Princess, a collaborative art duo comprised of artists Alexis Gideon and Michael O’Neill, will world premiere their latest project, Out There, at The Andy Warhol Museum on Friday, March 1st at 8:00 p.m. Out There is a concept video album and live performance piece. It explores men’s responsibility surrounding current culture’s view of misogyny. The duo refers to the performance as a “sci-fi feminist rock opera.”
The multi-disciplinary piece is first and foremost a live performance. Princess performs each song from the album alongside a projection of the visual album. Though set in 2028, the video presents manipulated images from the past to bring the video’s science fiction narrative to life.
Collaboration thrives throughout Out There. The songs “Time for the Men to Go” and “Rise” as well as the imagery of the Divine Feminine expressed in the performance was developed with JD Samson, visual artist Jennifer Meridian and the band TEEN. At times throughout the collaboration, Gideon and O’Neill faced a desire to control. They used this tendency as a teaching moment. “Asserting our own ideas in this context could be viewed similarly to the male tendency to interrupt women (valuing the male idea over the female),” said O’Neill. “In the end, we came to love their versions of the songs even more.”
“It’s important to touch upon these subtleties,” said O’Neill, “because when we only talk about bigger or more obvious instances of misogyny or oppression, we miss the opportunity to really investigate how we, as men, can do more to support women in an inherently misogynist society.”
Princess formed in 2004. In 2006, Gideon and O’Neill dissolved Princess to pursue personal projects. After a ten-year hiatus, they began making music again through a game. They wrote elements (water, air, fire, earth) and instrumentals (drums, guitar, piano, bass) on game pieces. Pieces were randomly pulled to spark inspiration. “It was a way of determining how we were going to create music by chance,” said O’Neill. “We agreed early on, we couldn’t edit the other person’s work.” It was a back and forth pattern of creation rooted in trust.
When Gideon started writing lyrics, the narrative began to take shape. Around the same time, both artists attended the first Women’s March in Washington D.C. It was clear their playful collaboration had a subconscious link to society’s reckoning of the patriarchy. Princess was reunited, and Out There was born. “It was a really cool experience for it [Out There] to reveal itself to us.” said Gideon.
Experience Princess’s “Out There” right here in Pittsburgh.
The Andy Warhol Museum was the ideal choice to kick-off Princess’s nearly 40-institution tour. “Andy is a queer pop art kind of guy,” said O’Neill. “On a color spectrum and a political spectrum, there is a connection to Andy’s work.”
The Museum also presents art in an accessible and inclusive manner, characteristics important to Princess.“It is important to support centers of culture in regional areas, not only in New York or Los Angeles,” said Gideon. “Art is everywhere.”
Experience Princess’s “Out There” right here in Pittsburgh.
$12.00 for General Admission and $10.00 for Members and Students. Click here to purchase tickets.
For more information about Princess, check out their Instagram and website.
