Ponytail Express

Hazel Mey­er worked with the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Youth Coun­cil to devel­op this iter­a­tion of Pony­tail Express.

Pony­tail Express is an ongo­ing research-per­for­mance plat­form about ath­let­ics, aes­thet­ics, gen­der, and co-opt­ing mass forms of com­mu­ni­ca­tion. It is a sports broad­cast for the ath­let­i­cal­ly apathetic.

Play­ing with the tropes of sports reportage, espe­cial­ly of the late 70’s with the emer­gence of hyper-mas­cu­line ded­i­cat­ed sports chan­nels, Pony­tail Express bor­rows and sub­verts the tools, envi­ron­ment and gar­ments that dis­tin­guished chan­nels, alliances and fans. The project places empha­sis on the periph­ery of pro-sports, specif­i­cal­ly ama­teurism and sport fan cul­ture, as a place where bot­tom-up cul­tur­al pro­duc­tion happens.

The project unfold­ed as both live and record­ed broad­casts, inter­views, an instal­la­tion, hand-made para­pher­na­lia such as micro­phones, ban­ners and uniforms.

The bar­bells and ban­ner for this iter­a­tion of Pony­tail Express were inspired by a mutu­al appre­ci­a­tion of Sponge­Bob SquarePants’ home gym.