“THIS IS ALL FOR YOU” is a prototype for this larger proposed project and collaboration with Paul Wiancko. This performance was recorded in June 2023 at CounterPulse in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, as a part of my Artist-in-Residence term – it is a larger example of my self-described “drag-collage” medium, where I piece together audio samples/fixed media from pre-existing work that interests me (both to my classical music training, as well as to my drag aesthetics), and create a new immersive sound world. For this particular work, I wanted to tell, in metaphor, the story of (or one similar to) my family’s migration to the United States. In pairing moments from Paul’s “American Haiku”, a work for viola and cello (instruments of similar timbre) that tells a similar story through the lens of his own family history, I aim to widen the toolset through which we, as those of us living within the greater AANHPI diaspora, can express our mutual experience. I also aim to uphold the tradition of drag in using pre-existing media, as well as to push its limits in pairing it with classical music – or, that which closely resembles it.
Reference links: “American Haiku” – https://youtu.be/rZ77UMZY7h8 ; “Columba aspexit” – https://youtu.be/BpmMeIQywYc ; “Boring Angel” – https://youtu.be/N2R_hPBGgIQ ; “Pop Titles You” – https://youtu.be/0eb9Ae7RRjc
ABOUT THE ARTIST
OBSIDIENNE OBSURD (they/she) is a Chinese-American genderless drag performance artist making and working in San Francisco. They frequently perform at acclaimed venues such as the OASIS in SoMa, Herbst Theatre, the Swedish American Hall, the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, and historic leather bar Powerhouse. In 2022, they won the 2022 GAPA (GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance) Runway Pageant, becoming the organization’s first Mx.GAPA. Upcoming engagements include: serving as one of the curators and hosts for the 2023 Oaklash Drag and Queer Performance Festival, producing an all-AANHPI/trans showcase as a co-recipient of the 2023 APICC (Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center) Showcase Grant, and continuing to produce their celebrated drag-character swap show, UNCANNY, at the OASIS. OBSIDIENNE is a 2023 CounterPulse Artist in Residence, where they are creating work intertwining their intersectional trans identity, as it plays with cultural history, and classical music. OBSURD is a member of the legendary Los Angeles-based Haus of DERMA, co-producing performance art interdisciplinary “SKIN CONTACT” in Joshua Tree on a bimonthly basis. OBSIDIENNE frequently moonlights as her human counterpart, 明聖 Ezra Costanza, who is an award-winning classical violist freelancing all across the Bay.