1.30.2004
MAAG 2004
The weekend before I left for the South Pole, I participated in the 4th Annual McMurdo Alternative Art Gallery (MAAG) -- McMurdo's "Burning Man." (see link at right to view work from past events).The participatory art event included break dancing, tap dancing, live experimental music, a fashion show, sculpture, installations, video art, food, prose, and more. Erik and I both worked hard for weeks on our submissions.
We kicked off the event with a procession by the "Super Snappy Kazoo Marching Band", complete with Tyvek uniforms and a (very small) colorguard. (I'm the one at left). Never thought I'd use those high-school Dance Machine moves again. They played, "When the Ants Come Marching In."
Once inside the venue, guests and participants wandered around to scheduled and unscheduled events on two floors. A favorite was the Fashion and Bra Show, an event with ties to an organization in the States aimed at raising awareness (and funding) for breast cancer research (see link at right).
Zoe shows off her fabulous grapes, and another woman gives new meaning to "science support".
I was impressed at the range and quality of the creative projects -- especially in the fashion show -- given the limited materials. We are in Antarctica after all. Traci, the woman in front, created 4 great dresses from tents.
For my contribution to the fashion show, I exhausted my interest in orange plastic construction fencing. This evening wear was inspired by (and created with) the same materials I used in a corresponding 12' installation. As you see here, the outfit comes with a matching dog collar and leash (I miss pets, and I was chicken to walk down the catwalk by myself).
The installation was entered (shoes off, please) through an opening in the suspended 12' square of -- you guessed it -- orange plastic construction fencing. The floor of this "room" was carpeted with bubble wrap. Snapping and popping, viewers walk across the floor to a second "room", created out of one of the cardboard/wooden trash bins seen around town. Crawling inside the 2' opening, one was immediately enveloped in sound (Gus Gus, "Is Jesus Your Pal") and sparkly light, sitting comfortably inside the reflective walls on a quilted tuffet (of the same material as my skirt).
The theme of this year's MAAG was "The Edge of Innocence". This made me think of William Blake's illustrated books of poetry, "Songs of Innocence," and "Songs of Experience". So, the installation and fashion I made were created with these (at first glance) opposite / related states of being in mind.
Erik explored the theme by re-appropriating video footage from the Wizard of Oz, and combining it with alternating stills of George Bush and Saddam Hussein from the news. The video of Dorothy and her pals in negative color (which gave it a haunting feel) was projected (on a sheet) over a band playing experimental music.
Some of you may have seen an earlier still triptych of the same theme Erik exhibited in Boulder before we left.
The weekend before I left for the South Pole, I participated in the 4th Annual McMurdo Alternative Art Gallery (MAAG) -- McMurdo's "Burning Man." (see link at right to view work from past events).The participatory art event included break dancing, tap dancing, live experimental music, a fashion show, sculpture, installations, video art, food, prose, and more. Erik and I both worked hard for weeks on our submissions.
We kicked off the event with a procession by the "Super Snappy Kazoo Marching Band", complete with Tyvek uniforms and a (very small) colorguard. (I'm the one at left). Never thought I'd use those high-school Dance Machine moves again. They played, "When the Ants Come Marching In."
Once inside the venue, guests and participants wandered around to scheduled and unscheduled events on two floors. A favorite was the Fashion and Bra Show, an event with ties to an organization in the States aimed at raising awareness (and funding) for breast cancer research (see link at right).
Zoe shows off her fabulous grapes, and another woman gives new meaning to "science support".
I was impressed at the range and quality of the creative projects -- especially in the fashion show -- given the limited materials. We are in Antarctica after all. Traci, the woman in front, created 4 great dresses from tents.
For my contribution to the fashion show, I exhausted my interest in orange plastic construction fencing. This evening wear was inspired by (and created with) the same materials I used in a corresponding 12' installation. As you see here, the outfit comes with a matching dog collar and leash (I miss pets, and I was chicken to walk down the catwalk by myself).
The installation was entered (shoes off, please) through an opening in the suspended 12' square of -- you guessed it -- orange plastic construction fencing. The floor of this "room" was carpeted with bubble wrap. Snapping and popping, viewers walk across the floor to a second "room", created out of one of the cardboard/wooden trash bins seen around town. Crawling inside the 2' opening, one was immediately enveloped in sound (Gus Gus, "Is Jesus Your Pal") and sparkly light, sitting comfortably inside the reflective walls on a quilted tuffet (of the same material as my skirt).
The theme of this year's MAAG was "The Edge of Innocence". This made me think of William Blake's illustrated books of poetry, "Songs of Innocence," and "Songs of Experience". So, the installation and fashion I made were created with these (at first glance) opposite / related states of being in mind.
Erik explored the theme by re-appropriating video footage from the Wizard of Oz, and combining it with alternating stills of George Bush and Saddam Hussein from the news. The video of Dorothy and her pals in negative color (which gave it a haunting feel) was projected (on a sheet) over a band playing experimental music.
Some of you may have seen an earlier still triptych of the same theme Erik exhibited in Boulder before we left.
