November 9 to
December 1, 1996

Toronto, Ontario
Canada

A month of
performance
actions by
Paul Couillard
Radical Faerie Player

Photo:
Jules International

This commentary by
Paul Couillard
is an edited version of material excerpted from e-mail postings and previously published in a special 1997 print edition of CUMPOST

You can contact Paul by e-mail:

bk230@
freenet.toronto.on.ca

One of the things I tried to do with ASKANCE was to bring the flavour of a gathering into a city context. It was great when people showed up just to hang out, if for no other reason than to enjoy the luxury of space. Even though we were doing a ton of work, we tried to stay true to the rhythms of relaxed interaction -- baking, sewing, reading, listening to music -- which are somewhat foreign to the public face of Toronto. Woven into that comfy familiarity was a kind of giddiness of sensual surprise and delight -- textures, smells, tastes, the play of light and sound, outrageous drag, massage, foot baths, cookies shaped like dicks and anuses, campfires that looked like birthday cakes... in that sense it was very much like a gathering.

ASKANCE was meant, in part, to be a distillation of my experiences with the radical faeries. My teacher Linda talked about my work in terms of the classic elements of an art form -- conflict and resolution -- and I realize that ASKANCE was full of social and political comment while retaining an aspect of self-parody. I think one of the strengths of the radical faeries as I know us is in our ability to be critical without either losing hope (/faith) or succumbing to the 'every-man-for-himself' ruthlessness that pervades western culture. Our bitchiness, our 'dish'iness, is supportable because we don't use it as an excuse to give up; we still offer something, even if we are painfully aware of its shortcomings. Our sense of humour binds us, nourishes us, and goads us into moments of grace.