MEDIA RELEASE

'Small Catastrophes': Live Art at the Old Fire Station, Bendigo

PUNCTUM Inc. & ROARAWAR FEARTATA with DocktoR Barry Laing present
SMALL CATASTROPHES
I am forever pulling myself together and falling apart. I am the promise of the things I consume. I
am the victim of boredom. I am the miracle of you and I becoming together. I bear witness to a
thousand tiny catastrophe's everyday.
Sudden disasters small, tiny, here and now: a phone breaking, cigarette lighter not working,
wrong coffee, a missed train, an awkward hand shake, a voice unheard, a door locked, sweaty
under arms, an atm closed etc. This is the story of the small mishaps that conspire to derail the
immediate future, that propel us into blind negotiations with the people and things around us and
create (perhaps, sometimes) the beauty of a momentarily relieved solitude.
From June 17th to the 24th of June, artists Craig Peade, Barry Laing and Benjamin Cittadini will
take to the streets of Bendigo to catalogue, calculate, quantify and commiserate with people and
their 'small' catastrophic experiences. From a 'Small Catastrophe Mild Relief Station' to roving
bulletin boards and a 'Small Catastrophe Hotline', the artists COURTING PATHOS, BATHOS AND
the people of Bendigo in a IRREVERENT exploration of the mild misadventures that make up our
everyday lives.
ROARAWAR FEARTATA is a live performance art collective established in 2003 by Benjamin
Cittadini and Craig Peade. Their work is based on challenging ideas of public space and identity.
Their credits include Elmo (La Mama Theatre), Bunny (World Theatre Festival), I luv Amanda
Crowe 4Eva (Performance Space), OMFG Happy Fucking Birthday God (Gertrude
Contemporary Artspace), Interventionist Guide to Melbourne (Platform Artspace) and Karen
Caseys Global Mind Project (collaboration with Jill Orr, Stelarc and Domenico DiClario, Federation
Square). The company has conducted site-specific residencies in Frankston (2005) and
Dandenong (2009) under the title Loose Connections, Footscray as Intensive Jobmaking
Assistance (2004 Big West Festival) and the Collingwood Housing Estate (AURA Project, 2011).
Barry Laing is a director, dramaturge, performer & teacher with a wide and eclectic range of
experience in many performance contexts, including theatre, dance and visual arts in Australia and
internationally.