Headless chicken runs around for art

Pittsburghers are used to slight oddities — the small log cabin on the Cathedral lawn or the… Pittsburghers are used to slight oddities — the small log cabin on the Cathedral lawn or the garishly-painted dinosaur statues all over the city. But when there’s an 8-foot-tall headless chicken and a vivisected primate running amok in the Cultural District, it’s time to start asking some questions.

The answer to those questions in the case of last Friday’s scene Downtown would have been: It’s art, or the Spontaneous Art performance troupe, to be specific. The improvisational artists brought their special brand of interactive performance art to Future Tenant Art Space and its surrounding sidewalks and streets for an evening. With the use of eye-catching costumes and some creative input from passers-by, the troupe created impromptu skits, attracting a crowd of spectators on Penn Avenue.

One skit involved a performer in a chicken suit — complete with detachable head — first fleeing and then chasing a contrite butcher, who shrieked apologies to the decapitated fowl. After the chicken sketch had run its course, so to speak, the performers retreated into the gallery for a costume change, returning as a gorilla  and its controller. The primate had its skull peeled open to reveal its brain and a signal transceiver, and those who passed by were encouraged to try giving the gorilla commands.

Gregory Rubinstein unwittingly parked his car right in the heart of the shenanigans on his way to pick up his mother from the Megabus station. “I was just passing by,” he said as the gorilla-suited performance artist was break dancing at his feet. He said that he was a bit taken aback at first, but soon warmed up to the absurdity.  “I thought it was a good idea,” Rubinstein said.

Spontaneous Art recently gave monthly performances at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago — as well as occasional impromptu skits in other public spaces. Troupe members Natalie Berry and Trevor Stone, the two performers featured in Friday’s skit, contacted Future Tenant about arranging a Pittsburgh performance and used the gallery as a base of operations. Their third member, Chris Sandom, was not able to make the performance.

Katy Peace, co-director of Future Tenant, said that as a multidimensional art space, the gallery was excited to be involved with the Spontaneous Art performance. Peace said the troupe’s impromptu performances “get people’s attention and try to foster community involvement.”

Co-director of Future Tenant Erin Gough said that people on the street were very involved. Many pedestrians stopped and lingeredaround the performers, while a few snapped pictures of the performers’ antics.

Check out The Pitt News’ video of this event here.