Visual Arts » Theatre Intangible

New Dialect Dance Collective Throws “Contact Jam” Saturday Morning 06-14-2014

Jun 132014

New Dialect is a Nashville contemporary dance collective founded by Banning Bouldin. Tomorrow night, they’re throwing a “contact jam” led by my good friend Erin Law. (You may have seen Erin’s performance art show You’re a Winner last year on the Noa Noa back porch.)

What the heck is a contact jam? The New Dialect event page explains:

Contact Improvisation (CI) came into existence in the early 1960s and was developed, expanded, and promoted primarily by Steve Paxton and Nancy Stark Smith among countless others who have since joined the CI community. Its creators have at times resisted defining the form, stating the very nature of CI is in the “doing.” Most simply, it can be described as an extemporaneous form of movement most often done with a partner or small group of people. Within the partnership or small group, various aspects of falling, touch, weight-sharing, lifting, and decision-making in the moment are explored. Many do not consider CI to be a “performance form;” rather it is seen as a communal form of movement in which the experiences of the movers are central.

A jam is an extended improvisation during which dancers explore the possibilities of movement while embracing the unpredictability of each moment. It is an opportunity to “learn through doing” and a practice of problem-solving though making non-verbal decisions. Through this format we have the opportunity to experience longer dances in the form of solos, duets, small groups, or the full group, while expanding and sharpening our sensory awareness as kinesthetic beings. The jam is a celebration of individual and community; there are no “wrong answers” (unless there is intent is to hurt someone.) There is always the opportunity to exit and take a break and re-enter when ready.

Erin told me that she’s also looking for sound artists to join in, so bring your instruments and move your fingers if you’re uncomfortable moving your feet.

The contact jam goes down at Nashville Friends Meeting House Saturday, June 14th, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Cost is $15.

Erin is also teaching a contact improvisation workshop June 16th -2oth. Details about the workshop are here.

New Dialect Contact Improvisation Jam
Saturday, June 14, 2014, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., participants 16 & up, $15

@ Friends Meeting House (map)
506 26th Ave N
Nashville, TN, 37209
United States

So Much to Do on Saturday, May 3rd!!!

Concerts, Visual Arts No Responses »

May 022014

There’s way too much stuff to do in Nashville on Saturday, May 3rd. Here are the highlights as I see them:

In Franklin, TN, you have the second annual Make-A-Thon from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Think of a smaller, spunkier Nashville Mini Maker Faire.

After making, go crafting. At Centennial Park, there’s spring edition of the Tennessee Craft Fair, the biggest crafting event to hit Nashville each year. Runs through Sunday.

When 6 p.m. hits, head over to the Downtown Art Crawl at the Arcade to see openings at dozens of galleries. Highlights include Ann Catherine Carter’s solo show Nothing Never Happens at 40AU and the group exhibit Draw Three at Coup that Laura Hutson wrote about in the Nashville scene.

Try to leave downtown by 7:30 so you have enough time to catch everything at Arts & Music @ Wedgewood/Houston. Theatre Intangible participants Kelli Shay Hix and Josh Gumiela have a paper-cut art and new media show at 444 Pop Up Gallery. Veronica Kavass is hosting a “collaboratively curated and executed installation by Indiana University Sculpture BFA students and their professor, Mike Calway-Fagen” at The Packing Plant. There’s also a cool sound art show at Track One featuring Southern Illinois University alums, a new media noise show at Seed Space, an outsider art show at Infinity Cat, and new shows at David Lusk, Zeitgeist, Julia Martin Gallery, Merritt Mansion, Ground Floor Gallery, and Fort Houston. This is sure to be one of the best crawls of the year!

If you want to catch all WeHo has to offer, be sure to download and print this handy crawl map.

Finish your night right with the electronic dance party Beyond Pleasuredome at The East Room, featuring genres like Italo disco, synthpop, coldwave, electro-hop and more. Starts at 9 p.m. No cover before 10 p.m.

Saturday at Arts and Music at Wedgewood/Houston: David Lusk Gallery Opening, Carl Oliver Synthesis, Glitch Art Show and More! 03-01-2014

Concerts, Visual Arts, Wedgewood/Houston, Where to find Nashville avant-garde No Responses »

Feb 272014

Travis Janssen’s “Conversion/Convergence” coming to Seed Space

The March 1st Arts & Music @ Wedgewood/Houston is an art crawl you can’t miss. The David Lusk Gallery adjacent to Zeitgeist is opening to the public for the first time. Seed Space is exhibiting a killer show featuring Travis Janssen’s multi-media installation “Conversion/Convergence,” an ingenious projection through a box fan. Nearly all the WeHo galleries have new exhibits, including Ovvio Arte, Zeitgeist, 444 Humphreys, Julia Martin Gallery and Ground Floor Gallery.

I helped put together two shows at the Track One warehouse that I’m incredibly excited about. From 5:30 to 9 p.m., Nashville experimental/electronic artist Carl Oliver will stand in the center of the huge Track One warehouse and perform a longform modular synth improvisation. Because it’s modular, he’ll be rerouting patch cables on the fly. It’s going to be especially cool after the sun goes down. Imagine walking into the warehouse to find a distant figure lit by a single lamp. Walk around the giant room and explore its natural reverb as the music interacts with the space. Check back throughout the night to hear how the improv evolves. Learn more about the Track One events at the Facebook event page.

A little after 9p.m., the space will transform into a giant multimedia experience for the glitch art showcase LightJazz. Morgan Higby-Flowers is curating a show featuring Watkins visiting artists Nick Briz and Jon Satrom and several Nashville new media artists. The event is a part of Higby-Flowers’ RipZipRarLANd, four day event featuring Briz and Satrom. RipZipRarLANd starts with a NO MEDIA show at Noa Noa and ends with a Watkins gallery opening. Learn more at the RipZipRarLANd Facebook event page.

Here’s the full Arts & Music @ Wedgewood/Houston scheduled pulled from the Facebook event page:

Join us for the March 1st edition of Arts & Music @ Wedgewood/Houston, featuring the public unveiling of the David Lusk Gallery!

Open 5:30 – 9:00 p.m. (Times vary by gallery.)

Featuring the galleries and businesses:

David Lusk Gallery, Fort Houston, 444 Humphreys, Ground Floor, Infinity Cat Recordings, Julia Martin Gallery, Ovvio Arte, Seed Space, Track One, Zeitgeist Gallery

Here’s what’s happening this month:

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David Lusk Gallery
516 Hagan Street

5:30 to 9 p.m., Grand Opening!

Art dealer David Lusk, who established his Memphis gallery in 1995, is opening a new 2,500-square-foot gallery in Nashville on March 1 beside Zeitgeist Gallery. The opening exhibition will feature mixed-media works by 23 artists, including 13 from Tennessee, among them Maysey Craddock, Kit Reuther, Mary Addison Hackett, William Eggleston, and the estate of Ted Faiers.

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444 Humphreys Popup Gallery
444 Humphreys Street (Outside)

6 – 11 p.m., works by Allie Kuzyk & Kevin Guthrie

Allie Kuzyk’s works rely on systems and visual hierarchies to present her playful illustrations rooted in pop culture headlines. Her multimedia installations are both light hearted and challenging and reinterpret the idea of boring old infographics.

Kevin Guthrie’s works immortalize personalities from popular culture, often the likes of forgotten athletes, blues musicians, or lesser known historical figures, drawn on the unprinted sides of torn beer cases.

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Ground Floor Gallery
427 Chestnut Street (inside Chestnut Square)

5 to 8 p.m.

New works by Heidi Martin Kuster, Mandy Brown, Anne Daigh and a participatory piece by Janet Decker Yanez

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Julia Martin Gallery
444 Humphreys Street (Inside)

6 to 9 p.m., Works by Megan Kimber

Julia Martin Gallery is proud to present the work of one of Birmingham’s finest, Megan Kimber. The spirit of her work is potent. Her execution, so delicate and graceful one can imagine the figures having blossomed from the very fibers of the surface upon which her brush applied them.

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Ovvio Arte
425 Chestnut Street

6 to 9 p.m, photographic portrait series

Walk in to Ovvio on Saturday night and participate in Veta&Theo’s NEW PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT SERIES. Bring your head, they’ll shoot it. Part of the Arts & Music at Wedgewood/Houston First Saturday crawl. Have no fear – it’s just a camera.

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Seed Space
1209 4th Ave South (Inside Track One)

2 to 4 p.m, Rachel Reese workshop, $25

Join Seed Space for the next Professional Development Workshop, The Voice of Criticism in Contemporary Art, with Possible Press founder Rachel Reese.

7 -to 9 p.m., Matt Gilbert’s “Font Flowers” and Travis Janssen’s “Conversion/Convergence”, free

Matt Gilbert’s “Font Flowers” are a series of prints which examine typography design.

Travis Janssen’s multi-media installation “Conversion/Convergence” consists of a series of prints and a projection filtered through an altered box fan, creating a hypnotic pinwill image of rainbow colors on a wall.

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Track One
1209 4th Ave South

5:30 to 9 p.m., Live in the Track One warehouse: Carl Oliver Synthesis, free

Carl Oliver performs a longform modular synthesizer improvisation in the Track One warehouse. Walk around the giant room and explore its natural reverb as the music interacts with the space.

9 p.m, Live in the Track One warehouse: LightJazz, free

Watkins visiting artists Nick Briz and Jon Satrom and Watkins professor Morgan Higby-Flowers are throwing a massive glitch art experience in the Track One warehouse. The show will explore digital culture, hacking, remix culture, and experimental new media.

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Zeitgeist Gallery
516 Hagan Street

5:30 to 9 p.m., Two new shows open at Zeitgeist

Trace Element by Lars Strandh (Paintings)
Harmony of the Spheres by Kevin Cooley and Philip Andrew Lewis (Mixed media – vinyl, audio, video, photography)

I can’t resist posting a few more of Carl’s modular synth experiments. Check out his YouTube channel for more.

Columbus Experimental Haven Fuse Factory Launches IndieGoGo for Frequency Fridays

Circuit-Bending, Concerts, Visual Arts No Responses »

Feb 202014

Artist Kyle Evans flexes a tube-accordion at Fuse Factory

Columbus, Ohio is incredibly lucky to have Fuse Factory, a lab promoting new media, sound art and experimental music. The lab hosts workshops such as last year’s Learning About the Oscilloscope Through Binaural Beats, organizes performances from artists like Truus de Groot, Tim Kaiser, Becky Grajeda, Jessica Speer, Paul Metzger, Roth Mobot and Tatsuya Nakatani, curates new media art shows, and puts on the Columbus Circuit Benders’ Ball, an offshoot of the Nashville Circuit Benders’ Ball.

Fuse Factory is now funding their primary performance series Frequency Fridays through IndieGoGo. Support experimental art in Columbus, Ohio and throw in some cash.

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