a flash of light and a loud roar

“A Flash of Light and a Loud Roar,” explores research on how inflicted trauma often opens up a pathway for individuals to have perceived paranormal experiences. The title for this piece comes from a 1957 Project Blue Book report from Centerville, Texas, the location of Harris’ family home and where a civilian reported an encounter with something unknown that appeared to them in “a flash of light and a loud roar.” This performance is a site-specific response to “For Perhaps Just a Trick of the Light,” where JRR adopts the semiotics of queer nightlife, the reflections of personal pilgrimages, and purposeful utilization of trite motifs around paranormal phenomena, both local and wide-reaching, while using Lawndale’s John M. O’Quinn gallery as a mothership of investigation.