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May 22, 2006

creative world

by gl. at 3:33 pm

three more art events last week:

* a staged play reading: lost wavelengths
"DJ and self-styled musicologist Murray stalks the wilds of Middle America in search of the strange and wonderful songs of amateur musicians for his public radio program. From among a parade of odd, self-deluded and deranged outsiders, he hopes to lure “Enola Guy” - a mysterious, death-obsessed guitarist who never grants interviews or plays in public - into the open."

it sounded like an interesting concept, but it was sort of dull and really thick with innuendo & sexual jokes (and in my experience, when theatre people don't have anything to say, they leap to innuendo. it's very tiresome). during the conversation w/ the author, i realized he had wasted a prime opportunity to use the "parade of odd, self-deluded and deranged outsiders" as a greek chorus, reponding to the events as they unfold on stage.

* alberta art hop
also disappointing, as very little of the art insprired me. the theme this year was "the art of surprise/the surprise of art" and the non-juried show had lots of pieces from people who ignored the theme or barely played with it. there were four exceptions: a "virus" with a tiny chest of drawers inside, a 2-d piece that open two different ways, a large metal sculpture with a small crank that spun the contents of its head around, and a wall piece w/ wooden gears that spun a corndog through a cheery sky and then *dinged* a large bell unexpectedly. outside that exhibit, there were two others worth mentioning: the grace academy had an exhibit of poetry combined w/ woodcut prints from 8th graders, and there was a participatory drawing space nearby. i bought a cd from sassparilla, who made music sven & i danced to on the sidewalk, but everything else on alberta (we're talking 25 blocks, people!) was pretty blase.

* "create the world"
i still really love this event, which goes out of it way to have a variety of offerings for different learning & social styles. well managed yet casual, it has a high potential for whoo-whoo but doesn't go there unless you want it to.

i was there for about 12 hours and there were at least three times more presentations than i could attend, but i attended presentations like "You can learn to draw," "Are Men Oppressed?," "Core strengthening with the Big Blue Ball," "Building Rapport & Credibility: An Intro to Status Work," "Peaceful Parenting: Less Conflict, More Connection," "Juggling Fun," "Drum, Shake, Rattle and Roll Circle," "Allowing Serendipity" (and an impromptu paraffin dip, both from the woman who created deja shoes), "Mystery of Watercolor Revealed," "Creative Leadership in Community Well Being," "Improv Warmup and Story," "Evening readings--poetry and prose," tango lessons and finally we pushed aside the dining room table to swing dance at the end of the night.

i also shared a presentation this year presentation about "the benefits of a daily writing practice" and made a small, succinct handout i oughtta put online at some point. none of these presentations were more than 1/2 hour long: in between you snacked on delicious food and browsed the book/magazine/clothing exhange and explore the grounds and continued talking to people. i re-met some people i had only met last year and we were all genuinely glad to see each other. and dude, there's a treehouse!

posted by gl. | May 22, 2006 3:33 PM | categories: exhibits & events