GIVE BIRTH LOVE TOOTH

Two wisdom teeth are cupped in a hand. The enamel stands out with creamy yellow-white above light purple roots that bent together like legs or fingers. They are snuggled together deep in the light blue-grey palm. Palm lines run deep underneath.

We have been working on the Love Tooth project since early in 2021, and making milestones internally. The Give Birth Love Tooth zine is our latest offering. In July 2022, during a summer residency at The Cultch we explored adapting Love Tooth to a theatre setting.

The initial version of Give Birth Love Tooth audio and transcript was available on Vines Arts Festival website until Aug 19th, 2021.

The transcript was created by Art Action Earwig, composed of Minah Lee and Wryly Andherson. It included the text of a 15-minute performance. The following paragraph describes key visuals, elements, and patterns of the 2-hour durational performance that took place on August 14th at Trout Lake Park in Vancouver, unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish Peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Two performers are wearing molar puppets, made of chicken wire, silver metal nets composed of hexagon shapes. The performers entire bodies are surrounded by the tooth-shaped crafts, except for their legs that stick out in between the two roots of each tooth. Inside the molars, pieces of semi-transparent fabrics are covering the tops of the puppets. The molars are visible by the lights reflected on the surface of the wires while the environment around them is visible through the big teeth. The molar puppets are holding fishing rods with seed bombs hanging from them. They introduce themselves. They encourage people to unlock the story of the two wisdom teeth/ 사랑니 (love tooth) by witnessing their performance, Give Birth Love Tooth. The molars improvise with the environment and the people around them. The way they interact with the world around them might be as subtle as taking a deeper breath in or wiggling their toes on the ground. As they get courageous, they may jump, circle, and dance joyfully. When they get mischievous, they may take one more step towards you. The audiences on the site are invited to participate in the event by collecting sounds from the site. They are encouraged to listen carefully to the sounds they may usually ignore or take for granted. They are encouraged to record them and share through a blue tooth device present on the site. After the cycle of their small ritual, the seed bombs are given to some human participants.