TIME TO DE-BEEF

31 JUL - 7 SEP 2019

Curated by Kelli Alred and Laura Couttie as part of the 2019 Channels Festival: International Biennial of Video Art.

Kira Nova

Formed in 2006, Time To De-Beef is a fictional music video that depicts the life of the ‘Lords of Beef’ gang in New York City. Their somewhat abstract demand to ‘de-beef’ translates to what the gang calls “Ontologic deep tissue massage”.

Kira Nova is a New York-based artist, working in both visual arts and theater. Her practice combines physical theatre, dance, stand-up, Butoh, perverted academic language and sculptural work. Nova worked as a clown in the circus throughout her youth, has backgrounds in various movement and improvisation techniques. She holds a research MA in Cultural Analysis and MA in Political Studies. Nova’s work has been presented at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris; MET Breuer, MoMA PS1, The Kitchen, Sculpture Center, Swiss Institute in New York; dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel (with Michael Portnoy); Hauser & Wirth in Zurich and New York; de Appel art center in Amsterdam; Studio Voltaire, Block Universe festival in London; Playground Festival at STUK in Leuven, Performatik Festival, Beursschouwburg theater in Brussels; Western Front in Vancouver; Swiss Sculpture Exhibition at Biel-Bienne in Switzerland; ArteBA, Buenos Aires; Time-Based Art Festival in Portland; Contemporary Art Centre (CAC) in Vilnius, among other venues.

IMAGE |KIRA NOVA, Time to De-Beef, 2017, video, 3;15min. Music video by Kira Nova with Lords of Beef Gang: Jillian McManemin, Jennie Portney, Ariel S Rawls, Jessica Gallucci, Nurya, Lucia Love Mooney. Music by Gediminas Žygus. Video by Maria Nova. Second camera by Carlton Bright | Courtesy the artists.