This is not a party, live performance and installation Disco balls are markers of party and action, but their sparkle can also be distracting and blinding. In a lonely piñata party the performer discovers that the glittering balls might hold killjoy substances and objects thrown in protests and demonstrations. This performance is part of an ongoing investigation into the histories of queer activism and related political protests. As well as tactics, props, gestures and strategies used in both. These strategies include unpredictability, messiness and failure as ways of subverting mainstream expectations and desires. How can resistance be formulated from a queer or marginalized position in consideration of/with power, privilege, categorization and normalization? In basement where viewers could only stand above the pit and look down at This is not a party a piñata ‘party’ transpired for over hour. Mary Coble, the performer beat each disco ball piñata until it’s contents exploded; out came objects used in protests such as raw eggs, tomatoes, flour, shows and water balloons. It became messy and slippery. The sound of the bat as it missed a swinging disco balls cut into the sound track of recorded live protest chants. Dancing to the News, two-day workshop co-organized and co-led with Danish Artist Ulla Hvejsel. Participants included students, professional artists and activists. The workshop was an effort to dance our way through current events –and elaborate on the challenges or importance of dancing in a time such as today (2016). Through the lens of current news events; the ideas of stupidity, frivolity, seriousness and the potential undanceability of current events we asked: How do we as art practitioners respond to urgent times? Is there something decadent about making art now? Or do we need to both dance and make art as the most appropriate response to these desperate times? The workshop first looked at examples of classical political or dadaist cabaret then made a series of short performances that investigated the troubled relationship between activities like the arts, dancing and current events. It’s a Joke, one day seminar, co-organized and co-led with Danish Artist Ulla Hvejsel. Included in the seminar was a performance lecture by Ulla Hvejsel entitled LMAO – laughing my ass off and Tactical Frivolity a lecture Mary Coble investigating Tactical Frivolity as a strategy of artistic and activist protest. It’s a Joke presents ’Performance’ as a word that is both used to describe efficiency and productivity while also being a genre of art practices that may seem absurd and even a bit ridiculous to some – especially if thought about in terms of efficiency! A performance art version of the classic light bulb joke, which also points to efficiency, goes: ”Question: How many performance artists does it take to screw in a light bulb” Answer: I don’t know, I didn’t stay to find out” In this seminar we will embrace both the absurdity and the ridiculousness of performance art, while also examining the performance artist as a joke. We will discuss jokes, play, hilarity frivolity, and seriousness, and debate whether nonsensical acts may in fact be efficient calls to action. We will question what is actually funny and discuss the difficulties of explaining performance art and jokes, as well as lots of other ridiculously important topics. Organized by Anna Carlson and Jill Lindström, 13 Festivalen’s mission “is to create a meeting point for artists and audience, where a mix of professional and emerging artists explore the possibilites and boundaires of performance art.”