RI2PN--Rhode Island Independent Performers Network
Frazier Festival '10: Elemental is a collaborative process that culminates in an exciting Free-to-the-public creative experience. Applications for Curator, Creators, and Performers are no longer being accepted. Public showings of the Festival will be July 17 and 31, 2010. Installations will take place at the Frazier Terrace, on the campus of the RI School of Design, and Burnside Park, in Downtown Providence, RI.
Participating Artists: please click on the artist's name for more information.
Theme (2010):
Elemental.
Earth, Water, Fire, Air: As the landscapes of the parks ascend, so do creativity and human aspiration.
Earth, Water, Fire, Air: As the landscapes of the parks ascend, so do creativity and human aspiration.
Earth
We start with the percussive force of the forming Earth: volcanoes, landslides, rock shearing rock and straining to create mountains. Early humans made percussive music with found objects, honed into tools for rhythm, to accompany dance: rock castanets, smooth stone on stone. They used skin and sinew, Earth elements, to create vibration. Environmental art for this phase would use found or fabricated objects that denote or evoke these tools of art, rising from the earth. Earth elements are still at our basis. The Blues rock and roll in the mud, while indigenous music and dance still honor, not fight, gravity. Hip-hop spins us back to Earth like urban dervishes.
We start with the percussive force of the forming Earth: volcanoes, landslides, rock shearing rock and straining to create mountains. Early humans made percussive music with found objects, honed into tools for rhythm, to accompany dance: rock castanets, smooth stone on stone. They used skin and sinew, Earth elements, to create vibration. Environmental art for this phase would use found or fabricated objects that denote or evoke these tools of art, rising from the earth. Earth elements are still at our basis. The Blues rock and roll in the mud, while indigenous music and dance still honor, not fight, gravity. Hip-hop spins us back to Earth like urban dervishes.
Water
Vibration moves too across water: ripples mapping the spread of sound and the spread of culture. The first wind instruments came from land and sea: animal horns and conch shells. This is our transition: The flow of water, rivers being the site of early settlements, carrying culture up and down their course. A strong force that would eventually power mills and enable factories, mass production, standardization, and musical instruments available for the masses. Now our environment includes sophisticated instruments: brass, woodwinds. Water is a Bach cantata. Environmental art for this phase alludes to complexity and flow, and uses water that sings and dances as it plays: fountains, waterfalls, glass harmonica.
Vibration moves too across water: ripples mapping the spread of sound and the spread of culture. The first wind instruments came from land and sea: animal horns and conch shells. This is our transition: The flow of water, rivers being the site of early settlements, carrying culture up and down their course. A strong force that would eventually power mills and enable factories, mass production, standardization, and musical instruments available for the masses. Now our environment includes sophisticated instruments: brass, woodwinds. Water is a Bach cantata. Environmental art for this phase alludes to complexity and flow, and uses water that sings and dances as it plays: fountains, waterfalls, glass harmonica.
Fire
Not opposed to water, but water's companion and temperament. Fire is hot jazz, the crackle of syncopation and of ragtime. Fire is the modern composer. Fire is an electric guitar, a pickup that transforms and amplifies. Fire is electronic music. Metal is Earth transformed by fire, so environmental art for this phase uses metal. Shining brass gongs can invite interaction, as can xylophones and glockenspiels. Fire must be contained, or it is dangerous: This is the conflict of creativity, represented by glassed votive candles.
Not opposed to water, but water's companion and temperament. Fire is hot jazz, the crackle of syncopation and of ragtime. Fire is the modern composer. Fire is an electric guitar, a pickup that transforms and amplifies. Fire is electronic music. Metal is Earth transformed by fire, so environmental art for this phase uses metal. Shining brass gongs can invite interaction, as can xylophones and glockenspiels. Fire must be contained, or it is dangerous: This is the conflict of creativity, represented by glassed votive candles.
Air
Air is our aspiration, our dreamed-of future. We interact with air in every breath, and humans have created instruments that breathe: concertinas and accordions. Air surrounds and interacts with Earth, Water, and Fire. We breathe musical life through reeds; air plays with wind chimes. Air is the musician playing the Aeolian wind harp. These may be used as environmental art for this phase. Dance honors air by defying gravity, by filtering and filling every crevice, by the swirling individuality and interdependence of weather systems.
Air is our aspiration, our dreamed-of future. We interact with air in every breath, and humans have created instruments that breathe: concertinas and accordions. Air surrounds and interacts with Earth, Water, and Fire. We breathe musical life through reeds; air plays with wind chimes. Air is the musician playing the Aeolian wind harp. These may be used as environmental art for this phase. Dance honors air by defying gravity, by filtering and filling every crevice, by the swirling individuality and interdependence of weather systems.
Thanks to all the artists, audience, and volunteers who made Frazier Fest '10: Elemental such a great success! Keep an eye out for the next call to artists, January 2011!
Frazier Terrace
Curator: Kellie Ann Lynch
Creators:
Manuela Birner
Carol Anne Buckley
Nikki Carrara
Tim Rubel
Michelle Castaneda
Allie Smith
Wanda Strukus
Linda Succi/RI Chapter of USA Dance
Burnside Park
Creators:
Tovah Bodner-Muro
Kerri Flynn
Leslie Vasquez
Katie Jasmin
Mary Langlois
Cassandra Petronio