Artist Dons a Sea Cucumber Costume for ‘Manifesto’
A local performance artist finds inspiration at the aquarium
By Seattle Mag May 21, 2015
This article originally appeared in the May 2015 issue of Seattle magazine.
Women who choose not to have children often channel their creative power into making other things—things such as a life-size sea cucumber costume.
At least that’s the route Ilvs Strauss (pronounced “Elvis”) chose to go, using a sleeping bag as the basis for the California red sea cucumber outfit she dons in her funny and poignant piece, Manifesto. The petite Seattle performance artist, 36, who volunteers at the Seattle Aquarium, was inspired by watching the slug-like echinoderm and learning that “it’s the only animal whose output is cleaner than the intake.” (Sea cucumbers are like undersea recycling stations.) It got her thinking about “what I put out into the world, and what that looks like in view of me not wanting kids.”
In the piece, she artfully combines a witty personal monologue about childbearing and womanhood with gestural dance, perfectly timed facial expressions, two costume changes and, newly added since a work-in-progress showing at On the Boards last June, backup dancers. Also up for examination: loneliness, relationships and the pearl fish, which lives inside the anal cavity of tropical sea cucumbers. 5/22–5/24. Times and prices vary. Velocity Dance Center, 1621 12th Ave.; 206.325.8773; velocitydancecenter.org
Follow Us
The Art of Home
Three Seattle designers explore what it means to live with art at Foster/White Gallery.
Inside Foster/White Gallery this month, the familiar white walls of Pioneer Square’s longtime contemporary art space look a little different. Furniture has been moved in and wallpaper lines the walls. The show, Make Yourself at Home, transforms the gallery into a living space where art is meant to be experienced, not just seen. The concept…
Honoring Native Heritage Across Washington
From Port Townsend’s storytelling trail to Tulalip’s cultural center, these sites invite reflection and honor Indigenous history and living traditions.
Washington State is the Indigenous land of 29 federally recognized Native American tribes, including the Makah, Muckleshoot, and Lummi Nations. In Seattle, we are privileged guests living on the Native land of the Duwamish Tribe. From trails through state parks and landmarks within the city to well-known sites like Snoqualmie Falls (sacred to the Snoqualmie…
Malala Yousafzai Returns to Herself
The youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner reflects on college, identity, and what it means to reclaim her story in her new memoir.
Malala Yousafzai’s life was upended at the age of 15 in Pakistan when she was shot on a school bus by the Taliban for speaking out about girls’ education. She was treated for life-threatening injuries and recovered in the United Kingdom, where her family permanently relocated. Catapulted into the public spotlight at a tender age,…
Carrying the Legacy Forward
Shannon Lee is recognized at the Very Asian Foundation's gala in Bellevue for her work in preserving her father Bruce Lee’s cultural impact.
For film and martial arts icon Bruce Lee, before there was Fist of Fury or Enter the Dragon, there was The Big Boss. The film marked Lee’s 1971 big-screen breakout role. He would tragically die two years later in May of 1973 from a cerebral edema. Now, 52 years later, Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, is…