RADAR 5: Western Edition — Couch in the Desert

By Brent Holmes and Heidi Rider

"We are the irresponsible ones," Karla Lagunas said to me as we pulled into one of the only available parking lots on Las Vegas Boulevard. We were there to meet with RADAR regulars Adriana Chavez and Heidi Rider and newcomer to RADAR, Pierson Brown. The question of social responsibility and the dangers of assembling a group of people under a global pandemic stitched a line of tension into the weighted air. Still, on a whim- or through the gravitation of desire- the five of us found ourselves taking a group hike down the mostly deserted Vegas strip. Under COVID, the space, typically inundated with rivers of human movement, designed to entertain and entice, had transformed into a canyon of architectural absurdities. Without the usual pulsing throng of traffic and bodies, a vast pedestrian mall had emerged, an expansive ravine begging for movement and commentary on its fenced-off structures and representations.

The prompt I had given my compatriots was a loose western theme with appropriate bandanas, costume and demeanor. A proposal flexible enough to lend to individual interpretation but solid enough to establish a framework for play. Together we ran with it: we improvised and played together, following impulses and spacial restrictions, riding on each other's ideas until we created a wobbly, weird, wild western. What we experienced in this new urban canyon was what we tend to find at one of our regular in-person RADAR gatherings: an open and generous call and response of creative energy, a ricocheting of ideas and bold propositions, with a reverberating echo back from the urban and desert landscapes of place: Las Vegas itself.

Over the last year, we have build a beautiful community around the monthly gatherings. But in this moment, we must adapt to our collective "now." Performance in general is difficult, and this is exacerbated by the current and sudden absence of the key components necessary for meaningful live explorations: audience and a collective gathering within a setting. In lieu of public assembly and populated spaces, we have decided to create an online, long-distance version of RADAR in order to continue offering a space for communal and open experimental art-making (even if that space has to be virtual). We put out a world-wide open call for video works- either current explorations or previously made pieces, it is all welcomed and accepted. We will use the Strip Western footage that we created as a thread to pull and weave through the rest of the works we receive from the public, which will be edited into a full-length Online Edition of RADAR.

I have no doubt that the world will open back up, the canyon will fill again with vacationing masses (in fact, some Las Vegas casinos have plans to begin reopening on June 4), but in this rare and terrible season of drought, we at RADAR hope to provide what little precipitation we can to provide a ground for growth in the world of creativity and new ideas.

R.A.D.A.R., founded in late 2018, is a community based group action focused on anti-hierarchical and un-curated performative work. At RADAR, we strive to create a safe and constructive platform for the live exploration of artworks based in and around the use of the body, time, and space. All forms of performance are welcomed from esoteric conceptual work to clown, from dance to poetry, and deep dives into the realms of the undefinable. Whether it be non-verbal physicality, alternative pedagogy or more traditional explorations of performance, RADAR receives all work with an open door and an open mind. At RADAR, we get weird.

Since this writing Long Distance R.A.D.A.R. has gone live: link to Long Distance R.A.D.A.R. episodes here!

Stay tuned: Into the Canyon a 20-minute art film and culmination of the RADAR performance project will be released on Wednesday, June 3. See it here.

All images courtesy RADAR, Adriana Chavez, Brent Holmes, Karla Lagunas, Heidi Rider.

Posted by Wendy Kveck on May 28, 2020.