B.C.’s own Bass Coast Festival is set to kick off on July 7, marking its 15th year as a music and arts festival. Loose Lips caught up with a handful of anticipated artists for the occasion. This year’s festival theme is Avant Garden, and we wanted to get a preview of how art and fashion will influence this creatively-charged annual weekend.
Loose Lips: Countdown to Bass Coast is on! And the theme is hot! What is getting you excited for Avant Garden?
Elsa & Meg of the Disco Splat Art Installation
Elsa: I’m so excited to get back to the festival and gather with all the friends, especially with the Avant Garden theme! The theme really spoke to how I’ve been feeling about getting back to being creative. Last year felt like a reunion and a sigh of relief from the more intense times of the pandemic and we gathered together to plant seeds. Over the past year it feels like those seeds have created roots and there’s been a slow build in the scene again of music and art and we’ve all spent this last while getting back into the mode of curating a thriving art scene in Van – so I’m most excited to see how this translates into the festival from art, to fits, to music and how we all bloom together from last year’s planted seeds!
Meg: love the analogy! I agree and am incredibly optimistic about the enthusiasm at Bass Coast this year and what it will translate into for costumes, installations and energy on the dance floor. We are delighted to be a part of it all from a different angle and I can’t wait to see everyones costumes showcased on our seating. The theme couldn’t be any better to pair with our disco splat.
LL: What creative mediums are you enjoying and exploring right now?
We’ve been having a lot of fun exploring prop manipulation and costumes and how these physical items cross over, interact with and guide our movements and stories. We’ve also been enjoying the exploration of contact based movements and focusing on creating from what feels good in our bodies rather than on technicalities or familiar patterns.
HOT GLUE! The magic of Kintsugi lies within its imperfections. The pieces we create are impermanent in many ways—they are meant to fall away on the dancefloor or be gifted to strangers as we come into contact/connection with them. Like nature, our garments go through a constant upcycling of decay and reimagining, transforming each piece by adding embellishments as they naturally deteriorate and take on new shapes.
LL: How does fashion and art create a unique experience at Bass Coast?
Fashion and art obviously intertwine as they both have to do with self expression which is such a big element of bass coast. I truly love that the group effort the festival goers put in those as also a way of giving to the people around them to create this rich experience for everyone. We are all participants in the festival creating together.
There is a quote from Apicius (a Roman Guard) that goes “You eat with your eyes first” and Bass Coast is so excellent at fostering a delicious visual experience. There is something so special about an intimate festival in that there is time to see and experience all of the beautiful things artists have created.
LL: Where are some unexpected sources of inspiration you find when preparing for festivals/ festival season?
Handsome Tiger (with Erin Breaker performing the jingle dress healing dance during the set)
This is a great question! I feel sometimes even just regular life and my connections with friends made through the festival community staying connected with those folx year round on non festival experiences and checking in with one another on the aspects of our lives and the journey. With becoming a regular year round touring act these last few years I’ve really been learning to accept the down and rest times as an equal part of the package of revitalization and inspiration as well.
Kintsugi Cowgirl
As highly porous creatures, we derive a myriad of inspiration from our environment. A recent trip to Portugal reiterated our passion for colour, spice, expression and vision of living within and loving the innate beauty and tangled aspects of the human experience. Kintsugi is embracing the “messiness/humanness” and inevitable vulnerability of life; of celebrating the magic, the imperfection, the impermanence and making it “EXTRA.”
Virago Nation
I don’t know if it’s unexpected, but music videos are a massive source of inspiration. The vibe that can be achieved through costumes, lighting and cinematography is intoxicating.
LL: Working with the elements of the Nicola Valley festival grounds are always such a potent part of the Bass Coast experience. How does this intertwine with Avant Garden for you?
EZ Naive
What a better place for a theme of Avant Garden than such a lush diverse place. The reflections of the water, the grasslands and the hills. The greatest place to be a flower.
Handsome Tiger
The lands of the Nlaka’pamux and Syilx are a very special and potent lands and I feel that Bass Coast’s long standing relationship with them and all of us attendees to be good stewards of the land bares a strong responsibility and respect we have to play and practice our art on them. So I feel having a theme that further ties into nature is an even stronger reminder of the importance and responsibility we have to respect where we gather.
LL: What teasers can you give us about what you are bringing to your performance/installation?
Subscura
For our Main Stage Act during the Performance Showcase, we’ll be sharing a piece called Id/entity. It explores the ego and internal individual dynamics using dance, theatre, costumes & props. Imagine what it would look like to come face to face with all the versions of yourself simultaneously as an evolving and dissolving entity in a riveting 5 minute act.
For our roving act we’re inviting attendees to join us in our performance once again, though this year, expect a light hearted, comedic act that will leave you laughing. Also, for those that know, keep an eye out for that Randy guy, we hear he’s making a comeback. The invitation is open to all and anyone interested in joining us should reach out via our email for more information (subscuraprojects@gmail.com).
For our freestyle set, we’ll be performing with The Librarian and Mat the Alien, and we’ll be playing heavily on the Avant Garde part of the theme, but we won’t forget the flowers.
