Maggie Cocco's Science for Sociopaths

As part of the Whangārei Fringe Festival, Maggie Cocco's Science for Sociopaths is collaborating with local dancers - Tyler Matheson and Jasmin Fisher-Johnson - and the Whangārei Art Museum (WAM) to deliver an intimate, multi-sensory rollercoaster of music, art, and dance.

Maggie Cocco’s Science for Sociopaths is brave, vulnerable, and fierce.

Her neo-mellow songs stem from the lineage of America’s rich singer-songwriter culture - most comparably Carole King - while her dynamic vocals range in expression from powerhouse to Disney princess. SfS music is rich in musical and lyrical hooks, and features minimal piano and acoustic arrangements that allow the songwriting to take center stage. In performance, Maggie holds a room with a combination of sincere vulnerability, levity, and mesmerizing musicality.

Tyler Matheson is a self-taught dancer whose arresting intuition for movement "steals the show." He practices a variety of dance, including but not limited to vogue fem, dramatics, waaking, and new way.

Jasmin Fisher-Johnson is a studied dancer who has lent her skills to a number of community projects in and around Whangarei. She practices a variety of dance, especially jazz and lyrical.

Shared Stories is an interactive sculpture by Kim Groeneveld & Trent Morgan and acquired by WAM in 2019.

"Patterns are all around us. They can be visible or invisible. They are inherent in nature and throughout our constructed world.

For centuries, and across cultures, pattern has been used as a means of depicting and making sense of the world. It is a powerful visual language used to craft ideas and share stories, enabling us to express complex concepts in simplified and beautiful forms. In Africa, parallel zigzags remind viewers to obey the 'path of the ancestors' and represent the fact that nothing in life is straightforward.

Shared Stories invites viewers to create and share their own story by positioning and repositioning coloured triangles on the gallery walls. It provides an opportunity to connect with art and one another through a shared aesthetic experience. A response to the digital age, where a proliferation of information collides with a scarcity of attention.

Kim Groenveld and Trent Morgan are creative practitioners based in Whangarei, where they design and fabricate objects to activate public spaces."

Share in our creation #sharedstories #ScienceforSociopaths

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