Speak-easies are true freaks of history. Replacing the regulated sphere of law and self-representation followed by licensed liquor dispensaries with alternative distribution and marketing practices, these social-functional drinking establishments must live in the shadows and exclude themselves from conventional guidebooks. It is my feeling, however, that this disregard for fixed and rigid drinking laws mixed with an indifference towards accessibility could be interpreted as being a way to bridge patrons to a passage of time when we lived under the shadow of prohibitions wave of disturbance. This referential dimension to prohibition can only be completed through social and formal extrapolation, but when a patron steps into one of these establishments he/she is left with the feeling that a beastly form of abandon might possibly still exist.
"Casuals" is a functional bar that will inject the deception, delusion and identity formation of speak-easies into the art-center of P.I.F.A.S. To emulate these anachronistic zones of vice, blowhard performances will mix with theatrical static objects to make a belabored blend that will attempt to resemble a near cinematic experience. During operational hours, for example, performance artists/ actors will play their versions of lionized and voluble bartenders familiar to most. But unique elements will be added to this mainspring of life with the inclusion of collaborative works made Phil Cote and Jonathan Santoro.
Hovering between stage work and sculpture, these works will be functional and included in the resident studio at P.I.F.A.S throughout the month of July.
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