So there’s that.  However, while i can’t fascinate you with all the exciting post-production details that we’ve yet to discuss at our yet-to-be meeting, i can take this post to tell you about the general structure for this piece, and the side project that’s developed off of it.

As i touched on briefly during my “Epic” program at chez bushwick, and am now publishing to my blog, this piece (in terms of the overall film and dance project) is equally an artistic and a marketing exploration.  Don’t let it dissuade you or turn you off – i’m not saying that it’s commercial or that it compromises artistic integrity to be marketable – quite the opposite! What i’m doing here is engineering the best system with which to a) make my work, b) showcase said work, and c) gain some profit (or at least don’t go into debt) from said showcasing, which will d) allow me to attack the process cycle all over again.

To get a little deeper in: we’re starting in the studio, making all these different sections (“spots of time”, if you will) that are all inter-related across a (maybe/maybe not) linear narrative.  As we’re making them, we plan to film each section.  We’ll then be able (or at least have the potential option) to release each of these films, either online, at an event, or via some combination. So, already, we have somewhere between 5 and 8 “products” – piece of art that can be showed both to raise friends and funds, sent out to festivals across the country and overseas, as well as serve as an audience engagement tool to entice people in to the larger piece as a whole. Additionally, once all the sections have been shot, we’ll then combine them into a larger feature film.  Again, this gives us another potential to show, fund raise, send out, bring in, sell, gift, etc. You came to our first “glass tree” screening and thought it was interesting? That’s great! Come to the screening of the full film so you can see the rest, see how your favorite section relates, etc.  You’re a big AOMC donor? Well then, i’d like to send you this beautiful film as a thank you for all your support over the years.  You’ve never heard of the AOMC? That’s cool – take a look at this clip from the film that’s online, and you can see what we’re about. You live in New Zealand? Wow, that’s such a coincidence – we have one of the sections of our film screening in a festival there!

You get the idea.

Then, we go into phase two, which is transferring this epic little baby to the stage. Aside from the artistic exchange (which i talked about a little more last time) again we have the potential to show sections (“13 variations on a car crash” at the RAW showings NYU studios, April 12 @ 11; “Rock solo” and other material at the Chocolate Factory’s THROW series, May 19 @ 6; and excerpt TBD with CrossCurrents Dance Company at DC’s Dance Place, May 30th and 31st) which fulfills both a “product” delivery of the showing or performance, as well as audience engagement and advertising by providing more opportunities for more and more people to become involved in the piece as a greater whole.

But we’re not done yet, oh no!

We’re also developing a side project, specifically off of Julia’s Glass Tree piece. The idea came from the way we’re working with the bag-timed phrases – so having 40some odd 1- to 5-second phrases. I usually work in a much more organic (or maybe i should just say differently structured) way, so this format appealed to me much more for sharing than my other work.  I’m also interested in these webs of connection (thus the AOMC logo) and really liked the idea of people who were “in the know” being able to access hidden information about the piece, like Easter eggs in a DVD.

So. i put out a call for work to all the artists I knew, asking for ten artists to take the phrases (some or all) that we had started with, and make a piece of their own.  I was especially interested in the cross-media exchanges that might occur, so i invited a slew of different artists – dancers, writers, media artists, filmmakers, and the like – to take their shot at it.  Brian, my co-worker, even suggested that i make an instillation of 40 commemorative plates, one for each phrase, and i’m jealous i didn’t think of it first.  The only rules (then and still at this point) is that they tell us how they want to capture it, capture it in that manner, and then make something.

Initially i was interested in doing a super low-key no frills showing of the ten pieces plus my film of the original, but in talking with Jonah at Chez Bushwick about availability, he mentioned CB’s CAKE series, and now we’ll be potentially presenting the project for that, on June 12th.

It’s exciting artistically to see what people are going to do (so far we have a few dancer/choreographers, a few dance/film artists, a filmmaker, a writer, two photographers, and a handful of people that i have no idea what they’ll make). I’m excited for the questions it will bring up about authorship, embodiment, translation, essence, etc.  It’s also GREAT business, because for a pretty low cost ($300 covers production, publicity, and video/photo documentation from CB) we not only do a showing of our first film installment, but support ten other area/international artists.  Each of those artists brings friends to see it that then (hopefully) become friends of ours (and vice versa) and a whole community develops, just through this one project.  It tags the A.O. Movement Collective as a community builder, a presenter/curator of sorts, and more importantly, doing something interesting artistically.

I’m really excited about the side project (which, as you can see from above, we’re calling SIDEsubTEN) and will (i’m sure) stick in some updates every now and again, though the focus of this remains the production of the one film.

Footage of the phrases should be online sometime this month, although we’re set back due to Julia’s injury. No matter though, we press on. Innovation and more questions await! Join us!

lovealways,

Sarah A.O. and the AOMC

I’m back, and ready to dive in with you and bring you up to date on this new project/piece/film/thing that i’ve been working on.  To give you a little context about the piece as a greater whole:

I’ve been working with my company, the A.O. Movement Collective, since the beginning of September on a new piece.  Through Dance Theater Workshop’s Van Lier Fellowship, i was awarded 100 hours of free rehearsal space at Topaz Arts in Queens (an awesome studio, if i may say so) which we’re just finishing up this month. We’ve been through a lot already – cast additions and subtractions (and additions and subtractions), improvising, brainstorming, making, editing, throwing out, remaking, renewing – the works. The piece in itself (and i’m going to talk about it broadly here, but you can find more on my blog) is comprised of many small sections (“spots of time”) that will eventually all be connected by a non-linear narrative.  Rather than working on a section at a time (which, we see very clearly now, would have been much easier to schedule and more economically viable) we’re making all of them at once, inch by inch and layer by layer.  Working on them in this way means that they all continue to inform the others and continue to grow.  I’ll be talking more about that process, and other Epic Work at my program at Chez Bushwick this Wed. night at 7 (come!!!) but that’s clear enough for now. All of this is to say: there are many sections (“13 variations on a car crash”, “Muerte Chiquita“, “fat fingers”, “Rock Solo”, “Slow lift evolving”, “eyes closed”, “gun to face”, etc) and this one is called “Glass Tree in Harlem”.

At first, we weren’t sure whether we wanted to be making a piece for the stage, or for film.  I’ve done both, loved both, and at this point, really feel like (especially for this piece) i’m not ready to let go of either. So, we decided that we’d make the film version first (which i’m hoping will be feature-length when all’s said and done) and at the same time be thinking/making about how it would work on stage, and then present it on one (we’ve applied for the Joyce SoHo 2010 season – fingers crossed!).  There are three main reasons for this:

1. it’s EPIC. and that’s what i’m interested in right now.
2. (as i’ll talk about on wed) I believe making a work bigger and utilizing it more to be an extremely effective way of working in this economy.  By committing to two visions of this piece (film and then stage) we are giving ourselves more time (i plan on working on this piece through 2010) and focus.  By presenting it in two mediums, we are also able to afford that focus, as we’re exporting two different marketable and revenue-generating entities.  Additionally, because we are filming the film one “spot” at a time, we’re hoping to release each one (as an event, online, and perhaps to purchase) as we finish them, making serials leading up to the “big release”.  This not only generates more opportunities to market the piece, but also generates an audience that will become more and more intimately attached to the piece as it grows.
3. the dialogue that is going to happen between the film and the performance version of the piece will be interesting, and will push me as a choreographer.  How do i take something that is beautifully real on film (such as the ability to go into slow motion, or edit, or change locations) and make it come to life on the stage? For the film versions, i am adamantly refusing to “set myself up” for the stage version (quite the opposite – the films utilize slow motion, reverse motion, etc).  “How will she get out of this one?” the audience wonders.  The choreographer wonders too.

So. Now that we’ve established all of that. The film.

Sketches for "Glass Tree in Harlem"

The first film that we’re going to shoot is (for now) titled “Glass Tree in Harlem”.  If you’ve ever come into the city on the Metro North (as i did quite often in my 4 years at Sarah Lawrence) you see a tree just after you cross the bridge that’s COVERED with plastic bags.  They’ve accumulated quite a bit over the years, and I always thought it was a beautiful and fitting welcome to the city to see something composed of such trash and lack of care be so nonchalant and stunning. So that’s how the piece started.

I’ve always had a fascination with “the aesthetics of mess”, particularly with large amounts of simple white objects.  At Sarah Lawrence, i did two films, Eggshells and Flour, and then also made a piece featuring large amounts of white envelopes.  I’ve always wanted to make work for Julia (she was a year above me at SLC), and for some reason when she asked to work with me, the tree stuck out in my head.

Since then, it’s developed quite a bit.  After a few rehearsals playing with bags (what are the different ways to throw them? how can we dive under? what sounds do they make? etc) we came up with a structure for her solo.  The average throw of a plastic bag through the air last somewhere between two and four seconds – I was intrigued by the idea of making a solo that used the bags as a time-keeping device.  Going on this idea, we decided to make a bunch of short phrases (twenty to start) each no longer than a toss of the bag.  Some phrases interacted with the bags and they floated down, some just used the bags for timing. We’re now up to forty something phrases, and probably have a few more in us before we’re done.

Now, the concept. I have it all planned out in my head, and am in the process of story-boarding. Here’s the quick and dirty: every phrase will start from the moment the bag leaves julia’s hand, and end the second it touches the floor. So you never see the throw.  The first part of the film is a string of these phrases, one after the next after the next.  The shots are varied, but generally the camera is pretty stationary. About midway through the piece, Julia finally gets a full throw, in beautiful slow motion that decelerates as she throws it, finally showing it at the tips of her fingers, and then accelerates into space, then catches back into slow motion. We then get a few more phrases, and a lovely ending shot of her looking straight into the camera as bags (hundreds…okay…a lot) fall around her. That’s the really simple version anyway.  I hesitate to describe it too much, because there’s a side project i’m working on (which perhaps i’ll talk about next week) and no one’s supposed to know my version of the piece.  But i don’t think they read this blog, so it’s okay.  And if they do, and are reading this right now, then how do they know i’m not tricking them.  So there.

Anyway.
I’m being long about it (as always) but i wanted to give you the general overview of the project and the first film so that you can delight with me as it comes to life.  As always, questions and comments welcome.  I’ll keep you undated as i go. And come see my program at CB!

lovealways,

Sarah A.O.

As part of their Wednesday night Visual and Media Arts programming, Chez Bushwick is holding an Artist Salon on the fourth week of the month moderated by different guest artists. Coming up next Wed. Feb 25th at 7pm, choreographer and media artist Sarah A.O. Rosner will moderate an evening entitled “Negotiating the Epic.”

Whether you define ‘epic work’ by it’s length, detail, or literary definition, epic work has proved to be some of the most engrossing, groundbreaking, and problematic work ever created.

The evening will feature screenings, interviews and discussion about epic work as well as an open invitation to YOU the audience member to bring in questions, stories, artifacts or material to add to the conversation.

Sarah will start by looking at a few examples of epic art across genres – Joyce’s Ulysses, the computer game ‘Myst’, and the marathon dances of Sara Rudner to name a few, and then open it up for discussion and showing.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Once the decision has been made to create an epic work, what are the pros, cons, and questions that arise out of the process that follows?  Why is epic work appealing, important, or sometimes the only option? What about epic work is rendered problematic by our current modes of working and art-making structures such as funding, process, performance, and audience? What are our options for negotiating the creation of epic work in the current artistic and economical climate, and how does it affect the work itself?

To show video/media works, please email Sarah at srosner[at]gm.slc.edu with a brief description of your work. We can only show work on DVD and clips must be under 5 min in length. We look forward to negotiating the epic with you!

DIRECTIONS: L TRAIN to Morgan Avenue
Exit the BACK of the train, Turn LEFT outside the station,
Turn LEFT onto Boerum Street
(Chez Bushwick is roughly 80 steps from the station)
Click here for Google map

Sarah A.O. Rosner with The A. O. Movement Collective

Hello there!

I’m Sarah A.O. – Anna has been kind enough to invite me to blog on Move the Frame on a regular basis. So, yes, i’m thrilled to be here!  I guess you could say i’m a dance blogger. You could also say that i’m a choreographer, and dancefilm-maker, as well as newmedia lover/developer.  You could also say that I am a lumberjack, but you, my friend, would be wrong on that last one.  My company, the A.O. Movement Collective, is a contemporary dance co. based in NY, in love with and dabbling in many things: the aesthetics of mess, epic work, new media programs, and dancefilm being some of them.  My blog, the Urgent Artist, is a digital space for some of those ideas and questions, as well as a space for anyone who “lives by their art” to throw down some good old fashioned knowledge, questions, or heartaches. I also work as a producer/editor for reels4artists, a video production company for the arts, and as an artist services intern at Dance Theater Workshop.   But enough about all that.

Since Anna approached me about writing for her blog, i’ve been thinking about how to structure my time and space here. Do i blog theory, or about performances and screenings, or maybe turn my attention to the economics of dancefilm versus performance? I find them all vast and interesting, but luckily there’s a fairly easy answer already in place.

I’m just about to start pre-production (or, technical pre-production – we’ve been working on the choreography for a while now) on a dancefilm that i’m making with the AOMC.  What i’ll do in the next few months is blog a mix of production journal, preview, and theory/subvisc that goes along with it.  However, before we get started on that, before i can even start talking about the dance, much less the dancefilm, i thought it might be helpful to offer up a few basic ideas and vocabularies that i seem to return to a lot in my work and in my blogging.  To throw them out like this (some more than others) is problematic, partially because some of them are controversial ideas, and i’m sure that i can’t really explain where i stand exactly in one short paragraph.  But i’ll try to be as clear as i can, and if you want more info about any of it, feel free to let me know, or search for it on the Urgent Artist.

1. Vocab: “Subviscera“  – Okay, so here’s a simple one. You have the text of a book, and then you have the subtext, right?  So while the viscera refers to the dance or the dancefilm’s movement on a purely formal level (anatomy, space, time, texture, relation, etc.) the subviscera, or “subvisc” is all the information that lies below that.  For most works (i would argue for all works, but that’s another post), this is a MASSIVE amount of information.  We’re talking everything from themes of the work to specific “meanings” of movements or relationships to details about how the work was first envisioned, or how it has changed over time.  I see it as falling into two main categories: information about how the dance was made (process, evolution, etc), and about the dance itself (themes, interpretations, scholarship, etc.)  I’ve always believed that the subvisc was every bit as important as the viscera, and a lot of the newmedia work that i do investigates ways to record or interact with a piece’s subvisc.  Yum!

2. Clarification: “Epic Work” – A biggie, so to speak.  For the last year or so, i’ve been consistently obsessed with epic work, both in terms of looking at other people’s and making my own.  In fact, i’m moderating the next Artist Salon at Chez Bushwick on the 25th and we’ll be screening and discussing the very topic.  It’s my professional opinion that you should come (which i’m sure Anna and I will both blog about more in the coming week) and if you’re interested in showing work, just send us an email.  Anyway – to clarify (and we’ll get into the juice of it later) by “epic work” i am usually referring both to the themes and to the length of the work.  The length or mass of the work meaning that it’s longer, denser, or somehow encompassing more than the average dance piece or film.  The themes of the work meaning “epic” in it’s literary or filmic sense – using the structures of a hero, a journey, a long span of time or subject, lists, epithets, and cultural parallels. Regardless, i’m interested in epic work, partly because it’s what i’m drawn to, as you’ll notice by the length of this, and most subsequent posts. I’m not interested in works that are clear or simple for the sake of clarity, ease, or entertainment.  I’m not even really that interested in works that are “clean” or “well made”, although they are certainly very lovely to watch.  I’m interested in works that encompass many many complex things very fully, convey the mess of human interaction, and aren’t self-limiting in their quest to be easily watched, or even watchable in one sitting.  I want works that evolve me as a watcher, maker, and human because i have to somehow grow or expand to experience them.  So there’s that.

3. Idea: “Anti-ephemeralism” – Oh what a can of worms.  To generalize grandly: it is of my opinion that most of the dance world’s problems right now stem from the fact that “dance is ephemeral”.  While, on one hand, this is what makes dance unique from other art forms, it’s also what makes dance nearly impossible to study without a physical experience of it.  This makes dance not only inaccessible, but puts it on it’s death bead economically, because no one is watching (contemporary) dance right now but dancers. So. I as a choreographer and as a newmedia artist am interested in the refutation of the ephemeral as a given for dance.  Which is not to say that i think all dance shouldn’t be ephemeral, i just think that it’s high time we stop using it as an excuse, or assuming that it has to be.  More on this later.

Those are the big three right now, or at least, that’s what’s hitting me as i sit trying to think about how to introduce myself to you.  What else can i say? I’m an artist. I’m deeply invested and in love with the making of things and cultivating of communities, and i’m really excited to have the chance to interact with all of you through this blog!

Next week i’ll give you some background on the piece we’re making and all that jazz, and then from there on out we’ll be following along with the production of the piece as it happens.  Always feel free to email me, always feel free to ask questions, and ALWAYS feel free to argue!

Love always,

Sarah A.O.