Werk is Free / Be Free! May Day

‘In spring, here in the northern hemisphere, we collectively celebrate the awakening of the earth after its chilling winter sleep. The warmer rain, and the sun will enliven us as we celebrate the living world. At this time we perform in the echoes of the voices past, the ones that cannot speak for themselves, present or not. It is May 1st, a haunted present is embodied in a season, an artist, a series of dancing ceramics and a selection of tall, slender paintings. At this same moment, miles away at a radical fairy gathering in Tennessee there are thousands, literally thousands of men, jerking off into the anchoring pit of this years May pole ensuring us all a very lucky year. At this very moment, cars are being lit on fire in Berlin by rebellious punks symbolically liberating themselves from oppressive capitalist structures. I would like to propose a toast, because we can take this as a moment to celebrate. As a community we have been striving. All over the West many gays and lesbians are currently gaining a more privileged legal status. A latent yet heightened awareness and sensitivity of our natural world has come into the foreground of our collective consciousness. We will continue to dream and act towards a world that is more balanced and healthy, filled with beauty, colour and stories’.

Opening speech on the occasion of WERK IS FREE / BE FREE! MAY DAY, Matthew Lutz-Kinoy, 2013

On May 1st, 2013 at 6:30pm, in the parking lot of OUTPOST Studios in Norwich, Lutz-Kinoy will premier the new work, Fire Sale, performing a medley of his most popular dance performances set to a new, live soundtrack by ongoing collaborator, SOPHIE. After an exhaustive dance around a flaming crate, a series of figurative ceramic reliefs will be lifted like a phoenix from its ashes. Hurried into the back of an anonymous van the dancing reliefs will be driven to OUTPOST’s gallery space where they will be on display for the duration of the month, surrounding a grouping of paintings - depictions of vitality, flowers, movement and the index - that hover in the centre of the room.