Mobilizing Citizenship: Autumn 2022
Project
September – December 2022
As part of the project Mobilizing Citizenship, Kunsthall Stavanger presented a new performance piece by the US based trio, Toxic Waste Face. The work, Sharp Shadow, questions our visual surroundings and challenges conventional standards of beauty. Centered on exploring "mirror realities" and the ways in which our perception can be reflected, refracted, and altogether distorted, Toxic Waste Face debuts a new work that destabilizes the notion that "what you see is what you get". The idea of the mirror appears both as a physical object with particular visual properties, as well as a symbolic boundary between worlds (the real and the simulacral).
Combining traditional queer performance tropes (lip syncing) with interactive video elements, the artists endeavor to create something both visually stunning and conceptually rigorous.
Toxic Waste Face
Toxic Waste Face is a trio of multi-disciplinary artists exploring the contemporary human condition by way of full-fantasy performances and video art featuring their larger-than-life costume creations and avant-garde makeup. Working simultaneously in the art world and queer nightlife, Toxic Waste Face mounts experiences that are as entertaining as they are thought-provoking, often using humor, camp, and their cartoon-ish aesthetic to transport audiences to a delightfully bizarre parallel universe. The collective has performed extensively throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and at numerous art fairs across the United States, recently premiering their latest work in conjunction with Art Basel Miami Beach.
