Our show opened on Friday night, and we had a great crowd. I forgot to take pictures at the opening, so here's a shot of the final presentation. The show runs through Dec. 15.
Cecille R. Hunt Gallery
8342 Big Bend Blvd.
Hours M – F, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m
image from Firefly Europa's production Gzhel, [source]
In the course of working on the soundtrack for our video Bruc Fugue, I have been doing research into Russian children's songs.
The fugue (a more sophisticated version of singing in rounds) in the title will be sung a cappella by vocalists and layered over the sound of traditional folk clogging that's native to the video. The lyrics of the fugue are a found poem written from the words of a pamphlet on Cherynobl that we picked up off the ground in Barcelona.
I've been trying to write the score of the fugue from scratch and haven't been happy with the results. The other day, it occurred to me that I should adapt a pre-existing song that's in the public domain into a fugue. What better type of song to use than a Russian children's folk song? I've found a wealth of resources online, and was particularly charmed by this website, which has several examples of songs. My favorites are "We'll Go Through This Trouble" and "Dog Could Be A Biter." Even the children's songs in Russia are morose and none too reassuring.
While doing research, I also discovered the group Firefly Europa (above), a dance company which blends traditional Russian folk dancing with modern. You can see examples of their work here. The costumes alone are worth it.
MNAC, Barcelona
We're back in LA after working in Spain for the last four weeks on our next project, which will debut in January 2007. It's in the can, but we're continuing to work on it — the benefit of video installation over live performance installation: time to hone.
This month is another busy one for us as we prepare to establish a new studio in St. Louis, where I have taken a position at Webster University. We're excited to make the transition to a city that's got such a thriving and innovative art scene: St. Louis is the new black.
Photo: Marie Bukowski
Part of the set.
Set detail.
We're finalizing the set and choreography for the shoot tomorrow. Here are two new models.
We are now fabricating our models constructed out of trash into the video set, which is located in a large brick room that used to be a winery. The video shoot is Tuesday and features 11 performers.
We have just completed the camera track [for our next video].
