PASSOUT: The art of getting fall down drunk

Jesse Willesee is known for live art shows that both defy the norm and are in some ways indefinable: always for one night only, always with a focus on being interactive, always with a concept that is just as unique as it is fantastically ridiculous. And above all, always one hell of an art party.

PASSOUT, subtitled The Art of Getting Fall Down Drunk, is his latest exhibition, coming to the Backroom in Sydney on September 13. Exploring the pop cultural imagery of heavy drinking at a very timely moment when Kings Cross is under fire for binge-drinking related crime, the show will feature live fashion installations of passed-out models strewn through the venue – upturned on astro turn lawns, head down in bathrooms, gaffa taped to chairs.

In a similar fashion to Jesse’s Seven Hundred Photos installations, not only can the audience photograph the models live, but this time they can interact with them: draw lipstick scribbles on them, get in pictures with them, feed booze to them and pose them with props.

There will also be a typically lo-fi venue-wide exhibition of real photographs of punters passed out and party napping, plus the night will be capped off with performances from bands Buzz Kull and New Brutalists and feature complimentary Eristoff vodka and cherry Kool Aid and Tiger beer while stocks last.

Come along and you are in for a crazy night – Jesse’s April exhibition 22 Girls Smoking Weed was shut down by police, and Passout has already spawned front-page controversy. Be there and watch the lunacy unfold.

Watch the teaser here: http://youtu.be/GOz4uLXTDzA
And the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXDThC6eQkY

PASSOUT
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13
Installations 8-10pm
Bands from 10pm
THE BACKROOM
2A Roslyn St Pott’s Point, Sydney

Words by Marta Jary