FACE-Cut

by

Sasha Ballon

 
 
A photo of Sasha climbing a tree, the tree is covered in vines and sits in a body of water reflecting blue sky and white clouds, giving a confusing sense of depth. They wear a gold and metallic mask and look up at the camera.

Date: Thursday 30th March
Time: 18:00 - 18:10 / 18:20 - 18:30 / Un-ticketed - repeated performance (Booking Guide)
Venue: Tramway | T4
Accessibility Info: V (Access Guide)
Age Rating: All ages

Face-Cut is a movement collage which uses the body as extension of sculpture. The work is a coupling of a physical performance within chainsaw carved sculptures. The bodies move within the sculpture and audio-visual installation. There is no definite beginning-middle-end, questioning the linear nature of time. Testing the limits on what bodies are capable of.

This work includes a collaboration with another performer. The bodies use opposing patterns in the space which at times conflict. Aerial movement in the work reflects on the poetics of strength and softness.

Credits:

Created and Performed by Sasha Ballon
Second Performance Collaborator - Steph Dekker (she/her).

Sasha Ballon

Sasha Ballon is a Canadian artist based in Glasgow and in 2022 graduated with a BA in Painting and Printmaking from the Glasgow School of Art. Prior they studied film and theater in Vancouver, BC, the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Sasha’s practice is a meeting point of craft and trade, taking influence from experience working in tree surgery. Placing craft as a site of resistance: inherently queer for its potential to upend categorical ways of making. Within performances, engaging with narratives of fear/desire/pleasure/power,

Steph Dekker

Steph Dekker is a Scottish tree surgeon and movement expert. She was an elite level athlete and gym owner for over a decade before venturing into tree surgery. She has competed in CrossFit, Powerlifting, and won Scotland’s Strongest Woman several times. Steph re-trained and used her physical abilities to become a climbing arborist and started her own tree surgery company in 2020. 

A photo of Sasha side sitting with an elbow resting on their knee, looking relaxed. They are in an entirely pink room, whilst wearing an entirely pink suede suit and pink silk shirt with flowers adorning it. They look into the camera.