Get a gutter’s eye view of Seattle at a free performance this Saturday.
Photo courtesy Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs
Stokley Towles will showcase his nearly one-hour, one-man performance called Stormwater: Life in the Gutter at noon at the Ballard Library (5614 22nd Ave NW). Life in the Gutter is ” part performance, part exhibition offering a gutter’s eye view of Seattle’s drainage system and the Seattle Public Utilities’ (SPU) employees who guide, monitor and maintain stormwater flow in the city,” according to the release from Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.
Meet Ellen, a gutter detective. Find out what a floating river is and meet James who observes them. Learn about John’s trips into the bowels of the city and what he finds there. Ponder whether beavers should be on the city’s payroll. Discover who tracks toxins before they poison Lake Union.
Towles weaves interviews, observations and historical research together with images and props to talk about runoff in a humorous and illuminating fashion, revealing the world of drainage and stormwater and the people who manage its flow.
Towles’ work brings meaning to the seemingly mundane aspects of city life. Stormwater: Life in the Gutter is the third in a series of performance pieces Towles has created in partnership with SPU. In 2010, he investigated garbage and its role in the lives of those who generate and collect it in Trash Talk. In 2009, he traced the flow of the city’s water supply in Waterlines. He has also created performances related to policing and public libraries.
