Empower Art: "An Open Door for a Closed World"

Hello friends & family,

For the past three years, I've been working on a live performance piece called "An Open Door for a Closed World." I've performed this show three times, running and producing it entirely on my own. This year, as global catastrophe, political turmoil and social unrest have become our new normal, I've realized that it's time to revive the work and bring it to a bigger audience. You may wonder why a live performance is relevant to our contemporary moment... The answer is not simple, and you'll have to come see the show to find out. But in a few words, "An Open Door for a Closed World" is my love letter to the apocalypse, and certainly, in 2024, we are collectively living through some kind of apocalypse.

I was gifted a massive gallery space to host the work on Friday, November 1st, Saturday November 2nd, and Sunday November 3rd. It's a beautiful honor to be handed this space. Launched by legendary artist & architect Gregg Fleishman, Sky Portal X is a new gallery space in the heart of DTLA. For the first time since I created "An Open Door for a Closed World," I've brought on a team to help me bring it to life, including a director - Regina Fields, a producer - Caitlin Roshani, and an incredible arts event company run by Brent Paul Pearson called Future Eyes.

While this work is a passion project, it's a tech-heavy performance that requires equipment and labor. If you're curious about the work, and why I made it, I've included a description and artist statement below.

Your donation, at any level, means the world to me and this team. We recognize that there are many causes out there that are in need of funding. But as the world burns, so must the artists shine.

With love,

Dulcinée

DATES

Friday, November 1st - 8 pm

Saturday, November 2nd - 8 pm

Sunday, November 3rd - 6 pm

Each evening is limited to 50 people. For donations above $250, we'll make sure reserve you a seat on the evening of your choice.

THE WORK

“An Open Door for a Closed World” is a live ritual theater performance written and performed by Dulcinée DeGuere. The piece is an hour-long one woman-show, accompanied by two-channel video, that shape-shifts from storytelling to poetry, from theater to an academic lecture. Described as a love letter to the apocalypse, it roots the audience in our present state of social crisis without falling into traps of alarmism or pessimism. Instead, the piece inspires viewers to question what the role of art is, and how we might reframe the role of the artist in the (re)construction of new social systems and organization. Using poetry, philosophy, and theater, the piece brings audiences on a journey that spans the micro-scale of a dying bee, to the macro-scale of space colonies, and finally to Bombay Beach - a town and society created entirely by artists. By inviting viewers to collectively acknowledge the present state of the world, “An Open Door for a Closed World” creates a shared container to mourn, grieve, and most importantly, to reinvigorate our potency - the belief in our ability to change not only ourselves, but the world around us. In the words of Sherrie Rabinowitz, whose quote is projected as the final slide of the piece - “ARTISTS NEED TO CREATE AT THE SAME SCALE THAT SOCIETY HAS THE CAPACITY TO DESTROY.”

ARTIST STATEMENT

Our contemporary society exists in a constant state of crisis. Whether this be climate crisis, political crisis, or existential crisis, being alive in 2024 is a constant battle to find moments of healing, spiritual catharsis, and groundedness. As a line in the performance says - “Everyone sees it. Everyone knows it. Everyone feels it.” I often find that contemporary art often falls into one of two categories - either it’s extremely and overtly political, or it shies away from any acknowledgement as to the world outside its bounds.

“An Open Door for a Closed World” sits outside of these two categories. It is both a seance, and an awakening. It acknowledges our state of crisis, while also pointing a way out of it. The word “crisis” is used in a poetic sense - this work does not point to specifics, but rather invites the viewer to fill in the abstraction (whether that be existential, political, personal, or otherwise). In this sense, “An Open Door for a Closed World” is first and foremost embodied poetry.

The intention behind this work is to exorcize impotence and replacing it with inspiration to reimagine the potency of art, and how we might enact our creativity in the co-creation of new worlds. I firmly believe that art has a deep and necessary role to play in creating spaces for us to both imagine and embody alternative ways of seeing the world. While others see crisis and collapse, I see possibilities for rebirth and regrowth. To quote the Invisible Committee, whose words open the piece: “This is a modest contribution to an understanding of our time.”

THE TEAM

Dulcinée DeGuere - Artist

Dulcinée DeGuere is a filmmaker, conceptual artist, and event producer who lives between the Mojave Desert and Los Angeles. She currently serves as the Systems Architect for the Bombay Beach Biennale, a renegade celebration of art, music, and philosophy that takes place on the literal edge of western civilization - the shores of the Salton Sea.

As a filmmaker, Dulcinée is an editor turned writer/director committed to warping and bending the rules of cinema by walking the wonderfully blurry boundary of film and video art. By drawing inspiration from critical theory and postmodern thought, she crafts challenging, opaque, and non-linear stories that embody the extreme beauty and utter terror of being alive in the 21st century.

Her film work has screened at festivals across the world, most notably Sundance, OUTFEST, Fantasia, Newfest, and Palm Springs. In 2021, she was chosen as one of Blackmagic Collective’s Directing Fellows for the “First Frame Initiative.” In 2019, she was a resident at SFSIA’s “States of Consciousness in Cognitive Capitalism” program. From 2018-2024, she co-founded Voyeur Productions, a multi-platform storytelling hub that created immersive experiences, commercial content, and narrative film.

Pharaoh • Regina Victor - Director

Regina Victor (they/pharaoh) is a nomadic multidisciplinary artist originating from Oakland, CA. Using the divinatory tools of tarot, storytelling, and the framework of theatrical jazz, they employ the blk and trans radical imagination to transmute the past, reflect the present, and co-create possible futures. As a director, dramaturg and actor originally from Oakland, CA, Regina Victor has worked on more than thirty regional stage productions at venues including Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, Steppenwolf Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, and more. Pharaoh was the co-founder and editor of Rescripted.org, an online critical platform by and for artists from 2017-2024. Victor was placed in the ‘23 and ‘24 New City Magazine Hall of Fame for their work as a cultural critic in Chicago.

Caitlin Roshani - Producer

Caitlin is a producer with experience in commercials, events, and festivals. She spent time curating enriching shopping experiences for Amazon customers and, at Away Travel, she collaborated with customers and designers to enhance the travel journey. In all her work, she identifies where humans gravitate and intersect to optimize connection, participation, and overall shared experiences, fostering a profound sense of engagement and communal resonance.

From humble beginnings as a volunteer in 2018, she now proudly contributes as a producer of the Bombay Beach Biennale of the team. She is a jack of all trades, but her jam is intriguing volunteers to participate, and connecting volunteers with the larger community in hopes to build something beautiful and everlasting with the understanding that it may fade to dust after the weekend.

Brent Paul Pearson | Future Eyes - Producer

Brent Paul Pearson is the creator of Future Eyes, a media, art, and production company, focusing on “potential reality” and what it means to see the future.

Most recently, Brent cofounded Sky Portal X, an art gallery and wellness center in Downtown Los Angeles, with geometric architect Gregg Fleishman.