Freak on a Leash

Description:

Developed while in residence at Western Front, Bridget Moser’s thirty-minute performance Freak on a Leash (2016) combines elements of theatre, prop comedy, and dance into various vignettes that reimagine the mundane through absurd propositions.

Carefully choreographed to an eclectic soundtrack, Moser’s performance is grounded by the animation of several key props: a red Ikea armchair transforms into a shopping cart, a podium, a backpack, and a skeleton; a pink watering can in the shape of a poodle is personified; Nike Air sweatpants take on sculptural and athletic value; while a bright red inflatable stick figure participates in a contemporary dance duet. Embedded with references to popular culture and self-help resources, Moser’s monologue articulates an underlying consumer anxiety that is heightened by her deadpan delivery and entropic engagement with objects.

Video documentation of this performance is available upon request.