Synopsis:

On the first weekend of May, 2014, the Airlift held a masked ball in honor of the meeting of the courts of New Orleans Bounce  and New York Vogue. 

Project Description:

Legendary rappers Big Freedia, Katey Red, Sissy Nobby, and amazing dancers Ro, K Gunna, Ra Ra and Tori represented for New Orleans Bounce, while commentators Jack Mizrahi and Kevin jz Prodigy mastered the ceremonies, dance luminaries Leiomy Prodigy, Kassandra Ebony and Nunney Karma brought their elegance and unbelievable talent. DJ’s MikeQ, Rusty Lazer and Lil’ Man supplied the beats. And the rest is history.

The ball, held in the Wax Museum on Conti St. in the storied French Quarter, was designed in the spirit of a Vogue Ball meeting a Bounce Shakedown meeting an unconventional New Orleans masked ball.  A small army of local artists brought the magic in powerful and unforgettable ways. Honored guests arrived in chariots of wildly different styles created by iconic local and international artists. All guests were ushered in by the iconic and mystifying LiquidNailz and entertained and enlightened during their journey through the Wax Museum’s somewhat jarring dioramas by The New Orleans Society for Tableau Vivant. A human sized swinging chandelier met guests at the top of the stairs where decorations by Margot Walsh, Ellery Neon and Andrew Schrock transformed the space into a ballroom worthy of such a unique convergence. This is only a handful of the talented people it took to make this happen, please see our additional links for a detailed list of participants and creators, and more amazing images.

Synopsis: 

Artist Delaney Martin, a tableaux revivalist, founded the New Orleans Society for Tableau Vivant and invited guest curator Rosie Cooper (UK) to direct their inaugural performance.

Project Description: 

Tableau Vivant: A Wandering Retrospective, presented a selection of historic tableaux vivant alongside specially conceived tableaux by contemporary British artists.

Tableau Vivant translates literally as “living picture”; a costumed group or individual in a static and carefully arranged pose, usually accompanied by elaborate sets and props. Illustrating popular mythologies, famous paintings, or historic events, Tableau began as a parlor game for the wealthy and gained wide popularity in the 19th century only to fade away with the coming of radio and moving pictures.

Artist Delaney Martin, a tableaux revivalist, founded the New Orleans Society for Tableau Vivant and invited guest curator Rosie Cooper (UK) to direct their inaugural performance.

Cooper enacted a long distance exchange by delivering instructions from overseas artists for interpretation by the local Society members, who also created their own tableaux. Stage effects ranging from projection to fire accompanied the tableaux that were presented on a flat bed truck paraded slowly through various New Orleans neighborhoods.

Having a strong relationship to the still image, the tableaux vivant is a living thing perpetually situated in a morphological state between statue and movement. The impossibility of holding a certain pose for a long stretch of time means that the tableau vivant can never embody the stillness to which it apparently aspires – rather, is time stretched and slowed. Presenting this group exhibition as a series of live tableaux exposes its unstable state, and within this, it’s numerous ends.

Locating the project in New Orleans, a city ingrained with the composite histories of popular performance traditions including the Tableaux Balls of old Mardi Gras Krewes, Tableau Vivant: A Wandering Retrospective inhabits a space between the histories of high art and popular entertainment: illuminating the nature of the tableaux but also suggesting an alternative history for contemporary visual art performance.

Historical Tableau:

The Hal an Tow – British folk tradition /// Bruce McLean - Nice Style: The World’s First Pose Band /// Mistick Krewe of Comus – Scenes from Metamorphosis /// Pablo Picasso / Erik Satie / Léonide Massine - Mercure ///

Press: Pelican Bomb

Synopsis:

Calling the most futuristic ride! The total color spectrum ride! The most supped up ride with sinister appeal! Ride out with us in choreographed heats and parade for the prize. We want horses and tall bikes, hydraulics, and homemades!

Project Description:

Rally Under the Bridge, an Airlift originated project, brought together an unprecedented mix of people and their rides to try out never before seen formations. Car clubs, bikes clubs, horse clubs, quads, baton twirlers, color guard, and an array of utterly unique individuals brought their creativity and their culture to the parading grounds along with their curiosity.

Held under the Seeber Bridge, judges like legendary rap producer Mannie Fresh and MC Jacques Mizrahi, of NYC’s Vogue scene, presided over the scene from an apocalyptic looking stage. Highlights of the day were Richie Kay’s taking to the field with friends on the backs of 16 of his ingenious mutant bikes, The 504 Boyz wearing multicolor dashikis and dancing atop their galloping horses, and the baton twirling routine by Katey Red and the Terror Squad as they emerged from Tropical Fantasy, a custom car built by The Reader for this event. The Prancing Elites an all male, all gay color guard from Mobile, Alabama took it to the next level with their half-time show.

On their down time, urban cowboys took turns riding punk kid’s tall bikes and vice versa. Gay and straight, young and old, white and black came together that day. An Airlift fostered collaboration between freak bike builder Juanki and Twine, of The Lousiana Whipz car club, resulted in the prettiest tall bike with the most banging sound system anyone’s ever seen.  Judge of the day’s event’s, Mannie Fresh, just about summed it up when he surveyed the parade grounds and proudly told the crowd “only in New Orleans.”

Press: Okay Player, NOLA.com and make sure to check out the video here.

Synopsis:

Airlift’s eponymous project brought a dozen new orleans performers and the work of even more visual artists to Berlin for three weeks of festivals, nightclub engagements, an art exhibition and a fair bit of mayhem.

Project Description:

Named after the Berlin Airlift of WWII, New Orleans Airlift to Berlin was founders Jay Pennington and Delaney Martin’s vision for a showcase of New Orleans artists. Imagined as a one-time project way back in late 2007, the idea was to help artists returning to New Orleans post-katrina find new audiences to support them as they rebuilt their lives in the city. Martin and Pennington saw Berlin as a sister city that would give their artist friends a warm reception (not to mention couches to sleep on).

Partnerships were formed with Berlin Lacht, a street festival promoter, the Bereznitzky Gallery and a handful of Berlin nightclub owners that Pennington and Martin knew. Meanwhile, in New Orleans, the duo were helping their artists fill out grant applications - many for the very first time. Eventually the show got on the road, bringing 14 performers and the work of another 18 visual artists overseas for three weeks of engagements. Fun fun fun, some chaos, more fun. It was Airlift’s first big project and we really didn’t know what we were doing!

Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. Nam eget dui. Etiam rhoncus.

Maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. Nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem.

Maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. Donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. Nullam quis ante.

Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus.

Phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. Quisque rutrum. Aenean imperdiet.

Etiam ultricies nisi vel augue.

Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo.

Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. Integer tincidunt. Cras dapibus.

Quisque rutrum. Aenean imperdiet. Etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. Nam eget dui. Etiam rhoncus. Maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. Nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. Maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. Donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. Nullam quis ante. Etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. Duis leo. Sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. Donec sodales sagittis magna. Sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit cursus nunc,

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. Integer tincidunt. Cras dapibus. Vivamus elementum semper nisi. Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. Phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet.