MilkBar Summer Intensive Workshops-2013_final

The Milk Bar
at the sunshine biscuit factory, oakland
2013 Summer Intensive Workshops at the MilkBar
Returning again this summer - July 9th through July 28th, are a fantastic series of hands-on intensive workshops with noted
Bay Area artists working at the intersections of performance / sound / technology / installation & site-specific practice including
Mary Armentrout, David Szlasa, Ian Winters, Evelyn Ficarra & David Coll, and, Violet Juno. Ever needed to duplicate what
you just did, pause what happens next, make right now, stretch a little bit, and/or yowl a perfect middle c while making your video
projector & freshly made pot of tea communicate nicely with your cat?
This July is your chance! (and we promise no cats will be harmed and no warranties voided).
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David Coll and Evelyn Ficarra’s: Site/Object/Sound – site-specific sound for live performance and
installation is Tues. July 9th – Thurs. July 11th 10am – 5pm. See page 3.
Introduction to Isadora with Ian Winters: Tues. July 9th & Thurs. July 11th, 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM is a two
evening introduction that covers the essential basics of working with the software package Isadora and is
targeted at artists, dancers, choreographers, directors etc. with no prior knowledge of video or
live/interactive design software. See page 6.
Overview of Video Design Elements, an introduction to the wide world of video hardware and software
options with David Szlasa. Sat. July 20th – Sun. July 21st from 2pm to 5pm See page 5.
Charismatic Prop Workshop and Charismatic Costume Workshop with Violet Juno
Sat. July 20, 10:30 am - 1pm, and Sun. July 21st from 10:30am to 1pm. See page 4.
Monday July 22nd through Saturday July 28th two companion workshop intensives occur. They are timed so
that you can take one or both, with shared afternoon studio time to allow for collaboration between both groups.
There is a workshop showing Saturday, August 18th at 8pm.
• Mary Armentrout’s in-side up and out-side down
Mon. July 22nd - Fri. July 27th 10:30am to 5:30pm
a composition intensive supporting and deconstructing live mixed media performance with Feldenkrais
practice (includes a lunch break), plus workshop showing Sat. Aug. 18th at 8pm. See page 2.
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Ian Winters’ The Extended Now – Tues. July 23rd – Sat. July 28th. Tues. 7-9:30pm, Wed- Sat. 2:30 –
5:30, 7-9:30. composition intensive creating site-specific live media and performance with a focus on the
use of Isadora / related software. See page 6.
Detailed descriptions of each workshop are on-line at www.milkbar.org/workshops.html and on the following pages.
Registration and deposits: Please register via email or phone with the respective instructor. A 50% deposit is
required by July 1st, 2013 to hold your space (via check to your instructor once they confirm registration, credit card,
or pay online via paypal).
Multiple class & Student discounts, scholarships and work-trade: There’s a 10% discount for taking multiple
workshops and Dancer’s Group members. A limited number of partial scholarships and work-trade hours are
available. Student rates are noted in the descriptions.
Where: All workshops and the showing will happen at the MilkBar, which is located in the old Sunshine Biscuit
Factory in East Oakland, which is easy to get to by car, and is also quite accessible by BART – find really good
directions at milkbar.org.
About the MilkBar and the curators: milkbar.org ianwinters.com maryarmentroutdancetheater.com
Summer 2013 Workshop Intensives at the MilkBar
www.milkbar.org [email protected]
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The Milk Bar
at the sunshine biscuit factory, oakland
Detailed descriptions
MilkBar Summer Intensive Workshops 2013
in-side up and out-side down - an intensive composition workshop with Mary Armentrout
at the Sunshine Biscuit Factory
July 22 thru 26, 10:30 to 5:30
PLUS informal potluck and showing Saturday the 27th
$125 for all, or $30 a day, nota/work study available
call 510 289 5188 or email [email protected] to register
some thoughts and questions:
performance composition supported by and deconstructed through Feldenkrais practice. exploration of how crossgenre works, works that use bits of more than one kind of media - movement, sound, words, image, recorded, live work, smashed together with an exploration of the power of site/context to amplify and disrupt. examination of collage
as a kind of thinking. where does presence live in all of this? what are the layers of the body and what are the layers
of the self? what is the inside and what is the outside? where do the layers of the emotional and the psychological
reside? how does artwork talk about the inside and the outside metaphorically while working with the material of
humans in space, time, and environment? what’s the point of working in a non-proscenium, non-black box
environment? how do you communicate in collage format? what are the things that you can say better in this way?
some logistics:
we will be using the whole beautiful industrial wasteland of the Sunshine Biscuit Factory as our giant site-specific
laboratory – bring good shoes and clothing for outside work and messy work. probably best to bring your lunch as
there is not much available in the neighborhood, but we have a small fridge, microwave and hot beverage
options. We will work all week and have an informal showing on Saturday night at the space with a potluck
before. The showing will combine work from this workshop with work from Ian Winters’ Isadora workshop which will
be running during the same time, in the evenings. Ian and I are planning that there will be some overlap between the
two workshops – people taking both, or performers corralled into being in video projects – who knows! we’ll see how
it plays out! the Biscuit Factory is in East Oakland and is easy to get to by car, and is also quite accessible by BART
– find really good directions at milkbar.org.
Mary Armentrout creates performance installations. She installs work in both conventional and site-specific venues,
and the Mary Armentrout Dance Theater has been presented at numerous venues all over the San Francisco Bay
Area, including ODC Theater, The LAB, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, as well as in less proscenium-oriented
spaces including a bathroom, the beach, and a car. Her work has also been presented at such venues as Movement
Research at the Judson Church and Danspace Project in New York City, Highways in Los Angeles, the Dance Place
in Washington D.C., le Centre Americain in Paris, and Tanzfabrik in Berlin. Her recent project, “the woman invisible
to herself,” was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Dance Award in choreography. She teaches on-going dance and
Feldenkrais classes at Danspace and Shawl Anderson, and facilitates Fieldwork workshops. She is the organizer of
the Dance Discourse Project, an on-going series of artist-curated discussions of the Bay Area dance scene, and cocurates the mixed performance salon "The Milk Bar" at The Biscuit Factory in Oakland.
Summer 2013 Workshop Intensives at the MilkBar
www.milkbar.org [email protected]
2
The Milk Bar
at the sunshine biscuit factory, oakland
Site/Object/Sound – site-specific sound for live performance and installation with
David Coll and Evelyn Ficarra
Tues. July 9th – Thurs. July 11th 10am – 5pm w/ lunch break
Questions & registration: [email protected] or [email protected]
Cost: $100 for three days, includes some materials
Interested in working with site-specific sound and making “sonic objects” for your installation or performance? This
workshop is a hands on practicum in creating integrated sound objects & engaging with site-specific
work. Participants will be encouraged to explore the sonic and physical landscape of our immediate environment and
build relationships between it and technology. In the mornings we will introduce basic programming techniques in
Max/MSP for sound generation, capture and control. In the afternoons we will deploy these techniques using your
objects, materials and performance/installation ideas. The workshop will culminate on the final afternoon with short
presentations and discussion of your new Site/Object/Sound works-in-progress!
David Coll – Bio
David Coll is a composer working in various disciplines, from concert hall to theatre and dance to interactive
installations. He has studied at the University of Illinois, IRCAM in Paris (Cursus and Cursus 2), and at the University
of California-Berkeley, receiving his PhD in December 2010. His work is gaining exposure both in the US and abroad
with performances at festivals such as the MATA Festival (2012) the World Music Days/Gaida Festival, Gaudeamus
Music Week (2005 and 2009), Voix Nouvelles (Abbaye de Royaumont), the Spark Festival, the Tzlil Meudcan
Festival as well as with collaborations with musicians such as cellist Severine Ballon, soprano Donatienne MichelDansac, baritone Lionel Peintre, and pianist Sebastian Berweck. His music has been performed by Vocaallab
Nederlands, Ensemble Itineraire, Ensemble Praesenz, Les Jeunes Solistes, sfSound ensemble, the Eco Ensemble,
the Berkeley Symphony, and the Empyrean Ensemble. This fall David will have a new work at the Milano Musica
Festival, performed by RepertorioZero. www.davidcoll.com
Evelyn Ficarra - Bio
Evelyn Ficarra is a composer and sound artist whose work finds expression across a range of forms including music
theatre, multi media, installation, dance, film and the concert hall. Her musical ideas are often co-mingled with, or
germinated from, other materials (words, images, sounds) which inform the development and shape of the music and
leave their traces in it. Current preoccupations concern explorations of sound objects in various contexts. Recent
projects include vagues-fenêtres for string trio and electronics and Endangered, an installation collaboration (sound,
sculpture, text) for the Intersection for the Arts Gallery in San Francisco, 2012. Her work has received support from
the Arts Council of England, the London Arts Board, the Sonic Arts Network, the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust, the
Hinrichsen Foundation, the Djerassi Resident Artist Program, Meet the Composer and Poems on the Underground. A
dual citizen (UK/USA), Evelyn holds a PhD in music composition from the University of California, Berkeley and has
several years’ experience as a freelance composer, teacher and sound editor, in Britain and the USA. She was
appointed Lecturer in Music Theatre at the University of Sussex in the UK, where she is also Assistant Director of the
Centre for Research in Opera and Music Theatre. www.evelynficarra.net
Summer 2013 Workshop Intensives at the MilkBar
www.milkbar.org [email protected]
3
The Milk Bar
at the sunshine biscuit factory, oakland
Charismatic Prop Workshop with Violet Juno
Sat. July 20, 10:30 am - 1pm.
Cost: $50 together with Charismatic Props Workshop or $30 for this workshop only.
Registration: email Violet at [email protected]
This jam-packed workshop explores what happens when we enter into a state of play with objects through movement
and performance, Join us to explore how ordinary objects can transform into “charismatic props” or props with stage
presence. We will use playful techniques that help develop visually arresting and unexpected physical relationships
to props that help reveal new layers of complexity for movement and performance work. More about Violet Juno at
www.violetjuno.com.
Charismatic Costume Workshop with Violet Juno
Sun. July 21, 10:30 am - 1pm
Cost: $50 together with Charismatic Props Workshop or $30 for this workshop only.
Registration: email Violet at [email protected]
Join us to play with “charismatic costumes” and learn tricks to quickly change a piece of clothing into a compelling
performance partner. Costumes not only tell us visually about a performance persona, but they are also capable of
moving, changing shape, creating tension, and telling stories without words. Most importantly, costumes can reveal
layers of meaning that help give form to your performance ideas. This workshop will offer you new ways to think
about, work with, and move with costumes and clothing in performance. More about Violet Juno at
www.violetjuno.com.
Violet Juno Bio
Given that English is the sixth language in Violet Juno’s family history, it is perhaps no surprise that Violet’s
performance work encompasses several artistic languages including spoken word, movement, kinetic and wearable
sculpture, visual tableaux, soundscapes, and a three-dimensional form of mapping. Juno seeks to create a multisensory experience so that the artwork is not just what is happening on stage but also what audience members
conjure in their minds of the various strands to take with them when they leave the theatre. Since 1990, Juno has
performed and exhibited her multi-media performance work at over 70 theaters and art spaces in 30 cities in the
United States, Canada and Scotland. Venues include contemporary art spaces such as MOMA and PS122 in New
York, Diverse Works in Houston, and LACE in Los Angeles as well as site-specific environments such as Marin
Headlands batteries, a hayloft in New York, and an underground train-yard in Scotland. In addition, Juno creates
sound performance as part of the duo RED VIXA with Ron Coulter. More info at www.violetjuno.com.
Summer 2013 Workshop Intensives at the MilkBar
www.milkbar.org [email protected]
4
The Milk Bar
at the sunshine biscuit factory, oakland
Overview of Video Design Elements Workshop
With David Szlasa
Sat. July 20th – Sun. July 21st from 2pm to 5pm
Cost: $75.00
Registration: [email protected]
Interested in using video projections in performance? Not sure how to make it all work? This workshop will start with
the basics of hardware setup – focusing on how to get cameras, computers, and projectors to do what you want them
to do. Second, we will introduce and outline the pros and cons of software options for content management including
Isadora, Final Cut, PowerPoint, iTunes, and others. Lastly, we will touch on computer-to-computer networks, remote
management, and multiple display scenarios. We will also view a number of case studies and break down how some
leaders in the field are integrating video into their performances. Plenty of time will be allotted for question and
answer to address specific concerns of the participants. www.davidszlasa.com
David Szlasa is a video artist and producer who reappropriates and remixes pop culture into new narratives. For his
innovative use of video in performance, Szlasa has received the Gerbode Award, CCI Investing in Artists grant,
Future Aesthetics Artist Award, Lighting Artists in Dance Award, CA$H Grant, Zellerbach Community Arts Grant and
commissions from the National Science Foundation / UC Berkeley, the Triangle Lab, and Yerba Buena Center for the
Arts. Original works of media based performance include: Life as Leo, Connect, Nano, GADGET, My HOT Lobotomy,
and Light. Work in collaboration includes Marc Bamuthi Joseph (rbGb, the break/s, Scourge), Joanna Haigood
(Between Me and the Other World), Rennie Harris (Facing MeKKa), Deb Margolin (Index to Idioms), Bill Shannon
(Sketchy, AOW Remix, Spatial Theory), Sara Shelton Mann (Eye of Leo, Zeropoint, tribes/dominion, shapeshifter,
Inspirare), Myra Melford (Language of Dreams), Yuri Zhukov (coin/c/dance), Dohee Lee (GaNaDa, Mago Project)
and others. His work has been exhibited in theaters and galleries worldwide including Yerba Buena Center for the
Arts, the Walker Arts Center, Chicago MCA, the de Young Museum, The Humana Festival, Sydney Opera House,
Oakland Art Gallery, Harare International Festival of the Arts, TSeKh Moscow, and Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Summer 2013 Workshop Intensives at the MilkBar
www.milkbar.org [email protected]
5
The Milk Bar
at the sunshine biscuit factory, oakland
Introduction to Isadora
with Ian Winters.
Tuesday July 9th and Thurs. July 11th, 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM
Cost: $75 / $50 for students. Nota/work study available
Registration / contact: Ian Winters: [email protected] or call 510-205-7103
The introduction to Isadora covers the essential basics of working with this very popular and powerful software tool
developed by Mark Coniglio as a tool to integrate media, sound and interactivity into live physical performance. This
workshop is targeted at artists, dancers, choreographers, directors etc. with no prior knowledge of video or
live/interactive design software but with a desire to the basics of how to practically use this tool in your work. Timelimited workshop licenses of Isadora will be provided.
The Extended Now – a workshop intensive in the use of live media/video/sound for installation &
performance with Ian Winters
Dates : July 23rd to 26th, 7:00 to 9:30pm; studio time 2:30-5:30 Wed 24thth – Sat 27th (shared w/ Mary’s outside
in class); showing on Saturday the 27th
Cost: $200 for all, $150 students. Work study available.
Registration: call 510-205-7103 or email [email protected] to register. or see www.ianwinters.com
The Extended Now explores technical and compositional strategies for integrating live and interactive media into the
creation of site-specific installation and performance. The 5 day workshop is taught in tandem with Mary
Armentrout’s inside out / upside down performance workshop. The first half of the week we will focus on the
development of technical skills with an emphasis on using live video / sound / sensors with Isadora. The second half
of the week we will take that knowledge to create short site-specific interventions in and around the giant industrial
wasteland / site-specific lab that is the Sunshine Biscuit Factory complex.
Many of the specific things we’ll cover will depend on the projects that take shape in the workshop. The workshop is
intended as a beginning/intermediate workshop in Isadora* -- some specifics include:
• a review of the basics of using Isadora: playback of media, using live video / audio, etc.
• communicate with other programs/protocols such as Abelton, Max/MSP, MIDI instruments, etc.
• interactive controls such as motion and acoustic triggering & controllers such as the Kinect and Wii
• use of calculation & control actors to generate more complex patches
A few questions / thoughts inform the workshop: How long is now? What does it mean to listen to a site? What
happens when the now of performance is extended through image, sound, light, and repetition / amplification /
contrast? What are interventions that alter/disrupt/focus space? Can video & light be an abstract medium versus a
narrative or emotional one? What does interaction mean in a sensor-driven world? How does this affect the quality of
our attention and experience? What kinds of compositional strategies / tools / scores can be used to work across
divergent media? Where is the body in all of this? What is the lowest tech way to proceed?
*
Isadora is a live interactive video software platform created by Mark Coniglio.
Summer 2013 Workshop Intensives at the MilkBar
www.milkbar.org [email protected]
6
The Milk Bar
at the sunshine biscuit factory, oakland
Some practical logistics: The second half of the workshop we will be using the beautiful industrial wasteland of the
Sunshine Biscuit Factory as our giant site-specific laboratory – bring good shoes and clothing for outside work and
messy work. Regarding food, there are no conveniently located commercial food outlets, but we have a small fridge,
microwave and hot beverage options. We will work all week and have an informal showing on Saturday night at the
space with a potluck before. The showing will combine projects from this workshop with projects from Mary
Armentrout’s performance workshop. Mary and I are hoping there will be some overlap between the two workshops –
people taking both, media people performing, performers corralled into being in video projects etc.
Assumptions: some background in performance, visual/media art or sound. A beginning knowledge of Isadora (or
have taken the intro workshop the prior week) or similar tools like Max-MSP.
Equipment: provided: There will be ~ 6 projectors available for student projects and a set-up for 3-channel
projection; audio, DMX and midi interfaces; an assortment of sensors and other interactive devices, basic sound
system and other tools.
Required equipment: computer capable of running Isadora.
Suggested: Isadora Core license (a temporary workshop license is available for students w/o a license), video
camera, and any midi controllers, sensors, microphones, projectors, lights etc. you want to play with.
Bio:
Ian Winters is an award winning video/media artist working at the intersections of performance and time-based
media to explore the relationships between physicality, technology, and place -- often in collaborations with
composers and choreographers to create both staged and site-specific media environments through gesture,
performance, visual and sonic media. Winters trained in photography, video/film and performance at SMFA-Boston
and Tufts University, with post-graduate training in architecture.
Recent awards include a 2013 Djerassi residency in Media Art and a 2013 Earthdance residency, presenter at ISEA2013 in Sydney, AU, the 2012 LAD award for video & lighting desing, and Izzy nominations for visual design. He has
been a visiting artist/conference presenter at many institutions including Amherst, LSU, Sussex, SF State, MIT, Mass
Art, Duke & Brunel. Recent collaborators or media/video projects include Robert Moses Kin, Francis Ford Coppola,
Shotgun Players, The Magic Theater, ALICE arts, ODC Dance, Roberto Varea/USF, Pamela Z, Evelyn Ficarra, paige
starling sorvillo/blindsight, Sara Kraft, Mary Armentrout Dance Theater seen at venues including London City
University, the Port of Oakland, The Luggage Store, Moscow Conservatory Electro-acoustic Center, Journées de
l'électroacoustique: Paris, YBCA, Luckman Arts Center, ODC, Z-Space, The Asian Art Museum, The Kitchen,
EMPAC, London Cutting Edge Festival, OPEN Cinema Festival (RU), CounterPULSE, CNMAT, Highways, 21Grand.
Summer 2013 Workshop Intensives at the MilkBar
www.milkbar.org [email protected]
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