69°S, 2011

Concept & Design: Phantom Limb Company (Jessica Grindstaff and Erik Sanko)
Music: Erik Sanko

69°S is a series of dynamic tableaux vivants inspired by Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Co-conceived by The Phantom Limb Company and The Kronos Quartet, this painterly narrative installation-in-motion melds theatrical performance, puppetry, photography, dance and film with original contemporary music and an unconventional acoustic palette to create a stunning — and unprecedented — artistic and emotional journey. PLC’s 69°S aims to bring the unknown Antarctica along with the subtext of climate change to an audience while reinvigorating the spirit of foregoing individual glory for the sake of collective survival. Ancient and universal themes including the price of knowledge, the inevitability of adversity and struggle, and ultimately, the power of endurance and camaraderie provide emotional ballast with re-interpretations that resonate powerfully in twenty-first century hearts and minds. 69°S unites some of the finest contemporary musical, visual, and performance artists in the world in collaboration to explore the inherently bittersweet and complex nature of the Shackleton experience.

BAM Next Wave Festival
November 2011