Bonanza, LLC
(Lindsay Tully, Lana Williams & Conrad Guevara)
March 29th – April 27th, 2019
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 29th, 6 – 9pm
Closing Reception: Saturday, April 27th, 2 – 4pm
Ride share. House share. Storage share. Over-f*cking share.
Telematic is pleased to present ThunderCoat , an exhibition and new film by Bonanza, LLC, (Lindsay Tully, Lana Williams, and Conrad Guevara). Billed as “a gig e-comedy that goes to the hounds,” Bonanza’s new film satirizes the so-called sharing economy, the often absurd services it provides, and the excessive demands that it makes on its workers.
The film’s protagonist, Denise, already works a variety of new economy gigs – picking up passengers, dropping off laundry and groceries, retrieving electric scooters – when she also signs up to work for Wüf: the Uber for dogs. She is a Wüf Bro, a purported expert in Dog companionship and care, who spends her day driving dogs around the city, while also still trying to fulfill all her other gigs, in a desperate attempt to reach her hourly pay quota. One gig is not enough. She has to work them all at once, juggling a barrage of dings, beeps and reminders, always on the phone, managing different apps, different jobs.
The piece moves between high anxiety, overwhelming frustration, stifling demands, and fake niceness, all set against Denise’s mindfulness exercises, positive self-talk, and waning patience. The title ThunderCoat , refers to a dog jacket that relieves anxiety and stress: Insanely CalmTM. But it turns out to be what Denise really needs, and the dogs become her ThunderCoat.
The story climaxes as Denise is pushed to the limits as one gig job digs its paws into another gig job and Denise breaks – hearing the call of the wild and possibly kidnapping her k-9 companions! The video skims the line of satire and is almost too close to home, bringing into focus people tangentially affected by, but not necessarily benefiting from the Bay Area’s tech boom.
