The Break to Build project grew out of a residency at a semi-abandoned shipyard and our marvel at the diversity of hidden eco-systems thriving in the yard's thirty three acres. The site's long history and proposed future are tangible in the way the ultra-modern high-rise condos of the South Waterfront neighborhood in Portland collide with the mid-century architecture of the shipyard and the rapidly rewilding landscape at the edge of the Willamette River.  

Break to Build explores the passage of time and future memory. How far back in time can you trace? Can you go even further? And how far forward can you visualize your impact on future communities? Break to Build is also about the tenacity of life to reinvent and sustain. The vines and moss continue to claw back what belonged to them first. For decades this was a place where old seafaring vessels were broken down and new ships and barges were built with those parts. Break to Build led audiences on a journey over the entire industrial site where they encountered a series of performances that engaged the ruins and rusting detritus of a bygone time. The culminating scenes take place inside the massive barge building, as nature's inexorable processes and the currents of the river reclaim the site. Monumentally scaled video projections powered by creative coding immersed performers and audience alike in a vision of the future where the natural world and humanity are indivisible.