Mammalian Diving Reflex

The intrepid group known as Mammalian Diving Reflex is "a research-art atelier dedicated to investigating the social sphere, always on the lookout for contradictions to whip into aesthetically scintillating experiences. They are a culture production workshop that creates site and social-specific performance events, theatre-based productions, gallery-based participatory installations, video products, art objects and theoretical texts."

They have so many zesty projects involving people of all ages from a myriad of demographics, but here are a few of their more recent works that have knocked my socks off.

Haircuts by Children

The Children’s Choice Awards

Socialist Games

Eat the Street

Tête-à-Tête

I'll be checking out All the Sex I've Ever Had on Thursday night as part of the TBA festival lineup. 

Saturday Shenanigans

I'm in the process of reading several books. Each has its designated time to be read. While riding the bus to and from work each day, I'm reading The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison. While building up my knee strength at the gym, I'm listening to Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach. During lunch, I'll pick up Possibility of Being by Rainer Maria Rilke. And before I close my eyes and nose dive into dreamland, I'm reading The Reenactments by Nick Flynn and In Praise of Messy Lives by Katie Roiphe. 

I can now bend my knee to 138 degrees. In case you didn't know, this is what 138 degrees looks like:

This morning I started working with a personal trainer to more fully rehabilitate my knee (and the rest of my body, which is a bit out of whack). My limbs are feeling wobbly and weak, flaccid and frustrated, puny and pulverized. But it's happening. Progress. 

TBA is happening right now. Though I usually like to overcommit and see too much, this year I've chosen to see Cynthia Hopkins, BodyCartography Project, Mammalian Diving Reflex, and Kim Gordon's new band, Body/Head. Because I know the melding of art and activism are vital, I'll probably check out THIS forum. 

A few friends from my former Goddard MFAIA program are gathering tonight for the first time in quite a while. There will be wine, hummus, pickles, pita and discourse on domestic choreography, ass wrangling, cyborg feminism, and juggling motherhood with art and work.