RUSH

Enter a utopian club space and discover the wondrous ways that queer communities create new social worlds and connections. From the mundane to the fantastical–from hot chips to sexier pursuits – RUSH invites you to sample the myriad possibilities of a queer-led vision for our world.

Explore a series of performance stations, hosted by a cohort of legendary and unique members of Sydney’s queer community:  Sex Intents, Salote Tawale, Kelly Lovemonster, kaisha lux, Micha Couell and Ju Bavyka. Hailing from diverse backgrounds and walks of life, these hosts will share their stories and perspectives while immersing you in the sights, sounds, tastes and sensations of the broader RUSH installation. Set to a shifting soundtrack of live conversation, gossip and throbbing electronic beats, you can participate in RUSH as a clubber, a voyeur, a chatty social butterfly, or anything else you’d like to be.

Created by the intrepid art collective Field Theory in collaboration with Sidney McMahon and a diverse group of queer people from different generations, RUSH lovingly and hazily reimagines our experience of the queer club. After surveying queers across Sydney about their nights out—what they love most, what they dream about and what is missing from their club lives - RUSH offers audiences an array of different experiences and invites you to pick and choose the ones you love best, creating your own perfect night out. 

In creating RUSH, Field Theory asks, “are nightclubs closing down because young people prefer taking K with their cats? Were sex clubs better in 2002? Has gentrification closed the Sly Fox? Will the Tool Shed still sell amyl in 2024?” RUSH is an immersive performance installation exploring where our queer parties came from and where they are headed. RUSH is memories reconfigured, dance tracks played too loud, results tousled, interrogated, celebrated, re-presented and undone.

Audience Warnings: Very low light, loud music and sounds, 18+
Duration: 3 hours, audiences are free to come and go as they please throughout this period

This project was part of Liveworks 27-29 October, 2022

Lead artists: Sarah Rodigari, Lara Thoms, Sidney McMahon

Performers: Del Lumanta, Salote Tawale, Ju Bavyka, kaisha lux, Micha Couell, Kelly lovemonster, Sex Intents

Produced by Malcolm Whittaker