Art-Full Life

In its 7th year, the four-day Transmodern Festival was nothing short of amazing:

~One of my favorite videos shown at the BMA on opening night was Amie Siegel’s  My Way, which mines YouTube for examples of teenagers (mostly girls) singing “Gotta Go My Way.” These amateur performances are recorded in bedrooms, each singer surrounded by intimate belongings—clothing, beds, toys, posters, personal photographs. These items are all more revealing than the repetition of the popular song. In the 1960s, we would have sung alone and secretively, in our bedrooms or perhaps locked in the bathroom with the shower running. Today, these awkward moments are recorded and shared freely—with strangers, no less. Privacy is no longer a concern.

~On Friday night at the H & H Building, John Eaton handed me a crisp white envelope stamped 8:39 and instructed me to open it at exactly that moment and shout out the word inside. My word was Interlocution. Throughout the evening I heard random call-outs of Eaton’s words. At 8:39, I had to restrain myself from shouting “Interlocution!” I was at the time squeezed (literally) into the first performance of Fantastic Planet by Annex Theater.

~ Those of you who have seen the original 1973 animated film Fantastic Planet will remember the story that unfolds of a new planet, where humans are the slaves of gigantic draags. This is relatively easy to accomplish on film, but in person? Wow! Best of all was the ever-changing scenery behind the characters, created by Shana Palmer and Nick Becker and displayed through an old-fashioned projector. These transparencies were also used to reinforce the differences in scale. At one point, enormous illustrated blue feet, stomped the disobedient humans as they hid in the grass. It is a fabulous experience to see the reality-to-animation experience reversed, so that the animation comes alive in such an engaging way.

Enslaved humans hold an enormous infoset that comes from their captors' world in Fantastic Planet.

~Gallery Four displayed four amazing projections that to my eye appeared to be animated paintings. I stood before one, The Respawning Grounds, mesmerized. Lucky me, the creator of this wonder, MICA grad and Wham City member Robby Rackleff, was standing there next to his work and I had a chance to hear how he creates these projected images, beginning with Legos, which are digitized and multiplied to build the fortress. He adds other parts—such as water-like images—through a Microsoft paint tool.

Wack a Mole. Photo by Edward Winter

~Wack a Mole was loosely based on a free online kids game, where the players hit moles on the head with a hammer as they emerge from their underground tunnels.  Installed at Gallery Four, its masterminds were Andrew Laing and Michael Benevento.  I jumped right in, climbing on top of a tall circular platform in the center of the installation.  Moles (people wearing elaborately decorated helmets) poked their heads out of shelters; they were seemingly willing targets for the aggressors on the platform. Encouraged by the crowd, we tossed soft balls at the “moles” while volunteers spun the platform.

Photo by Edward Winter

I was surprised at how much I was enjoying myself, throwing balls, however ineptly, at random gallery goers. (Maybe for the first time, I experienced the rush of excitement that draws 12-year-old boys inexorably into video games.) Next, I became a mole myself, strapped on a helmet, and assumed the role of the pursued and victimized animal. Even that part was fun. I was actually disappointed by when the ball-tossers ran out of ammunition.

Photo by Edward Winter

~At Floristree, there were a series of performances including the dazzling Robby Rackleff.  Assuming his persona as the Blue Leader, a look-alike for Cyclops of the X-Men, Robby wore a sleek costume, complete with a headpiece and mask that concealed his face and transformed him into a denizen of the virtual world. As he stood on the stage, dizzying digital projections rushed behind him. These were appropriated from video games, but edited in Final Cut with colors keyed out and images flipped and pixilated. Robby’s energetic, arm-thrusting performance made me feel as though I was inside a computer and the Blue Leader was calling me to participate in a virtual revolution. As he explained to me later: “I sort of see the whole performance as if Eric Bogosian was doing a karaoke version of Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell.”

~As I left the festival on Saturday night, the Pedestrian Service Exquisite offered me a reminder call for the festivities on the waterfront Sunday. I agreed, and guess what?  They actually called me!