LADA Screens: Johanna Went – Launch Event

'Knifeboxing'
Johanna Went
SD Video, colour, sound, 28’ 01”
Online 29 March – 11 April 2016
Launch event will take place 29 March 2015 

This LADA Screens launch event will be the last LADA event curated by current Programmes Manager Aaron Wright who is leaving LADA after five years to take up the post of Artistic Director of Fierce Festival in Birmingham.

For this occassion Aaron has selected 'Knifeboxing' Johanna Went's 1984 seminal, but rarely seen, wild punk performance film. The screening will be followed by a discussion between Aaron and LADA Director Lois Keidan on some of the key shifts in Live Art over the last five years, some of his LADA highlights and his vision for the future of Fierce Festival. Drinks will be served.

Johanna Went is a pioneering performance artist who began performing as part of a street theater troupe that traveled America and Europe in the 1970’s. 

Combining a wild, chaotic performing style packed with visual excitement, gallons of blood, streams of multicolored liquids, giant bloody tampons, enormous sewn fabric sculptures, wacky scary costumes and enough Styrofoam and found film stock to fill a room, she was equally renowned for her use of live improvised music that crossed over from jazzy rock grooves and jungle beats to electronic soundscapes and industrial noise. 

Knifeboxing was recorded at Club Lingerie in Los Angeles, California, 1984 and features Johanna Went on vocals; Mark Wheaton on Steiner-Parker synth, tape loops and mixing; Greg Burk on Saxophone and Robin Ryan on Percussion.

Accompanying the online screening will be a transcribed conversation between Johanna Went and Mark Wheaton about Knifeboxing.

A DVD compilation of Went's performances can be found on Club Years, which is available for sale on Unbound.

About LADA Screens

LADA Screens is a series of free, online screenings of seminal performance documentation, works to camera, short films/video and archival footage. It is part of Live Online, LADA’s dedicated space where you can watch short videos and films drawn from LADA’s Study Room or generated through our programmes and initiatives.

Each screening will be available to view for a limited time only, and will be launched with a live event at the White Building in Hackney Wick, London. Online art magazine, thisistomorrow will also feature the films on their website for the duration of the screenings.

For more information about LADA Screens contact Alex Eisenberg.