Events
Part #1 The audience is seated in the center of a large room. Chairs are lined in rows facing a projection screen and are surrounded by organized piles of construction material. The artist enters and begins a standard artist talk addressed to the audience. As the artist talk continues, five carpenters build a room around the audience. Their actions are well choreographed and efficient. The room is of standard 2x4 construction clad with sheetrock. Once the entire room is assembled (separating audience from the lecture) a musician joins the audience in the recently constructed room.
Part #2 The musician plays a set creating an ambiance of intimacy. During the musical section of the performance, the carpenters continue their work. Out of site, they build a second floor to the structure. This consists of a deck, railing, and stairs. Preparations are made for a dinner party on the second floor - table and chairs are installed, lighting in the gallery is lowered, and ambient lighting is installed on the deck. The environment is dark and expansive, spreading across the cavernous space of the gallery. Once the musical section ends, the audience is lead to the top of the structure via lowered stairs.
Part #3 In the last portion of the performance the audience, artist, carpenters, musician, and cook join for a dinner. The performance is allowed to end on its own accord.
The entire experience is structured as a journey – beginning with an audience sitting to receive an artist lecture in a some-what standard format. The audience then experiences a transformation – where they become part of the work itself – first having a mutual experience during the musical performance, then getting to know each other and those who provided this experience.
Location: Coleman Burke Gallery, Brunswick, ME
Coordinator: Aaron T Stephan
Musician: Moses Atwood
Cooks: Lauren Fensterstock, Rebecca FitzPatrick
Carpentry Crew: Nat Highstein, Rob Leiber, Brendan Ferri, Michael Bernstein, and Paul Brahms
Duration: approx. 4 hrs.
more on Closer
www.colemanburke.com/brunswick/press/Cl…
www.colemanburke.com/brunswick/aaronste…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUQxi253YmQ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0QIxWOsqPI