A teenager in a balaclava starts the mosh pit. At the opening weekend of Take Me Somewhere, Glasgow’s international radical performance art festival, FK Alexander’s destructive durational show draws the most eclectic audience. It’s obvious who has turned up at this university building in the middle of the afternoon for the maximalist live art and who is here for the heavily tattooed hardcore bands battling between them to dredge the sludgiest sound from the depths of their diaphragms.
Happening throughout October, Take Me Somewhere savours beauty, mayhem and risk, championing boldly investigative and often delightfully odd work. Some of the performances I’m sorry to miss later in the month feature scent-based performance, lesbian-led explorations of cruising, and live welding. The first hunk of the diverse programme involves an exhilarating mix of interrogative performance and expansive work.
