Artist Statement

The primary question I asked with this design was: What is the aesthetic of a bad DIY band? I ask this somewhat facetiously, but with a distinct point. Malcolm McLaren is quoted as saying of The New York Dolls: "I couldn't believe anyone could be that bad... how brilliant for someone to be so bad." I use this quote not as an indictment of Agent 355 but as an important philosophical question. This is a story of eight women who have crafted a rock show that illuminates the lives of a small group in Revolutionary War America who have been forgotten by history. I think it is important to recognize that the people in this band have created this show in their basement; There are rough edges, there are floor lamps, shop lights, and strings of Christmas bulbs. There is something beautiful in the roughness of the execution. Some of that is by design, some of that is necessitated by the truncated nature of the New Play Workshops at Chautauqua Theater Company. I think that there is a profundity in pushing past the lack of resources and in this case, letting that be a functional part of the world.