Brolly Arts and TRASA urban arts collective present:
DESERT Friday and Saturday, May 16 and 17, 2008 Discussion and reception immediately following the performances Brolly Arts and TRASA urban arts collective are pleased to present DESERT: an evening of artistic exploration as a part of Westminster College’s Common Ground Series. Common Ground is a year-long endeavor to heighten campus and public awareness of this endangered environment. Featuring new work by Nicholas Cendese, Eric Handman, Stephen Koester, Stephanie Leitch, Chris Noble, Brad Richter, Erik Stern, and Natosha Washington, DESERT brings together artists and the local community in a meaningful experience and dialogue. A conversation about desert involving the artists and community will immediately follow the performances. Detailed Program: Photography: Basing his career on the celebration of the beauty and wisdom of the earth, Chris Noble is a photographer, writer, lecturer, and social activist. Noble’s work focuses on aiding the transition to a more compassionate and sustainable world. He collaborates with environmental and conservation organizations around the globe helping humans re-connect with nature and discover a new relationship with the earth. “Escalante: The Best Kind of Nothing,” a book of his black and white landscape images with text by Brooke Williams published by the University of Arizona Press, won honorable mention in the 2006 Utah book awards. Copies of “Escalante: the Best Kind of Nothing” will be on sale during the event and the author will be available for book signing. Large-scale, multimedia installation: The white crust of the lakebed gives way easily under the spade, and as we dig deeper, the earth starts to feel like flesh… Stephanie Leitch is interested in real time and space dynamics between the experience and the work; the indomitable vulnerability of something that changes over time; that which is temporary; the intensity that comes with tenuousness. The expanse of the west desert is a place of geological, archeological and historical significance. As a drainage point for the entire Great Basin, the Bonneville lakebed contains the seepage of a huge landmass. The material excavated from this place carries the weight of geologic time. The essence of this project is the idea of place transposed, altering the experience of space. Modern Dance: Progress has not followed a straight ascending line, but a spiral with rhythms of progress and retrogression, of evolution and dissolution. - Goethe RawMoves, choreographed by Nicholas Cendese and Natosha Washington, explores these ideas using Robert Smithson’s 1970 creation ‘Spiral Jetty’ as a launching point. Keeping the physical dancing style that has become a RawMoves signature, the movement vocabulary sweeps, curves, rises, falls, and travels through space as Smithson’s work is echoed on stage. With exploratory drilling proposed just five miles away from ‘Spiral Jetty’ new efforts are being put in place to preserve and protect this iconic landmark. It seems like the perfect time to re-visit, re-explore, and re-invest ourselves in this beautiful piece of art. Film: In Exile by Eric Handman, a haunted, solitary man runs through a barren landscape. Recurring sounds from his past keep him from finding home in the present. In Exile is a film that explores the idea of place in relation to one man’s sense of self. Interdisciplinary Performance: Mining for Olive is inspired by the mid-19th century frontier story of Olive Oatman. This collaboration between dance/choreographer Erik Stern and internationally established guitarist/composer Brad Richter interweaves live guitar, video, movement, evocative staging and spoken word. This astounding archetypal tale of a girl being taken by Native Americans addresses many of the fundamental perceptions, assumptions and dynamics of the frontier West. Mining for Olive is the first piece in an evening-length collaboration, “How The West Was Won And Lost And Won . . .” Multi-media Modern Dance: Tentatively titled Wasteland by Stephen Koester, the desert can be seen as a barren, inhospitable, empty, arid and fragile place. Things die there including people. While two people in a relationship may be together, choose to be together and in fact may need each other, there is nothing between them. The relationship is as empty and dead as the desert. Though they stand next to each other, there may as well be a desert between them. Love is but a mirage. Touch is as unpleasant as the sting of sand in a windstorm. Both continue forward but are dying inside, as desperate for the impossible connection as a nomad in search of water in drought. About Brolly Arts Brolly Arts is committed to creating meaningful art and vibrant communities through artistic and civic collaboration and experimentation. We do this through the creation, development, production and promotion of the performing and visual arts. This includes, but is not limited to the fields of dance, music, theater, visual, media and literary arts. The term "brolly" is British slang for umbrella, an appropriate name for an organization that has strived for inclusiveness since its inception. Through workshops, performances, installations, and commissions, Brolly Arts promotes the visual and performing arts, including dance, music, theater, literature, photography, and much more. Brolly Arts strives to provide professional development for artists, create collaborative opportunities for artists from a variety of disciplines, offer creative and educational experiences to the community, maintain overall excellence, and pay artists living wages. In meeting its goals, Brolly Arts contributes to the community's cultural vibrancy and artistic diversity. About TRASA urban arts collective With a focus on contemporary sociopolitical and cultural issues, TRASA urban arts collective utilizes art to stimulate community interaction, cooperation, and evolution. Emphasizing diversity and experimentation, TRASA’s programming encourages creative and social dialogue between artists, audiences, and the community and provides a non-competitive space for individuals to share ideas, knowledge and resources. Through cooperative relationships, TRASA promotes interdisciplinary learning and thought-provoking experiences, and provides a safe and supportive public environment for the exploration of art, performance, education, and community building. In 2008 Brolly Arts was awarded a Utah Arts Council Creative Communities Grant which is instrumental in making this programming possible. This grant is designed to support the creation of innovative connections between culture, art, community building, civic engagement, community planning and use of public space for enhancement of economic opportunities and quality of life in Utah's communities. Brolly Arts and TRASA urban arts collective also receive generous support from the Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts, and Parks and the Utah Arts Council, with funding from the State of Utah and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art. |
