Cilla
Vee Life Arts
NEWSLETTER
– SPRING 2012
Dear Friends,
2012 is already
almost halfway through – it’s hard to believe how quickly time is passing!
2011
UK
& EUROPE
The past year has
been quite a varied one.
May ‘til October
2011 were spent in the UK – although the stay there was mainly for personal
reasons (i.e. Feeling the need to re-establish myself as a Brit!) there were
also a number of professional projects.
In June I had the
honor of representing Black Mountain College Museum + Art Center at “To Open
Eyes” – a BMC conference held at Sussex University in Brighton, where I gave a
presentation on the current happenings of “Black Mountain College NOW” – As
well as presenting the keynote performance “Dome Poems” – a project by poet Lee
Ann Brown in collaboration with film-maker Tony Torn.
This was
performed at the conference with Brighton musician Paul Morgan.
Lee Ann &
Tony sent the film files from NY to Sussex Uni, where Paul & I viewed the
work, then improvised sound & movement in live performance, interacting
with surrounding multiple projections of the film.
… We had
approximately five hours in which to execute the whole process & it all
came together very nicely.
In October, my
partner (audio-visual artist David Linton) came over from NY to tour &
travel in Europe with me. We had a number of informal performances in Paris,
Prague & Berlin.
BACK
IN THE USA
On returning to
the states, I spent six weeks in NYC assisting David for his artist residency
at AIR in “The Clocktower”, Lower Manhattan.
Here, he created
a video installation entitled the “Cortical Deguasser” using the flicker effect
to trigger optical & brain activity into producing colors & patterns –
pretty amazing stuff!
We collaborated
on an accompanying installation of objects & books “Time On Its Side”
displayed in the entrance.
(Apparently this
received some celebrity attention, as we were informed that Michael Stipe spent
some considerable time viewing the piece … it also ended up in Lee Ranaldo’s new
“Off The Wall” video! - http://youtu.be/eJ3jzjh4oEM
)
For more
information about AIR – visit: http://artonair.org/
2012
ASHEVILLE
It’s been a busy
Spring for CVLA in Asheville NC.
The Asheville
Area Arts Council recently appointed a new director – Kitty Love, who is
bringing it a wonderful fresh burst of energy. Her vision includes presenting
regular performing arts events at the council gallery space “The Artery”. To develop public awareness of this,
AAAC & CVLA co-produced a series of events held in conjunction with the
annual regional Creative Sector Summit in March.
ARTIST
EXCHANGE
AAAC agreed to
host the launch of CVLA’s new “Mountain To Sky Artist Exchange” program – whose
mission is: “To foster the exchange of unique artistic talent in the
contemporary and experimental arts communities between the mountains of North
Carolina and the city of New York.”
… Our inaugural
NY guest artist was David Linton – who presented an audio-visual workshop &
performance, as well as collaborating with CVLA on our epic multi-media
experience KOLORZ.
MOTION SCULPTURE
(hits Asheville!)
After developing
Motion Sculpture movement & forming a group of dancers to perform in NYC
since 2002, I had been wanting to begin the Motion Sculpture project in
Asheville – but was waiting for the appropriate time & place. With the
support of the AAAC, I have been able to start an Asheville Motion Sculpture
group.
KOLORZ was the
culminating performance event for our first Motion Sculpture movement workshop
series (held at The Artery)
It was a
continuous six-hour multi-media performance installation including audio-visual
media, music & movement.
David worked with
a group of select Asheville musicians to create live sound-trigged visual
media.
A set was created
by the use of long streams of color fabric, which the dancers manipulated to
create shifting landscapes of colors & form.
All these
elements were combined to create the complete installation.
During the
six-hour event, audience members were free to arrive & leave at any time.
For more
information about the AAAC – visit: http://ashevillearts.com/
{RE}HAPPENING
This years annual
{Re}Happening event on the old Black Mountain College campus was a huge
extravaganza with well over sixty artists involved.
CVLA presented an
absurdist, site-specific, physical theatre installation on the tennis courts
entitled “L’Oeuf”. This was a
satirical, humorous piece that involved slow-motion tennis, performers tied to
ropes, gin & tonics & eggs!
Again – the piece
was presented as a continuous long-duration installation which evolved &
devolved throughout a five-hour period.
I had a wonderful
group of performers from Roanoke VA to work with. Evidently, there is quite an
interesting little arts scene there.
For more
information about {Re}Happening – visit:
ONE-DOLLAR
FUNDRAISER
And last … but by
no means least … It’s time for the annual ONE DOLLAR FUNDRAISER!
This usually
takes place throughout the month of April – however, this year March &
April has been a peak production time, so we are starting the fundraiser in May
& continuing through June.
For those not
familiar – just put a $1 bill in an envelope & mail to:
Claire Elizabeth
Barratt
Cilla Vee Life
Arts – Fundraiser
65, Coleman Ave
Asheville NC
28801
If donating more
than $5 – or donating in currency other than USA $ - please donate through the
PAYPAL button on the homepage of the CVLA website: www.cillavee.com
This year’s
fundraiser will go towards furthering the Mountain To Sky Artist Exchange
program.
Thank you for
your continuing interest & support of Cilla Vee Life Arts
Best wishes
Claire Elizabeth
Barratt
director
Photos:
Time On its Side
– David Linton & Claire E Barratt
KOLORZ - Claire E
Barratt (director, dancer) David Linton (audio-visual)
Musicians: John
Brinker, Liz Lang, Chandra Shukla, Elisa Faires
Dancers: Kathleen
Hahn, Sara Baird, Amy Borskey, Coco Palmer, Christine Maiello, Anita Frykberg,
Amanda Sewell
L’Oeuf - Claire E
Barratt, Ralph Eaton, Warren Fry, Olchar Lindsann, Aaron Bensen & Andrew Caudill,
Liza Deck, Jessi Naff, Nenden Stillman, Amanda Woods of City Modern Ensemble.
