5 x 5 x 5 — five artists, five minutes, five pieces — is a monthly series of performance art created by John M. White, an artist whose history in California began with his introduction to art at the Patri School of Art Fundamentals in San Francisco. After this he received his BFA and MFA from Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, had a 17-year teaching career in art at U.C. Irvine, and ultimately moved to Ventura in May 2008, where he and his wife moved her gallery, Sylvia White Gallery.
White began the series in 2009, featuring artists from Ventura and all across California. The first 5 x 5 x 5 included a poetry reading by legendary Ventura poet, painter, and performance artist gauvin, who regularly came to Bell Arts Factory during his lifetime; a performance by Phil Taggert, a writer and poet who is also another long-time resident of the Avenue; Pam and Steve Nagler, artists and founders of the performance ensemble Shrimps, which both toured nationally and performed locally; and Dan Kwong, a mixed-race Asian American playwright, director, and performance artist whose work explores cultural confusion and identity. You can watch an excerpt of the first season here.
The 5 x 5 x 5 this month, presented entirely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, begins with performance artist and poet Tim Tipton‘s reading of two new pieces, Decisions To Be Made, a string of thoughts expressed in stanzas that seems to have no end, and Goddamn Words, a recollection by the narrator that juxtaposes his memories of his loquatious grandmother with his perpetually taciturn grandfather. The second piece, Mending Space With Mira, is by conceptual artist Pete Ippel, whose latest works involve the use of yarn. The third is of poet Jennifer Kelley reading three poems, A Tiny White Flower, New Years Day 1992, and The Complete Package, the last of which explores the effects of media and societal expectations of women on their bodies. The fourth is a video by ShyAnne Happens, a Ventura performance artist who “questions the nature of life”, and places the female body in the “context of climate change and gender equality activism.” The music for her video was created by Steven Aguilar, a musician and filmmaker whose deep history in the art community of Ventura is intertwined with many, including gauvin and Phil Taggert. The final piece is a film by Scotch Wichmann, titled It’s Almost Over, produced with his creative partner Kaydee Kersten. Wichmann creates live experimental works that are “known for their magical realism, schizophrenic texts, ragged staging, physical endurance, and Dadaist pranks.” We are proud to share the video with you here.
Although this pandemic has upended our lives, our routines, and our culture as we knew it, one thing that always emerges from such chaos attests to the indomitable spirit of humankind: art.