AEON†: TITAN ARUM

Sirens are sung by gentle Sissy Encangto
They dance atop the dry soil,
stirring the bones ~
Ancient seedlings begin to arouse,
Kindled by the sound of promise ~

Clown Botanists *HOE* and *HUMP*
They perspire in the climbing heat, In devotion to their Harlequeens
Tending to beings not quite flora, fauna or machine.
Simultaneously pollinator, parasite and host

A boom box transmits an automated call:
*FEED!* *FLIGHT!* *FIGHT!* OR *FUCK!*
Future beings Ka-bloom
Spored on the corpses of the previous world...

For The National 2021 Justin Shoulder presents AEON†: TITAN ARUM, a carnivalesque garden housing imagined ‘exotic’, medicinal and dangerous species. In a series of appearances throughout the exhibition, Shoulder inhabits these plant forms and animates them through dance, light and sound before disappearing again into ‘nature’. Each inhabitation is marked by seasonal change, creating a distinct four-part cycle in which the garden morphs and grows.

AEON†: TITAN ARUM is a communal garden where one plant might join with another or where one species might care for another. The hanging fruits and carnivorous plants echo the pageantry of the Panangbenga Festival in the Philippines, while at the same time produce an alternative world that revels in the possibilities of a queering diasporic community. 
 
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Creator & Performer: Justin Shoulder 
Set & Costume Design: Matthew Stegh & Justin Shoulder 
Set & Costume Design Assistants: Brenda Lam, Anthony Aitch and Luna Aquatica 
Composer: Corin Ileto 
Sound Operator EP 2: Lucy Cliche 
Voiceover: Christine Villareal 
Lighting Design: Fausto Brusamolino 
Producers, Insite Arts: Jason Cross & Penelope Leishman

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.