who hopes the audience was unsettled and fascinated by his work and the theme as a whole. “We want to talk about [death] and be confronted in a safe way. I think art gives us an interesting way of opening that conversation, that dialogue.”
Inside the gallery, the room was set up in three main parts. One side featured video work by Angiulo and other artists. In the middle of the room there was a Dia de los Muertos altar with offerings below a screen featuring more of Anguilo’s work. Wilcox performed his piece “The Gospel of the Disappeared” and Ramirez performed her piece “Te Hecho de Menos” on the other side.
The set was designed to respond to the space and give people time to reflect on the art and meditate on the themes of death, Angiulo said.
Wilcox’s “The Gospel of the Disappeared” focused on how to grieve when the fate of your loved one is unknown because they have disappeared. The minimalist performance featured two actors, a laptop and lights. The actors were accompanied by a voice and eerie music narrating their movements with phrases such as, “You will wait. You will hold your breath. You will hold out hope. And it will be a burden on your shoulders, and it will be a chain around your neck.”
Ramirez described “Te Hecho de Menos” as a very personal performance that went beyond traditional flamenco.
“I will be up there totally vulnerable and stepping outside of my comfort zone in just movement and costume. I’m using my flamenco to tell a different story,” she said.
The show also featured work from Arizona video artists Adam Cooper Terán, Heather Gray, Michael Castañeda, Nika Kaiser and Steev Hise.
One visitor, David Fitzgibbons, said the lack of complexity in the performance drew him in.
“I liked the simplicity,” he said. “I loved the hand gestures, the fold of the clothes. It was very different. They were simple words, gestures and movements.”
Teen Summit, a music group comprised of Angiulo and fellow performer Andrew Sanchez, performed experimental ambient music afterwards.
Oscuro Collective plans to keep collaborating and hosting shows. Possible future exhibitions will continue to explore dark ideas, such as southwest mythology and ghost stories, Angiulo said.
Oscuro Collective will host a second Ofrendo show on Friday, Nov. 20 at 5th Row Dance Studios, located at 513 E. Roosevelt St.
Contact the reporter at Kara.Carlson@asu.edu
