Artist Austin Reavis describes finding motivation and materials to work with in his interview with Jonathan Lisenby at the site of flotsam, jetsam, lagan, derelict in Sewannee, TN.
Casey Pierce at Red Arrow Gallery
Red Arrow Gallery | 919 Gallatin Ave #4
“Architectureality is about the real effects of imaginary restraints. Conversely art is an illusory effect born of real restraint.
In this image, saturated society, I find myself gravitating toward spaces where I can catch a visual breath. I hope to pass on that same satisfaction to you.
In my life as a director I pour over thousands of images, 24 frames per second. Each one has to be touched. Every video is different with its own specialized set of imagery that has to be curated. I found that when I come back to painting after this I want to make a single image that radiates slowly over time as a counterpoint to the deluge.”
-Casey Pierce, Architectureality Statement, 2018
Casey Pierce (b. 1982, Hopkinsville KY) is a visual artist working and living in Nashville Tennessee. He splits his time between painting, video art and directing music videos and commercials. He began showing his work in Nashville 10 years ago at various Nashville galleries and events. This is his first solo show with Red Arrow Gallery.
Kateri Pomeroy
Poverty And The Arts | 1207 Dickerson Pike
Kateri Pomeroy joined our Artist Collective in May 2014. She is originally from Denver, CO and was homeless in Nashville for 4 years before securing section 8 housing while in our Artist Collective in April 2015 with the help of Open Table Nashville.
Kateri's interest in creating art began while coloring with her mother, and when she started school and took art classes, that passion grew. Now in her more advanced years, the passion to create has more intensity with each created piece, as she views each creation as its own spiritual experience.
Kateri has live-painted at many local events around town including the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville's Summer Soiree fundraiser and West End United Methodist Church's Pilgrimage Journey.
Shop Kateri's full collection of works online here: http://povertyandthearts.org/shop-by-artist/kateri/
from left: Rachel Karr, Charlie Tambellini, L, Darek Tidwell
Story Forge | 720 Rundle Ave
Darek Tidwell
@chefdarekalchemist
His obsessive research of light and sound, he is the self crowned embodiment of an auditory and visual hallucination. More a question than a answer. Less a revolutionary than a rogue. Formerly an accomplished and critically acclaimed Chef, his heady hostile artistry once constrained by the plate has spilled into an all together world of its own, Fiat lux. Darek’s last projects in conjunction with Charlie and L include festivals, the Elliston Place garage with Nashville walls project as well as fundraising and philanthropic events. Further would like to bridge the digital and analogue worlds through attention grabbing story telling and large scale installations.
L
@ellumsheep
Hailing from Eastern Europe, L’s view is through a kaleidoscope lens, this life we experience as earth bound primates. Constantly evaluating and challenging the assumptions our culture imposes, her curiosity into the minds and hearts of the modern age is ever expanding. Ultimately, her art is the direct reflection of her study into our psychology as she explores the mind and motives of this species most curious, humans. She insists "no patterns we see are random noise” This is L’s debut showing of her ever evolving works.
Charlie Tambellini
@lumin_aries
Charlie’s vision has seen him build a small bottling operation into an annual Multimedia and Music experience Further Festival. Ever expanding is the only way to describe not only the farm and its loyal pilgrims that attend each year, but also the Visual Artistry he achieves ever year. Featuring multiple stages including a 40ft tall geodesic dome stage, the Further team uses over 100K in lumens to bring the night to life. The green lush mountain valley transforms into a world of imagination. September 28th-30th, this installation is an invitation into the world Further. He pauses only to remark with "The media is the message…."Charlies work has been featured at numerous festivals, Nashville walls project, Elliston Place and the Nations Impermanent art show.
Rachel Karr
Rachel Karr (b. 1982) is a painter living and working in East Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, daughter, twin sons, and cats. She graduated with a BFA from Austin Peay State University in 2006.
While working as a commercial photographer, she became interested in Astrophotography that grew her love and interest in the cosmos as a subject. Unable to photograph the many wonderful forms, colors, and depths of the universe she uses her skills as a painter to capture that vast beauty. Using a process of acrylic glazing and a variety of powder and mica based pigments the artist creates sparkling luminous imagery often combining this with silhouettes to
explore the universe within and around us all.
Courtney Spencer at Green Gallery
Green Gallery | 805 Woodland St
Ryan Noble's "sane world" is a deposition in the aftermath of orbiting the psyche and landing safely yet uncomfortably back in the real sane world. The works represent two parts of the journey. Time as an idea and the playfulness of reality.
Courtney Spencer's work centers around reconstructing repurposed materials to create new interpretations that might go unnoticed in their original form. These works, combined with the use of color, scale, and symmetry, seek to prove that junk is not junk-- every unique bit and piece has multiple layers of meaning waiting to be realized.
Sean Wallace at Turnip Green Creative Reuse
Turnip Green Creative Reuse | 945 Woodland St.
Join us Saturday, September 8 from 6-9pm in the Green Gallery for an opening reception of Windows of Opportunity, a solo exhibition featuring barbed wire art by Sean Wallace. Sean’s barbed wire art technique incorporates different types of wire, antique windows, and a myriad of ideas. Sean has chosen barbed wire to reflect its soft strength.
Sean Wallace is a self taught artist and gifted musician currently living in Cadiz, KY. Sean grew up in Moravia, Jamaica. He was one of thirteen children, raised in a loving, devout family. Sean began creating art as a young man in Jamaica, using any materials he could find including pencils, paint, pens, markers, pastels, and watercolors. He discovered old barbed wire as an art material after arriving in the United States, where he developed his own unique artistry and style from this rugged yet beautiful material. Of his work, Sean states, “I want my art to be created through the eyes of God. It has been through His guidance that my talents are being developed. The use of barbed wire is a fitting reflection of His soft strength.” Sean is also a motivational speaker, musician, and actor. He helped found and currently runs the Glory Outreach Program, a Jamaican mission program serving children and families in rural Jamaica.
Raven And Whale Gallery | 1108 Woodland Street Unit G
"In my mind there is little distinction between the practice of art making and the practice of yoga. When I draw in ink from a veritable stream of consciousness, I am literally drawing from––as in tapping into––a seemingly infinite, variable, and yet indescribable source. By mark-making through this source I am, in a sense, becoming some aspect of it. This by definition this is yoga, which means to yoke, or commune, with the infinite."
-Open Studio Statement, Vibhu Krishna
Open Studio presents an inquiry into self, wherein the yogic method of svadhyaya, or self-study, is rigorously applied to posture and pen. These meticulous drawings reflect the artist’s state of consciousness after experiencing various yoga postures (asanas), which are shown within the age-old symbol of self and the microcosm: the circle. Simultaneously, the carefully-sequenced practice of ancient yogic asanas within the gallery space allows for the dissemination of meditation, thus blurring the line between the yoga and art studio practices. By merging these practices, Open Studio expands common understanding of what yoga means while exploring its fundamental tie to meditative artwork. The space is a gallery and a yoga studio, providing a guided study and a free practice. It is both introverted and extroverted; it is both art and asana.
Through this method, the tools for asana and meditation—mats, sequences, studio space—become one with the artwork, and together they aim to achieve yoga. This exhibition is at once deeply philosophical, highly introspective, and an open-armed playspace for connecting to creative energy.
Vibhu Krishna (b. 1994, Lubbock, TX) is a New York-based Indian-American artist, medical student, and yogi who explores the intersection of these three practices through rigorous academic and artistic inquiry. By utilizing meditative, intricate ink drawings as a platform for creating installation, her artwork—in combination with study of health and medicine—has the ultimate goal of healing. Upon receiving the Margaret Stonewall Wooldridge Hamblet Grant from Vanderbilt University (B.A.), Vibhu traveled extensively throughout southeast Asia, therein acquiring yoga teacher training and a deeper understanding of the origins of mind-body practice as a mechanism of healing. She currently attends Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York city.
Tomato Art Show at Art and Invention Gallery
1106 Woodland St
The Tomato Art Show, the tomato-themed art exhibition which inspired a tomato movement in East Nashville 15 years ago, opens free to the public Saturday, August 11, and will remain on view through September 9, 2018. A Tomato Art Show Preview Party will be offered Friday, August 10, 6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m., at the same location. Always a popular event, the Tomato Art Preview Party offers the art lover a wonderful night of sights, sounds and flavors!Party-goers get to be the first to view this year’s tomato art while enjoying music, libations, and tomato-inspired food provided by Citizens Kitchen. Image: Marshall Hall’s The Persistence of Marinara
Moons Of Another at Red Arrow Gallery
919 Gallatin Ave #4
Bethany Carlson
Red Arrow Gallery is pleased to announce a new exhibition, Moons of Another, a solo show with Bethany Carlson. The artist reception for Moons Of Another opens on Saturday August 11th, 2018 and runs through September 2nd, 2018.
Bethany Carlson’s drawings employ a practice of addition and subtraction. Through her chosen medium of charcoal and graphite, her detailed and delicate black and white drawings challenge the eye on what is being seen. “These works employ imagery of a space that can scarcely be reached or examined. As such, they are defined more by absence than by presence. They are linked to a void that is often charged with mystery and wonder. Much like the thoughts and experiences of those no longer living, these spaces are deeply meaningful to ponder and impossible to fully comprehend.” – Bethany Carlson, Moons Of Another statement, 2018
Bethany Carlson is an artist and teacher living and working in Peoria, IL. She earned her BFA from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, IL and her MFA from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM. She teaches at Bradley University and Illinois Central College. Her work features drawings, paintings, and sculptures that are often delicate, pensive, and funereal in nature. This is her second show in Nashville and with the Red Arrow Gallery.
Persona at TOURNAMENT
919 Gallatin Ave #13
Image by Andrée Bustamente
“Persona” is Spanish for person, also known as a human being, a fact that our government has forgotten. The exhibit serves to humanize marginalized communities, dehumanized by politicians who treat others as unworthy. Curator and artist Andrés Bustamante intends to see the power of Nashville in unity; utilizing art and community as the catalyst for social impact. The work speaks to the reality that humans are worthy of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
A diverse melting pot of established and rising artists are curated from varied communities and perspectives, to start this conversation and stand in solidarity with one another.
In wake of the current administration's bewildering implementation of their zero-tolerance policy, and Tennessee’s anti-immigrant law HB 2315, “Persona” #KeepFamiliesTogether fundraising efforts will administer relief to immigrant and refugee families by benefiting the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC).
“HB 2315 - The law prohibits common-sense local policies that promote community trust and public safety, makes Tennessee a dangerous place for immigrant families, and cements our reputation as one of the most hostile and unwelcoming states in the nation. This legislation requires that local governments and law enforcement act as deportation agents and carry out federal immigration enforcement.” - TIRRC
https://www.tnimmigrant.org/in-aftermath-of-ice-raid-tennessee-legislature-passes-mass-deportation-bill-1
##
Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition [TIRRC] is a statewide, immigrant and refugee-led collaboration whose mission is to empower immigrants and refugees throughout Tennessee to develop a unified voice, defend their rights, and create an atmosphere in which they are recognized as positive contributors to the state. For more information on Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Coalition (TIRRC), please visit: https://www.tnimmigrant.org/
AM Hassan
AM Hassan at Poverty & The Arts
1207 Dickerson Pike
Starting in August, all of our artists impacted by homelessness will continue to exhibit their works in the main gallery space; however; each month, a new artist will have the opportunity to exhibit on our Featured Gallery wall by selecting a theme, creating and curating works, composing an artist statement, and assisting the staff in creative ways to advertise and promote their Featured Artist Exhibition.
Meet August's Featured Artist:
AM Hassan
"My art is to share with others the beauty that I see in Allah's Creation."
Read more about AM Hassan here: http://povertyandthearts.org/meet-am-hassan
Browse AM Hassan's collection of works here: http://povertyandthearts.org/shop-by-artist/am-hassan/
RESISTomato: Art. Activism, Community + Vendor Fair
Woodland St. and S11th St.
Cassie Lopez and Sarah Walton
Day of Activism during East Nashville Tomato Art Fest. This year, the primary focus of annual event is on multiple local groups who will be tabling/canvasing/fundraising.
*this event is held in memory of Jessi Zazu*
COME SUPPORT LOCAL ACTIVISTS ON THE FRONT LINE:
Community Oversight Now
Worker's Dignity
Middle TN Democratic Socialists
Medicare for All
Jessi Zazu Inc.
Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ)
Against The Stream Nashville
Get Out the Vote
& others
VENDOR FAIR:
Event will also feature feminist/queer artists & crafters selling righteous stuff, ZINES, vintage clothing, etc. --->
- Siren Moon Zone Art
- Siren Moon Zone Fundraiser [art + vintage for a cause] tomato themed pieces from Siren Moon Zone and friends (CHLOE KAT, Molly Rocket, Nightswim, Soren Bryce) and some of Molly Rocket's vintage will be raising funds for Jessi Zazu Inc.
- Clothing swap - bring up to 10 items, take as many as you bring
- Criminal Moon Vintage pop up by Jinx Cain
- FemiStitch- Cassie Wade's deliciously sassy cross stitch & art
- Evey In Orbit- zines & art by Veronica Leto Burgos
- Niki Albertson's White Crane Gifts amazing handmade jewelry
- Diana Byrd's art & jewelry
- Cybelle Elena Pop up - handmade velvet lingerie + vintage
- Molly Rocket Vintage + Clothing
- Catrina Renee' Higgs paintings
- David Noel Art artwork
ENTERTAINMENT:
- Acoustic sets by CHLOE KAT, Whoa Dakota, fauna halø, Kelly Hoppenjans + more
- Poetry by Cyn Corrigible of Graduates Rise
- Poetry by Nina Mariah Donovan
- Story by Kristen Chapman Gibbons
- Comedy by Cortney Warner
- free astrological readings by Andrea
- make a mini-zine table
LOCATION:
Event is held at a private home right next to festival. Day will be followed by private party for members of local activist groups.
ACCESSIBILITY:
House & yard are wheelchair accessible. Please contact Sarah Walton with questions or concerns about accessibility.
Event Artwork: a remix of original artwork by the fabulously talented Cassie Lopez. Tomatoes made angrier for this time period by Sarah Walton.
Ryan Nobel & Courtney Spencer: New Work at Green Gallery in Eastside Station
805 Woodland St
Ryan Nobel + Courtney Spencer
Turnip Green Creative Reuse is pleased to present work by multimedia artists Ryan Noble and Courtney Spencer at our Green Gallery at Eastside Station! We hope you will join us for a public reception Saturday, August 11 from 6pm-9pm during the East Side Art Stumble.
Ryan Noble's "sane world" is a deposition in the aftermath of orbiting the psyche and landing safely yet uncomfortably back in the real sane world. The works represent two parts of the journey. Time as an idea and the playfulness of reality.
Courtney Spencer's work centers around reconstructing repurposed materials to create new interpretations that might go unnoticed in their original form. These works, combined with the use of color, scale, and symmetry, seek to prove that junk is not junk--- every unique bit and piece has multiple layers of meaning waiting to be realized.
Don't forget to swing by Turnip Green Creative Reuse after you visit Eastside Station for our opening reception of The Collector, a solo exhibition by artist Carrie Cox. There will be more refreshments, and an interactive paper weaving project!
Joseph Heckle, Colin Shriver, Nakia Betz at Story Forge
720 Rundle Ave
Joseph Heckle, Colin Shriver, and Nakia Betz
Hey y'all, you are invited to come out to Story Forge on Saturday AUGUST 4TH from 6pm-9pm in conjunction with the first Saturday Art Crawl to mingle and see BEAUTIFUL work exhibited by the following local artists: Joseph Heckle, Colin Shriver, Nakia Betz
Find out more about the artists and see a sample of their work on our website: https://www.storyforgenashville.com/current-events/art-crawl-august-4th
John Cannon Fine Art
1108 Woodland St
John Cannon
The big week is finally here. The 15th annual Tomato Art Festival will be this Friday, August 10 from 6-9 and Saturday, August 11 from 9-6 (or whenever you stop coming by). I have several new works from the silly to the abstract for sale this year, and I think you will like them. Art & Invention is having their regular Preview Party Friday night, and the studio, which is right next door to Art& Invention, will be open as well. There is no charge to visit my studio.
Jonathan Lisenby: Of all media available to collect and distribute, why did you choose zines? How do zines facilitate your mission?
Carly Blaine: I would love to start by defining a zine as a small-circulation, self-published, and often inexpensive or free work made by either an individual or collective. I began collecting zines a few years ago, on my own accord and in relation to my own fascination with the various content available from this medium. I am very much in love with the accessibility aspect of zines, both from the perspective of the author and audience, and that is what I believe facilitates my mission with the zine library project. It is my goal to make both conversations of important social topics, as well as the work of participating artists, as accessible as possible to those who wish to self educate or experience the works without any barrier to entry.
JL: A large portion of the Nashville Public Zine Library is made up of works promoting ‘anarchic’ OR far left ideologies - two fairly opposing viewpoints. Do you think there’s a reason for zines to naturally drift to extreme political poles, or is this a feature of your curation?
CB: I wouldn't quite say that these works promote these ideologies as much as I would say that they are from the perspective of individuals or collectives who embody these ideologies, and converse on such from a humble and robust perspective. Although some of these works seem like propaganda in nature, most of them are well argued on both sides of the political spectrum (anarchic to left-leaning that is), and offer well-rounded arguments on the social topics they center on. Zines do naturally tend to embody strong opinions when they are discussions on social topics and issues faced in given socio-political circumstances, and do tend to be either left-leaning or anarchic; though I do intentionally select works for the library that I believe will be useful resources and materials for the community to use as a basis for conversation within itself.
JL: What skills are most important to have to be a successful zine-maker? Is it required to have gone to art school, or helpful to have a background in journalism?
CB: As I mentioned above, what I love most about zines is the accessible nature of them, both in terms of authoring and experiencing them. One need not have a formal education in order to create a zine, one must simply have an idea and a pen and a piece of paper and a zine may be born.
JL: Which of the zines in your collection would you recommend as starter zines, to recommend to someone new to zines?
CB: It all depends on what an individual has interest in! There are many different areas of specificity, or "genres", within the library for one to choose from. In terms of local works, I would suggest starting with anything from Sabotka, Ursus Press, or Broadside Print, to get a scope of the literary genius that exists in Nashville. I often find that the visual art and music scenes eclipse some of the great poets and writers that live and work in the scene.
JL: How do you bring the NPZL to the public? Do you have bigger plans for the future?
CB: Though this project has been fairly small scale since its inception, I am incredibly excited to be working with new supporting partners and collectives to bring out the library itself to engage with the community! I wish I had more details to share publicly, but as certain intricacies have still yet to be ironed out, I can't divulge any further information. BUT I can say that I have been overwhelmed with support and interest in the project thus far, and that I am looking forward to bigger plans in the future! I would also like to mention that I'd truly love to meet with any individual looking to collaborate, to get involved in some way, or even just to share thoughts and opinions on the creative community itself! I can be reached at nashvillepubliczinelibrary@gmail.com (:
Jonathan Lisenby: From looking at your studio setup, it looks like you use a wide variety of materials and employ painting, printmaking, sewing and sculpture - sometimes all in a single piece. How do you choose your materials?
Alexandra Jo Sutton: Exploration of materials is an extremely important part of my practice. When I get an idea for a piece/series/exercise, I often begin by experimenting with a wide variety of materials and see how the idea manifests itself in different ways with different mediums. Practical thinking, problem solving, and trouble-shooting are important as well. But my practice is very fluid and experimental by nature, so nothing is really off the table. I’m always playing with new ways to use things I’m familiar with, and how to incorporate new media. I think my open relationship with material is an important way that I continue to expand my visual vocabulary and build texture and tone in my work.
JL: How did you come to use the cyanotype technique that produces these blue-tinted prints? Is there specific meaning illustrated by this particular process?
AJS: The blue is the result of mixing traditional cyanotype fluid correctly. Blue is a very important color in my work (often signifying distance, desire/longing, physical and temporal separation, etc.) However, sometimes I’ll play with the mixture and formula to make the prints seem more green or yellow... the surface or ground for the cyanotype fluid is also experimented with... it pools, spreads, or bleeds differently on gauzy fabric than vintage wallpaper. This ties back into that experimental part of my practice and an intuitive response to material. The “specific meaning” behind using cyanotype is really about crystallizing the silhouette of one moment in time. The cyanotypes can take several minutes of exposure to capture an image, so I look at them like these documents marking a more tangible span of time than just taking a regular photo.
JL: Natural forms of detritus and cast-offs, like leaves, shells, twigs, and footprints find their way into your work. How do these visual symbols relate to memory and the ephemeral, in your more recent work?
AJS: I like to call these detritus objects “artifacts” because they each embody a history, and have somehow found their way to me. They are artifacts that embody a memory of their own past, their eventual journey into my studio (closed to me as the details of that origin may be). These objects are fragile, change over time as they die, shrink, warp, disintegrate, and are meant to maintain the ephemeral quality that all living beings share. In another way, many of these artifacts, like the Magnolia leaves, represent specific personal memories for me... pointing to different moments and sensations from childhood that are themselves shimmering fantasies of ephemerality. The cast hands and feet are more about the indexical... the marks that living things leave behind on their environment, that people leave within one another.
JL: Some of your resin and clay castings seem to explore the difference between a figure’s exterior and ‘interior’ - for example, the resin casts of your hands, and the clay casts of the space between your fingers. What is the relationship between these two modes?
AJS: As I mentioned before, I like to think about the indexical, impressions we leave behind as we move through time from birth to death. I started thinking a lot about fossils, trilobites, plants, extinct species, the hollow shapes of bodies found in Pompeii, etc., and how many different ways that bodies can take up space, or become cavities. I started playing around with shapes my open or closed body can make, positive/negative, exterior/interior, and using plaster, clay, and resin as a way to document those spaces.
JL: Instead of producing a single, rectangular image, like a traditional painting, you cluster sculptures and images on the wall or the floor. Sometimes you re-use the same sculptures and images in different configurations to make new pieces. What is your thought process when making this type of work?
AJS: My thought process is always based in creating visual relationships that express what I feel that I need to say in a given moment. When preparing for and installing an exhibition, there is a lot of intuitive responding to the exhibition space to accommodate for fluctuations in those visual relationships. I like to think of my studio practice as fluid, among materials, ideas, and that includes fluidity of presentation in an exhibition space. I also like to set up small, sometimes hidden moments in the work that it takes a few minutes to discover. By being flexible with how I curate the work, both myself and my audience are constantly able to see the things I make in new or different ways - just like how a memory may be an image of one moment in time, but that image changes each time we recall it.
Image: Colleen Phelps from ozartsnashville.org
Jonathan Lisenby: MusiCircus is a John Cage piece. Arguably, the most well-known John Cage composition is 4’33”, the performance piece where a pianist is instructed to, essentially, not play music for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. Is MusiCircus similar?
Colleen Phelps: It’s really the opposite. The other end of the spectrum from no noise at all, being everything all at once. There is much less structure. Four minutes and 33 seconds has movements and sheet music, 'music circus' is more of a concept. There is no sheet music, though it is listed in the John Cage works archive.
JL: How did you choose the musicians and artists, etc. to collaborate with you on MusiCircus? Is this different from how you normally approach collaboration?
CP: We had an open submission process for several months. I would say it’s different from how I generally choose collaborators, but I’m certainly no stranger to open submission. My chamber music group Sound Riot held an open call for scores two summers ago.
Once we compiled all the submissions and felt like we had enough to fill the event I started plotting out a timeline. I had planned to use the entire 5 acres of the OZ Arts venue. But predictions of thunderstorms made us a rework it and only use three areas.
“It’s definitely something where you have to attain control by letting go. You cannot micromanage it. Every time you do you step away from the concept.”
JL: How much control do you exert as the ‘conductor’ of the MusiCircus ‘orchestra’? is it actually a free-for-all, like the advertising implies?
CP: It kind-of is a free-for-all. Control would be exerted when an artist goes over time and someone needs to come in to that space. But the control itself is coming from the other artists, not from me. While I haven’t asked for specifics from artists, I have asked that the content stay appropriate for families, and that they be mindful of noise level. It can overlap, but we don’t want it to become grating. I hadn’t thought of it as an orchestra before now but I certainly see the metaphor. It’s definitely something where you have to attain control by letting go. You cannot micromanage it. Every time you do you step away from the concept. Plus part of the fun is trusting each individual artist or group to do their thing the way they know how to do it best.
JL: Do you think your background as a percussionist influenced you in any way in developing your personal vision for this performance of MusiCircus?
CP: Absolutely. It left me with a strong background performing the music of John Cage, as did my dance background. Two things that definitely go hand in hand. Plus, as a percussionist, you certainly learn to stretch your definition of what a musical instrument is and how to experiment with sound. Some of the things we combined in terms of placement may not have been intuitive, but I think they’ll work. And if they don’t, we all enjoy the conflict for a few minutes and then move on.
JL: Who is the intended audience for this piece? Who do you think would get the most out of it?
CP: The person who is interested in contemporary arts, and wants to see a favorite group plus others from Nashville, is a great audience for something like this. Or even the person who doesn’t know if they’re interested in following contemporary arts, because this gives a good sampler of the kind of art people are making in town. The person who has only followed classical music and only knows it from the symphony will see at least one symphony musician they’re familiar with, but she’ll be hanging upside down while she plays the violin. That’s a good metaphor for the whole thing, traditional arts turned upside down.
MusiCircus Performers:
Ben Andrews | Laura Bouffard | Box O’Theater | Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville | Alexis Colbert | Joshua Dent | Ted Drozdowski | Deidre Emerson | Alicia Engstrom | Epiphany Dance Partners | Frame Drum Wisdom | Xandra LeeLord Goldie aka Karizma | Kyle Numann | Graci Phillips | Poetry On Demand | Lorne Quarles | Taylor Raboin | Beth Reitmeyer | Bayard Saunders | Jane Saunders | Secret Friends | Strings of Saturn | Suspended Gravity Circus | Tank615 | The Gray Area | The Porch Writers’ Collective | The Weird Sisters | This Holding (Jana Harper) | Emily Tyndall | David Weinel | Whites Creek High School Percussion Ensemble
Visit www.ozartsnashville.org/musicircus/ to purchase tickets. Oz is located at 6172 Cockrill Bend Circle, Nashville, TN 37209. Performance runs May 17th, 6pm to 8pm
John Warren is a filmmaker and educator based in Nashville, TN. He earned his BFA from Emerson College and his MFA from California Institute of the Arts and currently teaches video and film courses at Vanderbilt University. He often utilizes a Bolex 16mm film camera as a method of letting the technical boundaries of the medium create, what he calls, "an organizing structure" and flow for his film-making process. See more of John's work with Wildwood productions at www.johnwarrenfilms.com
Jonathan Lisenby: Which 5 films/videos should everyone see before they die? Which 5 films/videos do you think your students need to see before they graduate?
John Warren: A few touchstones that have been inspirational to me—the psycho-trance cinema of Maya Deren, the hand-painted abstractions of Stan Brakhage, the flicker films of Paul Sharits, the optical wizardry of Pat O’Neill, and the psychedelic ethnographies of Ben Russell (who happens to have a film in Far Out).
"LetYourLightShine", Image courtesy of FAR OUT FILM FEST
JL: Is there a festival or institution that you feel FAR OUT takes inspiration from?
JW: In the beginning, we looked to Milwaukee Psych Fest and Austin’s Levitation for inspiration. This year, FAR OUT NASHVILLE has expanded beyond music and art to include a podcast and a film festival. Cinematically, we show work in the same underground spirit as Experiments in Cinema, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Other Cinema, or the defunct PDX Film Fest, just to name a few.
Still from Lauren Ballejos' "My Crazy Ex-Boyfriend", image courtesy of FAR OUT FILM FEST
JL: What are you looking for the most when watching video and film submissions to FAR OUT FILM FEST?
JW: We are excited about films that present physical voyages, psychedelic journeys, or a phenomenological experience of the world. We look for films that offer new ways of paying attention, new ways of understand, and new ways of thinking and feeling.
Image courtesy of FAR OUT FILM FEST
JL: Does the idea of Nashville specifically interact with FAR OUT? Could FAR OUT happen in any city, similarly?
JW: Nashville will always be Music City, but it is also home to a thriving alternative art scene and a burgeoning film community. The cultural atmosphere of Nashville is unique enough for a psychedelic music and film festival to take root in a way that would not be possible in other cities. Third Man Records is a testament to the city’s creative evolution, and has previously presented marginalized cinema in the intimate Blue Room, which is also the venue for the FAR OUT FILM FEST.
"No.7 Badlands", image courtesy of FAR OUT FILM FEST
JL: How do you approach collaboration with an artist of another media, like musicians, actors, or choreographers, for example? How do you approach limits of control?
JW: Collaboration is about finding the places where you overlap, then moving deeper into that territory. Film/video, music, acting, and choreography all have their own language. When collaborating, it’s like working together to invent a new language. Film/video is a time-based medium, so pacing is very important. Sometimes there are beautiful accidents, other times there are minor train-wrecks. Giving up complete creative control can be stressful, but sometimes much more rewarding than just moving around inside my own comfort zone.
FAR OUT FILM FEST happens at The Blue Room at Third Man in Nashville, 623 7th Ave. S., Thursday, May 10th 8-10pm. FAR OUT NASHVILLE music and art fest continues on Friday and Saturday, May 11-12, at Mercy Lounge and The High Watt. Visit https://www.faroutnashville.com for more info on admission and to purchase tickets.
Duncan McDaniel's Standing Wave is up at Red Arrow in East Nashville from April 14th May 6th. The majority of the exhibit is a series of paintings on paper that stack and repeat thin lines to form wave-like patterns. From Red Arrow's press release on Standing Wave:
"In this series Duncan McDaniel incorporates art and design into an intrinsic experience of finding harmony and simplicity in the creative process. The organic quality of the work is not as much of a decision of subject matter, but more of a process based evolution that highlights the binding connection between man and nature. Using elements of artificial light, found industrial materials and inks the artist creates work that reflect shapes and patterns that are nestled harmoniously in between the natural, manufactured, and the spiritual. The soul of the work reflects an approachable lighthearted quality indicative of hearing a pleasing note or the sound of om."
Photos by Jonathan Lisenby
by Jonathan Lisenby
Impermanent is a one-night-only "Underground Art Exhibition" happening this Saturday, April 28th in an unmarked warehouse in The Nations area of west Nashville. One of the event-planners and curators, Sterling Goller-Brown, noted that the custom art will not be outright destroyed immediately following the show, like in his past Demographics series. Watch the short video below to get a sense of the dark and colorful tone of this one-night show:
Video by Jonathan Lisenby for Omnifold. Impermanent is a one-night-only art show taking place April 28th, 2018 at 1211 57th Ave. N. in Nashville, TN. www.theomnifold.com
Click here to check out the Facebook Event page for more information on Impermanent. More photos, artist links, and reviews for Impermanent are coming soon, here at Omnifold.
Open Studios Nashville - Spring 2018 registration is now open! Click the links below to either register or to view the event's page. The event page will be updated regularly to include the artists and studios registered as stops on the tour. Artist/venue registration is free and takes about a minute to complete. Click on the "Registry" button below and fill out form C to register as an artist.
Open Studios Nashville is a city-wide artist and maker studio tour that offers the chance to meet local artists, see the spaces where they work, and learn about their creative process. Large group studio spaces available for tour like Platetone, 100 Taylor Arts Collective, and Ground Floor Gallery & Studios, represent artists in East Nashville, historic Germantown, and Wedgewood-Houston, and make it simple to visit several studios in one stop. Omnifold will be offering a printed and online map of all registered studios, with suggested routes marked, available May 20th. Visitors are encouraged to explore on their own, take a bike tour, or join local Omnifold curators and arts professionals on map-marked studio visits.
OSN Spring 2018 occurs on Saturday, May 26th from noon to 6pm and is free and open to the public. Keep an eye on theomnifold.com for future updates.
Top image: David Onri Anderson's studio from OSN Fall 2017
Photos by Jonathan Lisenby
Nashville's open artist critique club, Crit Club Nashville, met at Ground Floor Gallery + Studios at 924 4th Ave. S. Participating artists included Janet Yañez, Austin Reavis, Jonathan Lisenby, Lindsy Davis, Matt Christy, Sibley Barlow, Georgeanna Green, Meg McGregor, and Jana Ismail, among others. Click on a photo below to see slideshow.
by Jonathan Lisenby
In his interview with curator Jonathan Lisenby, Tennessee-based artist Austin Reavis reveals the how's and why's of making a restaurant menu for kids, and when to make things for one's own taste.
by Jonathan Lisenby
