Cosmic Bloom: Shape of Breath

Katherine Freer Ty Defoe
Presented in partnership with Museum of Human Achievement

Come gather where galaxy meets garden. A multi-sensorial experience of lifeways, ritual, music, and flora that combines creative technology and comfort to conjure an expansive world rooted in Indigenous Futurism and Queer/Trans joy. Through blended reality installation and emergent performance, Cosmic Bloom: Shape of Breath invites you to seed future universes, foster relations, and cultivate kinship.  Let’s celebrate and illuminate balance in our beings.

Cosmic Bloom: Shape of Breath is part of the expansive universe of Galaxy Circle, created by Interdisciplinary artist and shapeshifter Ty Defoe. It combines multiple forms of media, performance and community experience. While this space can be experienced individually, there will be offerings throughout to find intentional points of connection.

Cosmic Bloom exposes the porous space between earth world and sky world, a dimension that transcends time in which you are immersed in Indigenous futurism – including: 

• An interstellar multimedia cosmic garden filled with flowers, stars, and a community altar
• A courtyard of care filled with cozy places to rest, reflect and listen to cosmic stories through flower crowns
• Solo spaces to decompress or tap into VR portals 

The installation and all offerings are free.

Exhibition Hours:

• May 9th 12:00pm – 6:00pm
• May 10th 12:00pm – 6:00pm
• May 11th 12:00pm – 6:00pm
• What to bring: Yourself. Offerings for others, especially Queer/Trans and Indigenous relatives, for the altar. A good mind and heart. Dreams for the future. Intention to reduce harm and heal our natural world and targeted communities.

Rituals on May 11th:

• Morning Movement 11am – 12pm
• Evening Nourishment 6pm – 8pm
• Know before you Visit: There will be a menu of offerings throughout the final day of the installation, beginning with Morning Movement, a facilitated somatic group experience. Come as you are. Comfortable clothing is encouraged. There are dried and fresh flowers throughout the space for those sensitive to fragrance or allergic to pollen. There are many seating options. All spaces are ADA accessible.
• In the evening, we will gather for a transformative performance and shared experience. Guided by music, movement, and storytelling, we will be transported to a liberated present and future. We’ll journey together into a liberated present and an imagined future. Nourishment in the form of food and conversation will serve as an invitation to engage deeply and bring lessons forward into daily practice.

Creative Team:

• Written, Composed and Performed by Ty Defoe
• Production, Projection and Creative Tech Design by Kate Freer
• Sound Design by Zac Traeger
• Costume Design by Andrew Jordan
• Assistant Creative Tech Design by Nitsan Scharf
• Integrated Lighting System by Zach Young
• Lighting Design Gavin Strawnato
• Assistant Production Design Joshua Martin
• Headphone Design by Marisa Lawrence
• Flowers provided by Kate Taylor / kabloom
• Culinary Arts by Luna Vela
• Motion Capture Engineer Brandon LeJeune
• Production Assistant Elena Salinas
• Garden Guides: Desne Wharton, Sarah J. Elliott, Elena Salinas, Gavin Strawnato, Nitsan Scharf

Special Thanks:

• Earnest Mazique, UT Department of Theatre and Dance, Erin Reilly, Texas Immersive Institute, Z Space