Monday, September 1, 2008

Sleeping Giant premiers!

Sleeping Giant premiered at MASS MoCA on August 23, 2008 to a full house. Here are a few articles and reviews from The Berkshire Eagle,  The Village Voice and Times Union. The two reviews are mixed, but the buzz of the crowd opening night was very positive. The combination of Lawrence Goldhuber's choreography, Tin Hat's music and Janet Wong's video really brings the ideas of Sleeping Giant to life. The cross- pollination of theatre, video continues some of my original questions with the installation- how is a story told visually? How do scale shifts alter perceptions of the monumental and heroic? And finally how do medium shifts effect the transmission of the story? I'm very excited for the Henry Street Settlement performances on October 2-4. 

Checking the lighting

The drop in process

MASS MoCA residency

The residency at MASS MoCA went too quickly. I arrived to find a 30 foot by 50 foot back drop waiting for me. I had three days to paint the forest scene. I did the work 
Pollock-style on the floor. This is by far the biggest painting I've done. The drop is the forest scene that serves as a background to the first half of the show. The forest is a cross between an Northwestern old growth forest and a southern swamp. This picture gives a sense of scale.