On Tuesday, Insurgo met with Ceallaigh Pender to collaborate on her sculpture series ‘Indelible.’  We explored where a body of clay meets a body in motion. We’re asking questions about what it means to be indelible, fixed. And what do we experience as temporary or fleeting?

We’re finding nuanced and unprecedented parallels between the ‘Indelible’ project and some of the core practices and vision of Insurgo Stage Project. What do we mean by that? Come see for yourself at the next installment of ART IN MOTION: Friday and Saturday, October 14-15 @ 8pm at Downtown Live. $10 at the door. More info soon!

See all photos from Art in Motion at Insurgo’s Flickr page.

Here is the proposal Hestia wrote for her MFA program to detail her role in the project. She wanted to share it with us so we get a more concrete sense of where she’s coming from:

As digital life and liveness become more and more a part of our everyday a need emerges to trace its boundaries and limitations. We must understand new types of presence, adjust our conception of absence.  Social encounters and sites become the raw material for these works, collaboration in their making and interaction in their dissemination, connection and its grammar, presence and telepresence.

Exploring the relationship between continuity and change Hestia Peppe draws attention to new technologies: video, the web and mass communication and their earliest manifestations; storytelling, mark, ritual and fire. The present technological complexity we inhabit demands that we become fluent in our interactions with it in order to survive. How can ‘old’ relationships with technology inform our learning in the future? Can we become as intimately familiar with new technologies as those of the past?

For three weeks Hestia Peppe will be present in the role of Artist In Residence with Insurgo Stage Project during development of their group improvised work Art In Motion.  During the part of the development when she is not present she will continue to create work as part of the ongoing collaboration.  This offers the opportunity to consider collaborative methodologies utilising both presence and telepresence and the role of the technologies of telepresence (video calling, email, social media, digital filesharing) in a creative process of this type.

Hestia uses drawing as a medium for improvisation, much as dancers use dance. Hestia often uses drawing as a way of improvising that can be easily translated from the physical to the digital, in this way a bridge can be built between ‘real life’ as experienced by the one drawing and ‘digital life’ where marks are left and can be used.

The main technologies to be used, it is anticipated, will be video based.  This will provide material which will enhance the development of the work as a whole and extend the degree to which the development process can be represented within the final performances. Live experiments with video projection, screening and recording feedback loops and playing with recording from the dancer’s perspectives are just some of the potential methods and forms the group can explore together.  In keeping with Art In Motion’s DIY spirit, the hacker tradition will certainly be invoked!  Any members of the group who have working audio visual gadgetry they think might be of use are encouraged to bring them along, see what connections can be made.

The Stories that we Tell:

the past vs present.

the stories we tell ourselves of the past that make sense of who we are now.

the excuses we make.

how we (or the other person) listen.

the coincidences and what they mean.

our patterns and how we repeat them.

things we have yet to discover.

what we will make of all this, and how we will tell it to you.

Just wanted to let you know about our Kickstarter project for the upcoming Art In Motion. We’re looking to raise some funds so that we can pay our amazing cast, rent rehearsal and performance space, and promote the heck out of what’s gonna be a pretty darn spectacular show. What can I say, I just have a hunch…

This production of Art In Motion is the 2nd installment of an ongoing series of collaborative improvisational explorations designed to create dialogue between the different arts communities in Jersey City.

You can read/see more specifics about our project at Kickstarter and follow the rehearsals by checking back right here. We hope to engage the you in the creative process through our updates.

Our goal is to collaboratively tell our story, and in doing so, create something that resonates with you, as something worthwhile and poignant. After all, movement and stories are what we are made of.

It would be so so so awesome if you could pledge to donate to our cause. Just $30 gets you a free ticket to our show, a VIP ticket to our fundraising party, plus lots of other goodies.  Anything you can do will make a difference, and there are rewards for giving at any level! (see the Kickstarter page for all the details)

Thanks so much for your help in making this show a reality.  We hope to continue to create community-driven, meaningful work, and can only do this with your involvement.

Sincerely,
Avianna Perez
Director/Co-Producer, Art in Motion
Artistic Director, Insurgo Stage Project

but we’ll find out soon how it is all related…

"coincidences are moments when the universe winks at us"

We all know what patterns are. We make them up, so our feet can find the familiar grooves of a path well worn. It’s just easier. Sometimes we get so comfortable with a certain route, it’s all we know for years. And other times, these patterns are fleeting, a detour enjoyed for a brief period. Maybe that detour helps us find a way out. Maybe it’s just a fleeting respite from routine.

Well, if that’s a pattern, then what’s a coincidence? (It’s not important if these things are truly related, by the way. I’m just enjoying considering them side by side, for now.)

A song starts a conversation, and from that, a friendship. Months later, that song shows up again over dinner, drawing hands across tables, and eyes peep out from behind the shadows of quiet longing.

Or maybe that’s not really a coincidence at all, but happenstance. But we all experience coincidences and know what they are when they happen. They are particular. They are stark. Brecht-like, a coincidence announces herself in the middle of the scene and the action stops short, just to watch her go by.

Hmm. Look at that. What a coincidence.

Maybe it’s only a coincidence if you notice it. Yes, that must be it….

So if they only exist if we recognize them, then what do we do now? What meaning do you take from a coincidence when it happens? Maybe this, and not deja vu, is really what  a glitch in the matrix is. An infiltration into your personal consciousness bubble. Proof that there is no space between you and the Universe.  If the following are true:

“There is no outside, there is no inside.”

“The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.”

then coincidences are merely your life pointing to itself. It’s you tapping your foot behind you impatiently, or waving frantically from the depths of a mob. Hey! Over here! Look!

Okay then, I’ll look. Magic. But then what?

“There is sometimes a difference between what’s actually happened and your story you tell yourself of what happened.”

Which would you rather: Leave your “baggage” behind, or “Reconcile the past?”

If we aren’t covering up the toxic sludge with rose petals, then what are we doing?

Improv exercise question:

What’s stopping you?

Ensemble’s answers:

Fear of not living up to my potential. taking the first step. not enough money. lack of structure. anger and resentment. everything and nothing.

Then, I remember I’ve had this feeling before (it starts with a feeling). In fact, this is always the feeling at the beginning. So no need to reinvent the wheel. Where have I gone from here, before?

Start off broad. Let them in on the big picture, have them ponder all the possibilities. Then, bring it back to the minimal, the mundane. Make it individual. Have them tell a story. A small one.