. . . 50 Years and Many Art Experiences Later
When SSB began in 1976, Venice was a funky, walkable neighborhood where encounters on the street, boardwalk or beach created an atmosphere that triggered accidental creative encounters and hook ups, collaborating, a new lover, bright idea, or coffee at one of the newly opened cafes and restaurants that encouraged the incipient creativity of the mid-late 70s there.
It was dangerous too, plagued by drive-bys and other dangerous nonsense that discouraged anyone from venturing beyond what would later be renamed Abbot Kinney Blvd. Rents were cheap and we were drawn there to invent ourselves and help others create an environment that was made for creativity bordering on the outrageous.
We were risk takers. We didn’t worry about outcomes or politics or promoting one point of view. We were not concerned with money. We were mindlessly enthusiastic which drove our strategies to get things done. We weren’t weighted down with overhead on a building. We wanted to see these artists and we were the ones to find a way to do it. It was a “man’s” world for the most part, but we didn’t let that stop us. “Yes Yes” and on we went doing exactly as we pleased.
I recently bought a digital copy of an issue of High Performance from 1978 with a cover story on Hermann Nitsch. It also had “An Apology” by our resident genius Bob Biggs, a spread on the Kipper Kids, and a feature story on SSB. What was astonishing to me was the sheer number of reviews, or performances, covered in that one issue. There was a gazillion of them . Everywhere. All over the country and beyond. Every type, though there really wasn’t any one aesthetic that dominated. So many people out there doing it. We felt the energy.
SSB was more rhizomatic than “curatorial.” We called ourselves “producers” not curators. We connected by word of mouth. We were little known relatively speaking, but well respected so we attracted an audience.
I know there’s so much more performance now. Ever more diverse and fantastic. What matters now is what mattered then: That we communicate. That we connect and create new paradigms and imaginative frames and ways of being together. SSB’s values are a continuum of history aimed at maximizing freedom, promoting non-aggression and having fun! “Don’t forget the fun,” co-founder Nancy Drew would always say. “Don’t forget fun!”
And don’t forget to help us get this history down and OUT to the public through our Legacy Project fundraising campaign in Give Butter. And THANK YOU to all those who have already given! We See you!