Jane Polkinghorne and Ingrid Stiertzel: SADISCO

Overview

Firstdraft presents SADISCO by Jane Polkinghorne and Ingrid Stiertzel — a work that in their words is "horrible and beautiful, bad and sad, groovy and ghastly, like disco, like Australia". Their first collaboration, SADISCO blends installation, performance and video to embrace the 'tragedy of disco' alongside the nostalgia and ridiculousness of the 1970s, which, to both artists, represented a time of exciting social transformation and possibility within Australian culture — an era sitting in stark contrast to the present day's increasingly regressive, 1950s vibe.

Alongside the video installation, on Saturday, April 15 between 12–6pm, Polkinghorne is performing an endurance dance to Tina Turner's 'Nutbush City Limits' (crowd participation is strongly encouraged) and Stiertzel is merging roller-skating with karaoke out in the Firstdraft carpark. She'll attempt to re-perform the mysterious National Xanadu Dance Contest of 1980 on roller skates. If you bring your skates you will absolutely be challenged to a disco dance-off.