Funding Next Step

I came home from the first half of the Contact Improv and Body Mind Centering workshop to find a nice letter from the City of Davis with congratulations on my strong application. They had questions about the educational part of this project in the Davis public schools. So, for the last week I have been playing email tag with Gina Smith who is one of the Drama teachers and have sent quite a few more emails to other art and music teachers on the HS and Junior High level with no response. Amy Greer offered to lead the lesson for elementary and I will gladly take the high schoolers. The city needs some information on how the lessons will be focused and who will be leading them. They need this by January 5. With the holidays upon us and vacation time prevalent, I have quite a task ahead of me.

Oh the grantors also want to have a confirmed date. This is the communication I've had with Scott Bowen and Joy Cohan. I think we will still push on with the 16th of May. Yahooo!

Hope: Sat. May 16, 2009 probably will be the date of the Rotary Turkey BBQ in Central Park (they use the Sycamore Grove & stage all day after Farmer's Market), it's also the day of the Double Century bike tour (a couple thousand bicyclists up at Community park), and probably an outdoor movie in Central park that evening at about 9:00 p.m.

Depending on WHERE you do the cabaret downtown, these events should not conflict. It's also 2 days after Celebrate Davis, a huge event in Community Park.

exhibitionism

I've always been kind of fascinated by those human exhibits that took place in the early 20th century, wherein members of "tribes" from Africa or India or Oceania were brought to Europe and displayed as if in a sort of human zoo or living museum. It was a horrible thing, of course, in many ways. People and their cultural artifacts were removed from their contexts and placed before sensation-hungry Europeans. I sometimes wonder if Duchamp's urinal was a (unconscious?) response to this sort of thing (and a more sophisticated response than, say, Debussy's or Picasso's). After all, a mask (or even a person) from Africa will have a particular function in its society of origin; when it is placed in an exhibit at a European museum it takes on all sorts of new meanings. Similarly, one would presume, with toilets and other objects--perhaps members of another society would find in our toilets powerful artistic expressions.

I wonder if such exhibits could be done today. If someone put us, for example, in an exhibit, what would they want to see? What meanings can we be invested with if we are taken out of context? What is exotic about us, what strange rituals do we perform, in what ways are we "primitive"? What are our mating dances, our healing songs?

Alternately, what happens when/if we museumize dada? Does the present world provide a proper context in which to experience dada? Or is dada already subsumed by the cultural establishment? Should dada be meseumized? Should dada-ists be meseumized?...

"Ladies and gentlemen prepare yourselves, for today you are in for a one of a kind treat! Thought to have become extinct in the 1920s due to suicide, venereal disease, and anomie, we have traveled deep into the primordial recesses of art history to bring you these primitive and exotic specimens. Marvel at the enigmatic chatterings of the Tristan Tzara; delight in the strange songs of the Kurt Schwitters; tremble at the primeval visages of the Marcel Janco! Ladies and gentlemen, without further delay, I present to you: the Lost Tribe of the Dadas!"

Ready, set, propose

On Friday I drafted a flyer calling for artists and performers, as well as the submission form for art and performance projects. I only got feedback from one of the minion, so I will review both again today and send out to the world tomorrow. Actually I already made some changes to the flyer and will look at the form in a few minutes.

There's a lot of work to do with this festival, but it's like pulling teeth to get feedback and assistance. This quarter has been busy and I know that everyone is overcommitted. I'm hoping once I have some of the artistic stuff done and the word starts to spread, I will get a few more people to assist with organization and logistics and then I can do that thing that I'm not so good at - delegate.

I wonder why I have not spent much time on my thesis this quarter...

Mo Money, fingers crossed

So, on Thursday the ball started rolling and my Sunday it became a huge fireball. In my conversation with Bob Bowen he mentioned the Arts Competition grant from the City of Davis. The folks at the Pence told me about it weeks ago, but I really didn't think I needed it. However, now that we are taking over downtown Davis, I realized both the potential and all of the costs involved.

I got together with one of my fellow acting MFAs, Amy Cole, on Sunday for brunch at Little Prague. I had done a bit of work on the application on Saturday, but we talked through the budget and scope of the project. Amy has quite a bit of experience with grant writing and I have to say that I never would have been able to do it without her. What I have been learning at grad school most of all, is how to articulate what I do and why it is important. After a few more hours of reworking and fleshing out of ideas on Sunday, I sent it to Tim Orr, yet another classmate in my program to do a little proofreading. He caught all of my colloquial shit and forced me to take out anything that would set a red flag for the panel. Tim has a bunch of administrative experience in both theatre and dance and his comments were specific and professional. I do have to say that I am a good editor and proofreader, but it's just like cleaning and organizing -- I'm always better with someone else's stuff.

What I realized on Friday however, was that I needed resumes from all of the lead artists and quite a few letters of recommendation. I am not going to lie - that was the scramble part of the process. Due to the short time to get the proposal in, I had to do quite a bit of legwork, but it's done and in and I did in fact kiss the packet of application copies as I put in in the box on the front desk of the Pence Gallery.

I cannot wait to really start digging in and get all Dada artistic. That will certainly inspire all of this organization and administration.

Dadaists Untie!

Dada Takes Over

So, I found out this week that the Davis Arts Center is no longer available to rent in May 2009 for our little adventure. I was slightly bummed, but realized that we were only taking the easy way out by keeping the Dada Cabaret so contained. I had a great phone conversation with Bob Bowen in the City of Davis on Thursday and he never said no. I am not sure why I thought he may. he gave me great ideas and people who I need to contact and encouragement in getting city funds.

Our meeting yesterday was nothing less than spirited. Josh spoke in excited tones and Sarah was super vocal. We made plans of treasure maps, exploring the nooks and crannies of our little cowtown and getting all dada.

I am in the process of getting additional funding from the participating UCD humanities departments and I will be going to the Davis ArtsWalk tonight to start getting my name out there and preaching the Dada gospel.

It's going to be a lot of work, but I am very excited about the journey. Here's to a Saturday in May and a little gypsy dinner to follow the mayhem.

p.s.

I just came across a line in Tzara's Dada Manifesto that perhaps complements the questions I put forth in the previous post:

Beware of forgeries!

Imitators of DADA want to present DADA in an artistic form which it has never had

last meeting's exercise

I think it's peculiar what can evolve from the awareness that one is being filmed. I wonder if our actions would have been different had we not had a camera to consciously or subconsciously perform for.

I also am thinking about what it was like to deliberately follow direction stating, "We will all do Dada things now, and here are the parameters under which they'll take place." Is an academic discussion of Dada sort of Dada in itself, seeing as how Dada founders believed everything to be absurd or incomprehensible?

If we "put on" a Dada event, are we contradicting what Dada is, fundamentally? Would our performance be just that--a facsimile or representation of Dada, instead of the "real thing"?

Reflecting on exercise

The improv station activity was very much out of my usual mode of what sometimes feels like "robotic student." It gave me a chance to play and I realized how little playing i do in my daily lifeand how important it is to break out of that routine! I especially liked rolling on the ball and reading out loud. I learned that I must read that manifesto to go further in this collective. So this activity is a reminder to play and remain flexible and keep making/creating/collecting/let others in to find out what else is possible.

The creative energy in the room was high and varied in personality. We respected each other's space and helped to create something that seemed completely ridiculous and absurd and loads of fun!
I had a smile on my face into the evening and could still feel the essence of improv the next day. It carries into the other activities in my life and ultimately has a positive effect that is bubbling over into the present moments building upon each other...

Uh oh, another meeting

We have our third meeting scheduled for tomorrow. Right now only 7 people are scheduled to attend. I have not really planned this gathering. I would really like to whip together a flash mob. I wonder what we will actually do.

There is some activity in the grant department which is super exciting. I also had an epiphany about space when I went to see Trolley Dances this weekend in San Francisco.

More later.

More Design, more Art History

I got a message on Monday from Kris Carpenter in Design saying that she was off for the month of August and did not send out the message to the students. So after I gave her the go ahead to send my original email on, I got interest emails from eight more students. Therefore when I sent out the minutes of the last meeting yesterday, I also requested another gathering.

Mike Ricoli responded to the Minutes email and said that he spoke with one of his professors about the project and she would like to announce it to her Art History students. My guess is that we will have a new surge of participants in a few days.

I guess I'd better get my act together and get the performance side of things rolling.

Mostly Conventional, a Little Absurd

Yesterday we had our second Dada meeting in the conference room in Wright Hall. As usual, there were those who responded but didn't show and at least one who didn't respond but did attend. I asked everyone to consider what they wanted to bring to the table, as well as share some knowledge of Dada with the group. There were 4 of us who brought either books or ideas to share, but for the most part most of the people involved do not know how they want to be involved yet.

I believe we took a step forward yesterday and I started to explain some of the performance pieces I am thinking about. Daniel was surprised that they were so literal and historical, but I personally want to start there so we at least have some pretty accessible things in the mix. I would still like to show Hugo Ball as a volleyball sized ball with the word HUGO on it. Then I thought it would be fun if we used the ball as a head and created a little movement exploration that assembled the image of Hugo Ball at the Cabaret Voltaire.

Mike mentioned that he still wants to play with large canvas paintings. I offered the idea of doing a painting on a piece of fabric that then becomes a costume piece, but he was less interested in that.

We talked a bit about space and that is still the largest obstacle. In my frustration I talked more about the flash mob elements that we would not need space - and to be honest I got more excited as I spoke about potential performance ideas.

The biggest thing is that before the meeting started I handed out tasks for everyone to complete during the meeting. I was unsure if anyone was going to do them and it wasn't until 4:00 until things started rolling. Daniel got up and asked everyone to join him in singing Happy Birthday to Mr. President. Unfortunately we also lost Julie and Mike who had to leave at that time, so the meeting didn't get as raucous as I'd hoped.

I do have the whole thing on video (or well mostly Dave Dennen and me on video) but there is pretty good audio throughout. I may cut together the highlights and post them here.

We did not schedule another meeting, but I plan to get started on the performative elements that interest me. Hopefully that will get the BALL rolling a bit faster.

Not a fan of the No.

Since it's difficult to really make a plan with this project without a venue I went to two of the galleries in town after meeting with Garrett from the music department and Josh, one of the scenic designers in my program.

I rode my bike to the first one - my favorite - and had to wait about 20 minutes for the owner to come back. He never responded to my email and when the assistance tried to find it on the computer, she was unable. I had my computer with me so I just sent it again. I toured the gallery for a while and heard a loud voice at the front desk. I figured that was the owner and introduced myself. He was high energy and was half listening to me and half communicating with a friend visiting from out of town. He was excited that he just sold a painting to Chad Lowe and needed to share. This made it very difficult for me and he was not really listening nor giving me much option. I just stared at him for a moment, said thank you and left. I was not exactly sure what happened, but basically due to a ceramic show going on in May, he was not able to give me any exhibition space. So, he was telling me no. And to be honest, I really didn't want to hear it.

I moved on to the another gallery and spoke with another assistance before the head of the gallery got out of her meeting. She was much more open and we discussed possibilities and dates. Better yet, the assistant suggested I apply for a local arts grant. I need to read it over, but I believe they give upwards of $5,000. So, that would be sweet.

There are still a few other places to try and I may still go back to my first and favorite place and see what's really possible.

I look forward to our meeting next Friday and created an exercise for the group that I will video tape. It may be good for the exhibit or it may be entertaining blog viewing.

Set backs or no, we are on the path for a very exciting project.

The Journey Begins

Today was our first meeting of the Dada Project. Of the 29 people interested in the project there were 10 that showed up. We did two exercises that were on the quiet side. It allowed more quiet contemplation, but the energy was there. I am excited to blow the roof off the subject and really start getting our hands dirty.

As I anticipated even with Dada there needs to be structure, so that's my top priority. Getting some spaces and dates together to pose to the group. We need to have a time line so we know for how long we can be crazy and then when we have to start making some decisions. Our next meeting is Friday the 3rd and we are going to bring some artistic ideas to the table as well as a bit of education. I think most of the questions on the table will be answered and then of course, a whole new set of questions will arise.

I have also invited all 10 attendees to blog, so hopefully you, our dear readers, will start to get different perspectives and hear other voices.

"We should burn all libraries and allow to remain only that which everyone knows by heart. A beautiful age of the legend would then begin."
--Hugo Ball, journal entry, Jan. 9, 1917, Flight Out of Time: A Dada Diary [1927]

Impatience...

I met with the fantastic text and movement artist Celeste Miller and told her about a few of my ideas around the project - the letter writing section where the audience would deliver letters from one performer to another on request, the sound poem out of war and some of the rotating visual arts stations.

She was very complimentary and this got me super excited.

Can we start now??!!!

First Meeting Scheduled

I went to the department yesterday to find space for the first meeting. I'm afraid that Wright 220 will be too tight, but I would prefer to be in a conference room with light and tables, rather than the Arena that's dark and icky. I have 27 people (including myself) who are interested. I'm curious to know the attrition rate.

I spoke briefly with Jon Rossini the other day in the green room of Wright Hall and said that I probably will not be performing in this project since I will need to administrate over 20 people. He said something along the lines of "administrate Dada?" And that rang a little bell. Am I controlling this process too much or rather will I?

I wonder if we should set some structure and then just let it all go. I'm interested in trying lots of chance things, but think it would be helpful to also rehearsal some of the more historical sections.

With the end of Second Summer Session this week and my trip to Atlanta on Friday, it will probably be a moment until I catch up. I hope to have some down time in the dirty South where I can work on Dada a bit. Oooh, perhaps a trip to Dad's to see what research they have from The Zurich Plays.

The List Grows!

I get a little giddy every time I think about the possibilities of this project and the fact that I have a list with 22 (!!) interested people. I finally have students or faculty from all departments that I targeted except Technocultural Studies. They each have a mix of experience and knowledge about Dada. Some of them have something specific to share and others are just ready to jump and participate. I need to embrace that rather than think about it as an administrative nightmare. I will head into the department tomorrow to check out some space and confirm the time and space for the meeting. Once I meet with the majority of group I will have a better plan of attack.

I have a good idea of what I want from this project, but the truth is that with 20 others involved we may wind up with something completely different. And that's okay. Actually it's better than okay, it's collaboration.

Today is a day to do laundry and work on my thesis, but tomorrow I'll jump back to Dada.

I Just Couldn't Wait!

So, I have been staring at those 7 emails in my outbox for a week now and just couldn't take it any longer. I sent those puppies out and got responses from 3 departments (German, Film & Art) letting me know they passed it on and then another 5 emails from interested parties. One (but perhaps 2) from German, one from Film, and one from Design. I am super excited. I am scheduling a meeting to gather with all interested students and faculty members on Tuesday, September 23rd in the afternoon. I also asked Jade if she could be there.

I did a bit of research in the library on Monday and have been reading a book on Dada Performance. I need to head to the Natsoulas Gallery tomorrow to see again if they would be interested. If not, I'm sure we can find a place on campus. I think I need to do a bit more work on my thesis this week, but I'll move back to Dada on Friday.

Another One Gone

On Saturday I got an email from Anna Schumacher letting me know that she is taking off fall quarter and therefore will not be available for rehearsals during fall quarter. I am trying not to be down about it, especially since we have not really started things yet. She did let me know that she completed 2 of the mail tasks and sent them on. So at least there's been some activity. I am currently at the library and was going to do some thesis work, but think I will do some Dada research instead.

The cool thing about Anna being in NY and her possible continued interest in the project is the mail aspect. We could continue to play with correspondence through the mail like the Dadaists did. There also may be some NY tasks she could do on my behalf. Or perhaps, we switch. She play NY and I play Paris. But she may not want to continue her involvement from so far away. We'll see.

I will send the emails to all of the departments in 5 days, so hopefully I will have a few more people on my team in a week or so.

Reenergized!

I have wanted to produce a Dada Cabaret for many years now. I hoped to complete it with Clint Thornton and The Center of Puppetry Arts before I left Atlanta, but alas there was not time or energy. So, I applied for and received a bit of funding through the Department of Theatre & Dance and its Three Penny Project program. I hand picked a few actors and spoke with a few musicians. I also met with Edward Dickinson in the History Department, Matthias Geiger in the Studio Art and Kern Holoman in Music at the end of last Spring quarter.

I have been doing a bit of research over the summer, but nothing truly dedicated. I gave the actors tasks at the beginning of the summer, but have not seen any come back. With the lack of interest and response, I put the project on the back burner. However today I drafted an email to the Graduate and Undergraduate Advisors in 8 departments - Art, Music, Film, Design, German, French, History, & Technocultural Studies. I will send it on September 1 and hope to get at least one person from each department.

I will continue to update with stories, findings, theatrical ideas as we go. And will open the blog up to my collaborators come fall. Welcome to the new journey!