Wet Exit
Multimedia performance 2015
Janet Biggs multi-media performance WET EXIT, with live musicians, synchronized kayaks, and projected video at the Brooklyn Bridge Park, Saturday September 23, 2011.
WET EXIT was presented by Smack Mellon as part of the DUMBO arts festival 2011.
The video documentation of this event was filmed by Eve Sussman, Simon Lee and Nerina Penzhorn.
Wet Exit was conceived and performed a year after 9/11. The performance site, a cove in Brooklyn on the East River, framed lower Manhattan, where the twin towers stood. The lyrics performed were written from Biggs' memories of 9/11. "Tears hide the acid sky, against glaciers of glass. Come take my hand. It's just a step on a cloud, on a cloud. Repeat known patterns, set small goals, but most of all, stay calm." The US National kayak polo team performed a kayak ballet in the cove, while musicians and projected video played on shore. Subways ran elevated over the Manhattan bridge above. The trains became chance triggers. Whenever a train passed overhead the musicians cut from a soothing melody to aggressive rock and the kayaks shifted from synchronized ballet maneuvers to aggressively battle as they tried to capsize one another.
WET EXIT was made possible through generous support from the Walentas Family and Two Trees Management. This project is also funded in part with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts, and with generous support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and The Concordia Foundation and by the Experimental Television Center's Finishing Funds Award. The Experimental Television Center's Finishing Funds program is supported by the Electronic Media and Film Program at the New York State Council on the Arts.
Musicians:
Drums: Blake Fleming
Cello: William Martina
Violin: Earl Maneein
Vocalist:
Carol Grayson-Johnson
Kayak Paddlers:
New York Kayak Polo team members (nykayakpolo.org) Margaret Mann, Agassi Nakhapetian, Agnes Simon, Lev Grote and Jake Lewis.
Single-channel, high definition video, 16:9 format
Time: 10:16
Edition of 5, plus 2 APs
