"PARTY OF ONE"
“PARTY OF ONE”
"Party of One" plays with the spectrum of feelings about aging – celebrating it, embracing it, manipulating it, and fighting it. Whether we invite it or not, there is still a dread of losing time. "Party of One" addresses issues surrounding youth and desirability that transcends the gender binary but particularly is of concern to queer individuals. It also poses uncomfortable questions about consent and the line between invitation and unwitting surrender.
NATASHA BESTE
Multi-media artist, director, and educator, Natasha Beste is best known for her innovative video and audio experimentation. She uses narrative and documentary styles to create complex mixed media video art. Her installations are symbolic environments that often incorporate found objects and hand-drawn animated video focusing on the ideas revolving the body, mind, and trauma. Her goal is for audiences to experience something that is emotionally charging and provocative, evoking ideas relating to themselves, hoping this will spark dialogue about these personal topics. Her art has been showcased/screened at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Media City, DAMNED: Exhibition of Enlightened Darkness, MOCAD, Northend Studios, and University of Michigan / Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design: work • detroit.
She is the co-director and founder of Gold House Media, a video production company that focuses on music videos, documentary, and television/podcast production. Their documentary work has helped socially progressive Detroit nonprofit organizations raise funds and win special award grants for vital programs. Music video clients have achieved national recognition through grassroots viral support, as well as distribution by major media outlets. Her latest video projects are in partnership with Kresge Arts in Detroit, highlighting the 2019 Kresge Art Fellows.
Natasha began her career in media arts education in 2006 at the Detroit Film Center, designing and teaching video production workshops. She has continued to serve as a lead facilitator in neighborhood programs including Boll Family Y-Arts, Ladybug Studios, and Living Arts, serving Detroit Public Schools and multiple Detroit neighborhoods for over 14 years. She has worked as adjunct faculty at Wayne State University, Marygrove University, and College for Creative Studies.
KRISTI FAULKNER
Kristi Faulkner is a queer-identified performing artist committed to discovering how bodies can serve as agents of social and political change. As the founder and director of Detroit-based Kristi Faulkner Dance, her work has been presented and commissioned throughout the Midwest and New York including at Spring to Dance, The Southern Theater, Dixon Place, Going Dutch, Excessive Realness, Wealthy Theater, Sidewalk Festival, ScreenDance Miami, Planet Ant, and numerous colleges and universities. She is a 2016 & 2018 Maggie Allesee Choreography Award finalist and a Knight Arts Challenge and Creators of Culture Award recipient for Not In My House - a collaboration with the Ruth Ellis Center to engage and inspire LGBTQ youth through performance and storytelling.