FUN YOUNG GOD

Fun Young God tackles the phenomenology of the American rock/pop star as well as various global practices of worship. As a spectacle, two performers have been tasked with studying and exactly reproducing the movements of multiple rock and pop legends, while attempting to channel their own divine/charismatic powers. Through mimicry and infusion the movements of Mick Jagger, Beyonce and others becomes inherently ours; reabsorbed into our collective and individual psyches. Fun Young God is an anthem, a ritual, a placebo, a conjuring, a clinical study, and a blatant exploitation of society's obsession with fun, youth, and holiness. These themes are closely linked by their shared intersections of rigor, danger, innocence, delusion, and splendor.

As a comment on the intangibility of celebrity and faith, this work is presented anonymously. 

Photography by Mavi Phillips. Performers Pierre Guilbault and Cori Kresge.

Performers:

Pierre Guilbault was raised in Vancouver and moved to New York in 2012 after graduating from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a bachelor of fine arts degree in dance. He has a background in ballet and contemporary dance, and has studied film and theater acting in the past. Mr. Guilbault has done extensive work in and around the Merce Cunningham workshops at Westbeth and New York City Center. He is currently working on projects with Ellen Cornfield, Liz Gerring, and Jody Oberfelder.

Cori Kresge is a NYC based dance artist. She has a BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase and the Dean’s Award for “breaking the mold”. In 2005 Kresge received a Darmasiswa International Scholarship, studying Balinese dance in Indonesia. She has been a member of the Merce Cunningham Repertory Understudy Group, José Navas/Compagnie Flak, and Stephen Petronio Company. She currently freelances and collaborates with various artists including Esme Boyce, Bill Young, Sarah Skaggs, Ellen Cornfield, Rashaun Mitchell+Silas Riener, Rebecca Lazier, Wendy Osserman, multi-media artists Liz Magic Laser, Xavier Cha, and film maker Zuzka Kurtz.

This photo series was commissioned through Beach Sessions' Dance x Air program, which is a collaborative project between presenting artists and photographers of distinction using untapped resources in Rockaway to create original visual content.