Janks Archive: Belfast, September 6-7, 2013, Belfast, Northern Ireland (curated by Alissa Kleist as part of FIX Live Art Biennial, 2013, photo by Jessica Langley)
Who: Janks Archive, Jesus Benavente and Felipe Castelblanco, Trouble (Sam Hillmer and Laura Paris), Patrick Higgins, E.S.P. TV
What: Live performances in conjunction with “Queens International 2016” exhibition
Where: Queens Museum, New York City Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park
When: Saturday, June 4, free – $8, 12 noon – 5:00 pm
Why: As part of the Queens Museum biennial, there will be a trio of special events held in and around the institution on June 4. From 12 noon to 3:00, Janks Archive, which collects oral insults from around the world, will be in Flushing Meadows Corona Park interviewing passersby about some of their favorite regional snaps, disses, slams, burns, jibes, digs, cut-downs, rippins, and slaggings. From 1:00 to 2:30, Jesus Benavente and Felipe Castelblanco will hold an open rehearsal of “Las Reinas,” their project with two Mariachi bands, one from Queens (Mariachi Real de Mexico), the other from Colombia, in which they collaborate to create a new song, “Las Reinas” (“The Queens”), via online chats and that will be distributed by word of mouth to mariachi bands across North and South America. And from 3:30 to 5:00, artist duo Trouble (Sam Hillmer and Laura Paris) will present “The Stood Maze” in the museum atrium as part of Trans-Pecos’s “Action Fortress” installation; “The Stood Maze” is an interactive pop-up labyrinth held up by thirty-three performers while experimental guitarist Patrick Higgins plays a sonic composition and E.S.P. TV supplies live visuals. In addition to “Queens International 2016,” the museum also currently has on view “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go: Ramones and the Birth of Punk,” “Bearing Witness: Drawings by William Gropper,” and “Nonstop Metropolis: The Remix” in addition to long-term exhibitions.