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CONVERGENCE – Performance Art in Milwaukee – April 1994
 
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by Pegi Taylor

This book was made possible by the generosity of the Harry F. and Mary Franke Idea Fund of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Heller Foundation, Milwaukee Arts Board, Meyer and Norma Ragir Foundation, United Performing Arts Fund, and Walkers Point Center for the Arts.

 
 

"I feel 'support' goes against an important aspect of performance art...You should be doing shows in unexpected places where nobody knows or understands you....For me, it's about flying in the face of it all...I'm dying to do a show at Southridge Mall on those well-waxed parquet floors, oh yea."

 
 
 

T.J. Richter as Deep Sea Creature of the Strange in Psychedelic Stingray of Love as part of all*cin's Local Solo at WPCA April 2001. Doug Krimmer

 
 
 

"The shaman as a performance artist is the writer/narrator/actor/director of his own fantasy," exalts TJ Richter. "He builds his own costumes and charms. His fire is his technology."

 
 

T.J. Richter as Alien Insectoid Starship Trooper performing In the City at Thai Joe's March 2002. Doug Krimmer

 
 

T.J. Richter looks at touring as a "mission." Richter thinks of performing in terms of bees: "Scientists consider them a group organism -- a single living entitiy. When those baby bumblebees dream in the honeycomb, it must be a single shared dream." When Richter performs, he feels "like a happy bee that's dancing, giving directons to the honey...It's about everyone daydreaming together, in one singular daydream ..."

 
 

T.J. Richter appeared on national TV in April 1997. The CBS News anchorman introduced Richter's slot by saying, "It's a new type of performance art that may seem, well, a little odd, a little offbeat. He uses real life experiences to tell what he calls 'tripped out stories.'" Richter...likes to be able to "penetrate a medium with a little creative gobbledygook and loosen up the mind plasma [sic] (mind plasma!) in people's heads."

 
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