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.