Theatre Development Fund – TDF: Diana Oh is throwing a bash and everyone is invited. On Friday and Saturday evenings at Brooklyn's Bushwick Starr, the genre-busting, fourth-wall-smashing performance artist hosts The Infinite Love Party, an immersive shindig with a picnic-style potluck dinner, a deejay and dancing, aphrodisiac tea and finger painting, and a variety of eccentric merrymaking. Just be sure to BYOB -- that's bring your own blanket because yes, sleeping over is an option.
5 comments:
Above anything this just looks like FUN! I like how they encourage adults to just let loose without the typical “safety” cushion of alcohol and cell phones. I enjoyed hearing about the scene and lighting designers children's museum inspiration. Personally I love children’s museums. During O-Week CMU took all freshman CFA students to pittsburgh children's museum and it was a blast. I think CMU was trying to capitalise on the environment to encourage the students to feel safe and comfortable in meeting new people. By using the same place as inspiration the designers were doing the same thing. On the other hand this whole thing looks like a logistical nightmare. How can you get insurance on this kind of thing? Do they have a strict wake up call in the morning? What if no-one signs up for the potluck? This must have taken a lot of statistical planning to get to a place where it is today. I hope to see more intersections between party and theatre in the future.
I really like the way this “party” encourages people to just be able to let loose and have fun in a way that’s not really socially acceptable anymore. As children grow up into adults, it’s assumed that they’ve learned their manners and understand the unwritten social “rules” for different scenarios. One of these rules that seems to be more modern in nature is that apathy and cynicism is “cooler” than simply allowing yourself to have fun. The Infinite Love Party seems to be trying to counteract that by hosting a huge celebration where participants are encouraged and even just told to rid themselves of those inhibitions and allow themselves to have fun without caring about “coolness” or whatever the person next to them may be thinking. I love this idea and the way that it challenges the concept that boredom and cynicism with something is a more nuanced opinion than freely enjoying it!
The atmosphere created by Diana Oh for “The Infinite Love Party” sounds absolutely incredible. It sounds like an absolute dream to enter an area that has been completely transformed for the purpose of creating positive energy and love. I love how the “space” and lighting designers (I love the term “space designer,” by the way) approached this project - it seems that they really incorporated Oh’s vision into a heavily participatory space. In a society so burdened by stress and obligation, a place like “The Infinite Love Party” is just what people need to let go for a while and give themselves a chance to heal from the pressures they endure on a daily basis. The lack of distractions (in the form of alcohol and technology) perfectly lays out Oh’s goal of self healing and growth. The connections people must make with themselves and others during that performance must be unforgettable, and it must be such a special experience to be in a place with such a supportive aura.
Parties are fun places to go to. But almost always there are certain rules that need to be followed regardless of whether or not they are hard to follow. But this article brings to light the existence of one party where no rules exist except that everyone needs to enjoy to the fullest without caring about anything, which sounds extremely relieving and enjoyable.
The setup of this party seems to guarantee that whoever will join this party will have the time of their lives because they are allowed to do anything that will make them happy-- so long as they dont hurt each other or breach others comfort level.
The host of this party has definitely ensured that anyone who comes to this party is able to enjoy it without having too many inhibitions that might hinder the fun- this type of arrangement tells the people to let loose and not be too wary of what everyone around them thinks of them just because these "other" people are in the same place.
I genuinely feel that this is the type of party everyone should be a part of.
I love this for so many reasons. Not only does it prove that adults, too, need to let loose and have fun in a totally platonic and non-messy way, but it also is derived from such a place of love, as the name suggests. This is true among the company and between the company and its visitors. A line in the article that really stood out to me was from Diana Oh, speaking on the space and lighting designer for The Infinite Love Party: "Carolyn knows what my heart looks like, and Kate knows what my dreams look like.” The collective outpouring of love in this joyful effort to allow people to have fun is apparent in the relationships of the people providing the experience. There is a sense of purpose, organization, design, and emotion behind the piece, yet it has an organic, happy, lovable quality to it that I think can be universally enjoyed.
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