Collage as ballet performance backdrop

It was exciting to see my collage, "Budding," projected on the set during Patricia Renzetti's "Reflections" ballet, part of the recent "Eternal Dialogues" multimedia choreography and dance project. "Reflections" features three vignettes that begin in sequence and eventually occur simultaneously, conceptually examining the different stages of life through the mirrors in a dance studio and in the mirrors we use to view ourselves and others. At left is a series of photos that may give you a sense of how the piece evolves over time (click to enlarge).The choreography includes a young ballet student practicing at the barre, a man and woman rehearsing a pas de deux, and a tai chi master practicing his movements. Patricia described her piece as "representing three stages of life, modeled after the Tai Chi movements of passing on." It was lovely.The dancers, from Ballet Ariel, were: Drew Zhu, Amber Harris, Peter Strand, and Elvira Stewart.The meditative Arvo Part composition, "Speigel im Speigel," which literally means "mirror in the mirror," was beautifully performed by musicians on the stage, Kirsten Farnsworth and Steve Gravagne. The collage was projected just over their heads.The collage was a warm counterpoint to the cool stage lighting... it looks rather different in the photos than it did to my eye as a viewer... but these images indicate the scale and hopefully convey the effect. To see the original artwork, please refer to my earlier post, "Collage and choreography collaboration."What fun to have my bio in a printed program for a change, rather than on a little label on the wall at an exhibition. Loved seeing the collage imagery BIG!Thanks to Patricia for conceiving of this collaboration, those working behind the scenes with computer/projection magic to make this happen, and to Rachel D. Graham of RDG Photography for the photo record.

Enthusiastic about "Reclamation"

As you might imagine, I have a penchant for artwork that incorporates recycled and repurposed materials.

After having it on my "must see" list for most of the summer, I finally got to the "Reclamation" exhibition at Metro State College of Denver's Center for Visual Art. If you are local, it's on view through August 13th (2011) and worth a visit. If you're farther afield, and are interested in artwork created from reclaimed materials, you may want to explore the work of some these artists online. They are: Sabin Aell, Brian Cavanaugh, Terry Maker, Jon Rietfors, Yumi Janairo Roth, and Ann Weber.

It's a very engaging and impressive exhibition -- fascinating to see what materials each artist employs and to what effect. While the art is wonderful enough from a distance, to truly appreciate its derivation and the creative re-use of materials requires close inspection. (And those kind of photos were unfortunately not allowed.) 

Among my favorite pieces were the sculptures by Ann Weber which were fashioned from strips of used cardboard, stapled together, to form organic shapes that often took advantage of the printed graphics and die cut slots/openings of the original boxes. A video about her work is helpful in understanding the her thinking, process, and scale. The large pieces in these photos are 8-12 feet tall. 

I was thrilled by the textural wonderment in many of the pieces in the show. Layering of materials becomes very compelling when small bits and pieces are able to take on entirely new forms in combination and through repetition. While I consider these works to be primarily sculpture and assemblage, the thinking behind them certainly was inspiring and has strong parallels to the realm of collage.

PostSecret

"Sometimes
when we think we are keeping a secret
that secret is actually keeping us." 

– Frank Warren, founder and curator of PostSecret

I've had a postcard collection since childhood. Perhaps that's why the exhibition, PostSecret, held such allure -- however, these postcards were created and sent to share secrets. 

“Courage can be more important than artistic training or technique in creating meaningful and lasting art."

Frank Warren started the project in 2004 by handing out blank postcards to strangers and leaving them in public places. Each card invited people to anonymously share a secret: something that was true and had never been shared with anyone before. He has now received over half a million postcards, some of which have been included in exhibitions and best-selling books. A show of about 400 of the postcards is on view at the Foothills Art Center in Golden, Colorado through June 26, 2011.

"PostSecret creates this model of a safe, non-judgmental place to share your secrets where you don’t feel weird or different or strange or alone.”

Some of the cards were carefully designed, others simply words, but all shared a secret -- whether poignant, shocking, or hilarious. Most were quite touching, some easy to relate to, others reflecting difficult experiences -- all heartfelt. Each postcard becomes a piece of personal artistic expression and the overall installation is quite emotional to experience.

I was also able to attend Frank Warren's amazing lecture about the Post Secret project and his mission to raise awareness about suicide prevention. Besides sharing his story, he showed postcards that were not able to be published in the books and allowed the audience, many of whom were in tears, time to express their secrets. His project really highlights the ability of creative expression to be an incredibly positive outlet for healing.

The PostSecret blog, the largest advertisement-free blog in the world, continues to showcase incoming postcards, an ongoing communal art project, with over 445 million views. The next exhibition will be at MoMA in July. I recommend a visit to this project in one of its many forms -- via blog, book, or exhibition -- it's truly thought-provoking and eye-opening. And perhaps you'll want to submit a secret of your own.

What nobody tells you about creative work...

Thanks to Ira Glass for a great quote and kudos to the typographer who enhanced it with the artful use of type style/weight... wish I could figure out who to credit for making it read so well!