NE PLUS ULTRA: ARCHITECT BRIAN WAKELIN / October 10, 2024 by Nathan Webster

**Brian Wakelin** (Photo by Soloman Chiniquay)

As part of NOW-ID's ongoing interview series Ne Plus Ultra that shares the stories of artists and designers creating extraordinary, inspiring and impactful work, we are delighted and honoured to share the thoughts of our friend Brian Wakelin. Brian is an architect and co-founder of design firm Public Architecture, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

A thought leader and natural collaborator, Brian has worked in the architectural field for nearly thirty years and holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of British Columbia. His design work is widely recognized and has received six AIBC awards and three awards from SCUP/AIA. Brian has presented his work at several national conferences and his writings have appeared in Design Quarterly, Academic Matters Journal, and SAB Magazine. He has a track record for achieving consensus with diverse and complex educational, First Nation and other government clients.

Tell us a little bit about your background. When, where and why did your interest in architecture emerge?

Full disclosure: my dad was an architect. He didn’t practice during my lifetime; he’d retrained as a planner by the time I was born. But he was one of those people who could draw anything. We took a long train ride when I was a kid. To amuse each other we passed doodles back and forth challenging the other to transform the scribble into pictures of things like elephants and snakes. When we went through a long tunnel I scribbled and scribbled on that note pad determined to stump him. When we reached day light with a few strokes of his pilot marker he turned the scribbled black mess into a thunder cloud over someone fishing in a boat. I just loved how he conjured something from a mess. Eternally optimistic and a student of cities, he was a great mentor and set me on my path.

How long did it take for you to build your company Public Architecture to become a sustainable business and did you know quite early on that you wanted to start your own company and if so, why?

I didn’t set out from school planning to start a firm. Not that it was daunting. There was just so much energy spent with projects that the layer of firm ownership just wasn’t on my mind. I’d been working for a decade for an architect who was a notorious critic. He could be tough, but the process forced me to become sure of my work and reasoning.

I was leading the design for a large research laboratory. I had a pin up with Peter to review the material I was going to present at a client meeting. I laid out a clear design development presentation. I covered every inch of the meeting room with models, diagrams and orthographics. My team was excellent. He came into the meeting room, one on one, ready for battle. He scrutinized the model and everything on the wall, asking me questions. Thinking the steps through. He left the room, with a “looks good”. With no battles, no revisions, and no sleepless nights, I decided then and there that it was time to go.

I left the firm without any prospects. I took two months off to be with my young family and recharge. After that I joined with partners John Wall and Susan Mavor and started small working from the kitchen table. We sought clients as much as projects. Growth was slow and organic, one project at a time. By specializing in public work, we were an outlier, and our work resonated with key universities and municipal governments. By our second year we had a growing team and paid rent like grownups. We spent seven or eight years in a narrow downtown office sitting at one table – a 50’ long version of the dining table we started on. When we relocated into a more comfortable setting, we were able to loosen the belt so to speak and expand our leadership group. Its hard to describe the satisfaction seeing work on the walls that I didn’t directly have a hand in. The founders set the table, but a new generation is now serving up some gratifying dishes.

**Brian together with John Wall and Susan Mavor** (Photo by Scott Massey)

**What projects helped define your company and why and can you talk a little bit about the philosophy and values that Public was founded on?**

Buchanan Courtyards would be a standout starting project for us. It was an interdisciplinary and collaborative early work. Our client, UBC had a space that was underperforming. It was modern, established in the early sixties and beautiful. But a single use space only which was not widely appreciated on campus. A new campus architect had just initiated a public realm renewal program, and this was the inaugural project. PFS led the landscape effort adroitly, and PUBLIC brought a lens to urban design elements and an outdoor performance pavilion.

Buchanan Courtyards (Photos by Nic Lehoux)

Our impact with this project came from finding harmony among disciplines--wayfinding, artwork, landscape and architecture. We started PUBLIC with an ambition to be open to collaborators from different branches of design. This project was the first to manifest that. Making a place without a building was also new to many of us and exciting. We were also struck by the variety of processes of different disciplines. Communication designers for instance, work very quickly. Landscape architects work more slowly but of course are dealing with the uncertainty of organic things and processes. Architecture is somewhere in between. This experience loosened our process in many ways, allowing us to consider architecture that could be graphic. Later, the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute would express its hermetic workings to the same campus with an expressive masonry skin. Adler University's Vancouver campus took this a step further in a vertical campus of drywall surfaces that supported vibrant graphics. The campus, veiled behind five stories of curtainwall, connects to the city and makes it a backdrop to student experience.

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Vienna House, Adler University, UBC Quantum Matter Institute (Photos by Martin Tessler)

What is the most challenging aspect of running an architectural firm in Vancouver and what do you appreciate the most about working in Vancouver?

The rich long history of this place. From the philosophies and worldviews of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm , Skwxwú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaʔ Nations, which have challenged and influenced my thinking and our practice. I am grateful for the teaching of this place and hope to facilitate the work of reconciliation.

What type of projects do you prefer to work on and why?

The programs vary, but the commonality in our strongest projects is large and diverse clients. Achieving and maintaining momentum and consensus in dynamic groups is more art than science and is something we’ve worked hard on over the years. These tensions result in better work.

What or who inspires you in your creative process?

My inner dialogue echos the voices of my late father and my children. Questions like, will this make a better city, will it make people’s lives better, am I doing this in a way that is sustainable, is it rigorous? I'm blessed to be supported by a great team. We’ve added another partner Robert Drew and the next level of leadership, Shane O’Neill, Martina Caniglia and Jamie Harte are infusing the work with energy. Additionally, we have more than a dozen countries of origins represented at the firm, which brings vital new perspectives. We all benefit from fresh voices.

Photo on the left by Soloman Chiniquay

Are there cities that you have traveled to that have inspired your work?

We were Rome Prize winners which allowed us to spend time in Copenhagen, Rotterdam and Tokyo. Once you’ve lived in those cities they become embedded in you. That time opened our process. We experienced a gamut of buildings, some well-known, most not, that organized familiar programs in unfamiliar ways. Post Prix de Rome we had fewer preconceptions, we shared more process with clients, allowing them to look under the hood so to speak at PUBLIC. Previously we had been guarded, developing designs with our clients, even with our staff, with carefully curated iterations only. A more open process, where all options are on the table, builds trust and consensus quickly and pushes us out of our comfort zone, which is a positive shift.

Is Vancouver, in your mind, a city that is ambitious enough design wise?

Whose Vancouver? The Vancouver that concentrates global capital in downtown peninsula towers or in gracious and expansive homes is regarded by the media as ambitious. Unfortunately, an overwhelming amount of housing supply fits neither of these categories and is ignored by the media. I have sat on several civic design review panels and witnessed a depressing number of proposals with little consideration for families, ill-suited to climate change, and poor candidates for social resiliency. In addition, many Vancouverites, ironically including the architectural interns that produce the work noted above, live with housing insecurity due to a lack of affordable housing. Not to mention there is a disproportionate number of people in our city with no housing at all. In answer to your question, sadly, Vancouver is not ambitious.

What are your ambitions for Public Architecture moving forward?

Our work has shifted over the last few years to creating housing and community services for families. Vienna House is a good example. We recently contributed to changes in the BC Building Code to permit single stair multifamily dwellings. Single stair access will allow apartments similar to those found in Copenhagen for example. This small code amendment opens the door to housing that is more economical to construct and offers more possibilities for dwellings that better serve families.

Vienna House (Left two images by Andrew Latreille)

Where do you see yourself in 25 years?

I tease my peers about this question regularly. It takes a long time to mature as an architect, and I believe the least you can do is contribute while you’re at your peak. I’m not sure if I’ll go as long as Niemeyer, who seemed to be working into his hundreds, but Lewerentz and Michelucci are heroes with significant late career works. Touch wood - I’ll have a choice about what I want to do. Stay tuned!

NE PLUS ULTRA: ARCHITECT CHRIS TAYLOR / March 9, 2021 by Nathan Webster

Chris Taylor is the Director of Land Arts of the American West and is an Associate Professor of Architecture at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where he has been since 2008. He studied architecture at the University of Florida and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard. We have known Chris since 2017 and are so excited to feature his voice in our NE PLUS ULTRA series. His program Land Arts of the American West is an important program - uniquely of its time and place, and profound as a vehicle for the fortunate participants and their work - and, we feel it epitomizes not only many of the directions we love to explore in our work. The list could be long, but interdisciplinarity and site-specificity come to mind, as well as relationships both internal and external, and in relation to a stomping ground we too have enjoyed, between the the Great Salt Lake and deep/south West Texas. Currently, Chris splits his time between Marfa and Lubbock, Texas and we are grateful that we managed to entice and capture him in Marfa, to spend a couple of hours with us in January.

One Lubbock night, following the car below, Chris led us from La Sirena to Terry Allen’s Stubb’s Memorial and it changed our lives just right. We hope you enjoy the conversation and images below!

Chris: So I should go change my costume or background. Should I put on a groovier background?

Charlotte: No. I love that background, it’s brilliant.

Chris: Okay.

NATHAN: We assume you, like us, have spent a lot of time in isolation, or in a new range or limit of environments compared to a year ago. Charlotte and I are in Canada as we record this, which has not been quite so extreme on so many levels as different parts or communities in America… But we have been on our own a lot. So we have reached out to friends and colleagues on occasion beyond the day to day work world, and have found these conversations quite valuable. Not only because it’s nice to see people, but there’s always so much to talk about, for better or for worse. To see what people are going through in their different worlds and their perspectives on it. Everything looks a little different, and I don’t really know the world that we live in right now.

So… How are you doing?

Chris: The plasticity of time. That’s been a big thing, that plasticity. . . to feel decoupled and totally free flow and then be jammed up. Since last March, we’ve been having... We call them COVID cocktails on Saturday at 5:30 with some friends. A couple in New York and a couple in St. Louis. And it started off just as, like, what is this? What’s happening? And then it became a bit of a lifeline of, where we all look forward to checking in... And it’s just an hour, occasionally it will go a little longer. It’s kind of a check-in, and has been really helpful. What’s happening at your school? What’s happening in your city? How can you still be in Texas? You know, all of the questions.

NATHAN: You’re in a great part of Texas.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, you’re in a good part.

We do have video. Chris in Marfa. Nathan and Charlotte in Vancouver.

…

CHARLOTTE: First, we’re so excited about having you participate in this series which encompasses a lot of different people whose work we admire, and who we adore as human beings, and whose voices we think are important to feature.

NATHAN: And whose work might crossover in some realm with our work and interests.

CHARLOTTE: So we sent you a list of questions. And I thought we’d go through them loosely… to start out with, can you tell our readers and our viewers a little bit about your background?

Chris: Yeah. So, a little bit about my background. My father was in the army, so I happened to be born in Germany but did most of my growing up on a high spot of ground between the Everglades and the Gulf of Mexico in Southwest Florida. I did a lot of coming into the world, in an aqueous world. And for some reason, and I don’t know whether it was just a subliminal plot of my mother or what, but early on I was like, “Architecture is the thing. I’m gonna be an architect.” Even though I had no idea what that meant. I remember going off to my freshman year in college thinking I had all the answers and knew everything about architecture. And then we were told to find a door on campus and draw it. “Draw?” “I don’t sketch. I can draft anything.” I remember that first day being this... first kind of explosion, a disciplinary explosion, about expectation versus moving into what the discipline really is. And the curious thing, of course with a little bit of nostalgic reflection, is the acknowledgement of, “Oh. This is different than what I expected, and it’s more interesting.” And I was drawn in deeper. And I would say with every turn throughout my education and since, it hasn’t been about following a single preexisting path and getting to this cheese, and then getting to that cheese, and “oh this cheese is a little bit better than that cheese.” It’s coming into a situation, and leaning in, or helping it be that thing that’s beyond expectation. And so that’s also allowed me to end up in this place where I do what I do. That didn’t necessarily come from some pro forma preexisting condition.

…

So yeah, there’s a short answer and a long answer. When I first landed in Arizona, [at Tucson] there was an informal lunchtime lecture series that asked me to give a talk to introduce myself. Since I had already lived in a few places at that point, I organized the talk by all the zip codes that I had lived in as a way to tell the story of how I ended up in Arizona. It was a bit circuitous. Right after graduate school I got into teaching at the University of Florida, my undergrad alma mater, for a year. And that led to a tenure track position in Fargo, at North Dakota State. Which was really interesting, and a landscape that actually has some similarities to the Llano Estacado in terms of its geologic horizon. People were wonderful too. There was great opportunity, but at the same time, there were two concerns. One was I had a young family and signing up other people for a life on the tundra in an isolated research camp seemed a little harsh. And also, I had seen people move straight into teaching and develop a gap between the practice of architecture, and the teaching. I was somebody that, particularly in my graduate education, developed a real deep commitment to fabrication, to building, to actually making what I designed. I wanted to get my hands dirty. So, I left. This kind of classic foolish thing to do was in the height of a recession. I resigned my tenure track position and put all my stuff in storage and drew a big loop on the map heading down into New Mexico over Southern California, up around Pacific Northwest, and then back to figure out where we would move. This was 1992 so there was no work on the East Coast or the West Coast. Everybody was laying people off. We got to New Mexico and we were tired of driving so we never finished that big loop in that go.

We ended up checking out the places that we were interested in later but in that episode, we stopped in New Mexico. I practiced there for three years. Then moved to Austin in an Airstream trailer with five sheep and two dogs and two other people. Practiced there for two years and then moved back to Southwestern Florida for a job also in practice. And that launched a fellowship award, a research competition that gave me funding to spend a year abroad -- in Venice, Italy. This is all way too long and detailed, and not interesting to any readers out there, but...

NATHAN: It is.

CHARLOTTE: I am curious about the five sheep.

NATHAN: Yeah, I want to... I have 40 questions now.

Chris: That opened the door to get back into teaching, which is how I ended up in Tucson. Which was a school going through a transformation. Super interesting. But then I was recruited to join the Art Department at the University of Texas at Austin, which was a position I had actually interviewed for when interviewing for the permanent gig in Tucson. Two years later, they reached out with a new position that surprisingly lined up with my experience. This was right at the moment when the conversation about the Land Arts program was emerging. So I moved to Austin and was within the art department in an interdisciplinary design program. That became an ideal crucible for building the Land Arts program with more flexibility than operating within an accredited architecture program. Even though it was really hard to leave Tucson. Both the school and the Sonoran Desert were big magnets for me.

The Austin run was really great but it ran its course for a variety of reasons. I was on the market again and ended up in Lubbock bringing Land Arts back to my disciplinary home in the College of Architecture at Texas Tech University. But also keeping connections to artists, writers, people outside of architecture, which remins really important. At that point, the Land Arts program, which had been a joint program between two universities – split with a version of it in New Mexico and the version at Texas Tech. The split allowed each version of the program, to cultivate its strengths. I kinda feel there’s been three arrivals in Texas, but there’s really just two ‘cause the Austin-to-Lubbock is more contiguous.

When I first moved with those sheep in that Airstream... we were living in this little village in the mountains between Santa Fe and Albuquerque and all our crazy hippie friends were like, “How can you move to Texas, man? That’s like, oh, it’s gonna be crazy. You’re not gonna handle it. You’re moving to the dark side.” My response right away was, “Well, there’s actually compelling things there.” As a kid growing up in the suburbs of Southwest Florida, a place that had a real and active connection to land was very compelling, whether that was the rancher or the oil field worker or the farmer. There still was a land-based economy and cultural identity that was compelling. For me that’s the political landscape versus the cultural landscape. We can differentiate. Landing in an island like Austin was a much different point of entry than other places. But that was interesting, and for me it’s ultimately what’s kept me here. It’s been about what facilitates and propels the work. Texas has been a really great laboratory environment for the work I do. And part of that work is embedded or vested in the experience that once you move out into the land, once you move into the landscape and this hybrid between what the ground is and what people do with it. It’s super complicated and it’s super interesting, and you can’t put a single explanation over it. Generalization is the antithesis to operating in landscapes. So that a place like Texas, with all of its warts and complexities and things that, you’re like, “Oh, this is not a good taste in my mouth.” That is actually sustaining... That provides productive traction.

CHARLOTTE: I’m just curious, how long have you been at Texas Tech?

Chris: I arrived at Texas Tech in 2008.

NATHAN: You started talking about your Land Arts program. Now we know a little bit where it kind of started… how would you define that in a couple of sentences for somebody who doesn’t know what you do?

CHARLOTTE: I’m sorry, just a quick thing. I didn’t know that there was another Land Arts program in New Mexico. So I’m also curious to know what are the similarities and how are they different?

Chris: So Land Arts of the American West began actually in 2000 at the University of New Mexico. Bill Gilbert and John Wenger, two artists, got the ball rolling. And Bill, for a bunch of years prior to that had been teaching a summer indigenous ceramics workshop in Northern Mexico, in Chihuahua, in Mata Ortiz. I had known Bill from when I was living in New Mexico. We are personal friends and professional friends as well, so we stayed in touch. So after that first run, he and I were talking and there was a clear connection between art and architecture … prompting something bigger than just an art conversation. If it’s about the land and being out there, then these other layers come through. Also, if you’re going to be out in that intense kind of a way, it matters who you travel with and how you construct the team. So, we had a good relationship and started. For me, the DNA of the Land Arts program overlaid a great many things in my background, personal and professional, and so it was a real easy fit. The program began as a joint program [between UT Austin and UNM] and ran from 2002-2008. Then we split and that program has continued to go forward just as the Texas Tech program has. They’ve defined their agenda on their own terms, primarily around an Art and Ecology MFA.

The Land Arts of the American West at Texas Tech is basically a semester abroad in our own backyard. It’s an immersive, studio-based, field program that run in the fall semester. It attracts architects, artists, writers, a wide range of people to travel together and make their work in the field, and make their work in response to the wide range of things we see. As an architect, I define land art very broadly. It’s not just things in art history with the capital A in front… If we think about art as cultural expression, then this is cultural expression situated within land. It’s things that have emerged for aesthetic reasons but also, we can look at things that have emerged from industrial reasons, from cultural reasons, from all sorts of other motivations. We’ll observe wilderness areas, a toxic former open pit mine, a scientific installation, all of these are forms of expression of human activity on the land.

NATHAN: Hydroelectric dams and power poles and lines. Settlement patterns…

Chris: Totally. I may have said before that throwing trash out the window of your car as you’re driving down the road is a cultural expression. We could say, “Hey, that’s art.” Not necessarily aspirational, but it’s an expression of your relationship to the land and what that relationship is. In that it can be instructive and we can learn from it.

The other key piece of the program is that we go out there. This comes a bit from the importance in my background of the work of JB Jackson, the landscape historian who started Landscape Magazine. Jackson said, “If you’re going to study the landscape, you can’t just study the proper garden and formally designed things, you have to study the trailer park and the alley -- all of it.” Everything’s in the frame. We don’t just get to say the button on the jacket is the thing. It’s the jacket, it’s the jacket on the person, it’s the jacket on the person in the room, it’s the jacket on the person in the room in the building in the territory. . .

NATHAN: It’s who made the jacket. Where’d the fibers come from that made that jacket...

Chris: Exactly. If you take that attitude of “everything’s in,” then the challenge becomes: What are your questions? What are your responses relative to what you’re seeing in the world that you’re inhabiting? A key tenet of the program is that we go see these things. We spend about two months camping and traveling about 6,000 miles in that time, and we see a wide range of things. Ultimately we process what we’re seeing, and talking and thinking about, through our work. Everybody brings a question or a set of questions and everybody produces a body of work and everybody’s body of work has a different shape and agenda and manifestation. Each participant determines that for themselves and in conversation with the group. The way I like to think of and describe the program to participants and others is as if it’s a stage. It’s a setting. It’s a situation. And making it possible for the people to do what they need to do on that stage is my role. So I’m a bit of a choreographer, charging in at certain moments or other times letting the pressure off so people can reflect and make work in different ways. My role is not to try to produce. We’re not a factory producing land artists, or derivative land artists. Our goal is to use land art to think with and about how humans interact with each other and the landscape. In that, it’s super generative and open and can lead out to places that I for one, can’t anticipate. Generally, anybody in the group at any given moment can anticipate where this is going. We’re all committed to being on that journey together.

NATHAN: I’m totally fascinated by the program and I wish, I hope, that some day I can do the whole thing with you, or at least a little stretch. I don’t know when that’s going to happen at this point.

Chris: We just posted the application information for 2021. It just went live on the website yesterday.

NATHAN: I’m glad you’re doing it, and hoping the pandemic has cleared enough by the fall to not restrict you all too much. Can you tell us what your territory is for the program? Where would you travel to typically? And could you paint a picture of a typical day?

Chris: The itinerary is determined by certain sites that are super instrumental and necessary. So those are pins on the map, and the journey between those pins is essential. And one of the goals is to experience as much of the diversity of the American West as possible. The American West isn’t all coyotes and roadrunners like the cartoon. There’s forested mountain tops, saline dry lake flats, a really wide array of types of landscapes. That’s also an objective. We leave from Lubbock and travel through New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and back through New Mexico and West Texas. We take a month-long first journey that usually covers more miles and swings a little farther north because it’s still early in the year and we are dealing with light and temperature in our itinerary. We swing up and around the top of the Great Salt Lake to visit the Spiral Jetty and Sun Tunnels and then come down the eastern edge of Nevada to visit Double Negative, and then usually work our way back across.

One of the things about that first journey, being more adventurous in terms of the number of miles, is we tend to move a bit more quickly. We start off with a couple of days here, a couple of days there, and so we’re leapfrogging through the territory. We’re also learning how to set up camp and take down camp, and it’s kind of an introduction to how this all works. By the end of that first week, we’ve had time traveling but we’ve also had time learning how to figure out a new place, figuring out what the opportunities or hazards are, how to set up and take down. That collective responsibility of looking after and setting camp is also part of the pedagogy. Getting everybody on board with that is key.

In the second month we tend to stay a little more southern. In the latitude we head across Southern New Mexico and Southern Arizona, and then also Southwest Texas is part of the puzzle. And in that second journey, we tend to move a little slower. We stay at places longer and so there’s more time for work production. It’s not as frenetic. We are met by field guests at different sites to help either explain or interpret places that we are at, or who serve as examples, giving talks about their work as a way to help expand the realm of possibility.

There are three typical days in the Land Arts program. There’s a Travel Day where we have to get from here to there, we have to pack up, move and then unpack and set up camp. Some of those days, a three-hour travel time would be short. They can go as long as eight to 10 hours of road time. We tend to try to limit to eight hours of actual road time because that’s a lot, especially with a group of people stopping for the bathroom and fuel. On those travel days, we resupply with groceries, ice, propane, water. And there’s an orchestration about that, which is also a big part of the culture of the group, of everybody working to resupply and get on the road as quickly as possible. The second typical day happens at Interpretive Sites, such as at Chaco Canyon, where we are at a place to see what’s there. Generally we’re at a place like Chaco for two nights, sometimes three. We have a long day all hiking out to see the sites and we’re working... We’re there together in sort of a typical tour fashion.

And then the third day we call Work Sites. We’re at a place, and it may be a place of culture, like Wendover, Utah, where The Center for Land Use Interpretation has a base, or maybe it’s a wilderness site in a beautiful landscape and we’re there for four days and it’s a time to produce work. And so that’s the movement, from traveling together to the least structure of a work site. But always breakfast is at 7:00. We start with the sun and mostly end with the sun each day, because it’s all about light. And we come together at the beginning of the day or at the end of the day for meals. We have a communal kitchen, a food operation that’s pretty sophisticated at this point. Checking in and supporting each other is key - the safety and protection of the group biologically and culturally is super important. It’s one thing to go camping for a weekend and rough it, and it’s another thing to be on the ground and on the road for a month, have a week break and go for another month. The saturation is heavy duty. There’s an overall tiredness and depletion that happens. So, managing all that is key. Also, when we’re out there, we don’t have weekends, we don’t take breaks, it’s just... The time is really precious. We just go and go and go and go...

NATHAN: I can imagine that being... I’m thinking of a meditation retreat in the sense that you’re a small group going through something together. It’s a little bubble, little stir-fry that you’re cooking there that you probably need be cautious how you let people... not run off to the city and see the museum as you’re passing through… let’s kinda keep everyone simmering just right...

Chris: Yeah, this would be whatever the opposite of retreat is, and then it would be maximalization instead of meditation, like instead of moving in, we’re moving out.

…

In 2019, we spent a longer time at Double Negative to create a laser scan of it. The work was 60 years old, and we had done a laser scan in 2009. To have those two data sets was something we wanted to do, but also there was somebody that wanted to hold a symposium around land art-related things at the University of Las Vegas. We all went into town and had Thai food for lunch and then went to campus to hear some lectures and be part of a more typical academic setting, which was interesting. When we come out of the field, we’re all like, “We went swimming in the lake yesterday, kind of, but that’s as good as it’s gotten for the last week in terms of hygiene.” And so that’s all very dynamic.

CHARLOTTE: Now I’m also curious in terms of how big is the group, usually? Do you have a number that an ideal number? And also just how do you choose the skill set or backgrounds of the students who participate? Is it important for you to get as much variety as possible in terms of people’s expertise?

Chris: Absolutely. One of the things that’s kept me pushing the interdisciplinarity or trans-disciplinary nature of the program is that if you bring a bunch of architects to go stand in front of a building and talk about it, everybody’s triangulating... Is it cool to like it? Is it cool not to like it? What am I supposed to say... What have I read, what am I supposed to do? And then it’s this kind of gamesmanship as to how that plays out, and that can happen with any discipline, right? But if you mix that up … and have people that don’t have all the same background, that’s just looking at it for what it is. It makes the conversation of the group super rich and, from my perspective, the more diverse and expansive the group the better. The big question for me with admissions is: Do you understand the opportunities, and adversities, and challenges of this experience and are you willing to throw yourself at them? And also, can you be productive in the process? Will this be productive for your work? That’s a question in the interview process, and often in that interview the person is amazing with a super clear trajectory of what their work is. And when we get in the field their work goes to some totally different place. And that’s fine. Because ultimately, it’s about the evolution of where they want to take their work. For me, that’s the big threshold on admissions, trying to maximize diversity and attract people that are ready for this experience to propel their work.

The number is limited historically by the number of seatbelts. Historically, we’ve just rented vans. One 15 passenger van for people which by state regulations we can only put 10 people in, and then a cargo van that has two seat belts in it. That’s where all the kitchen gear goes. This past year, we were super fortunate to receive a donation to acquire a truck that will be our kitchen vehicle. This spring and summer we are building out that truck. It’s the Land Arts Support Vehicle. It’s like an inside-out food truck. Instead of getting in the truck to cook, you stand outside. In the past, we’ve had a 10 foot by 40 foot shelter that we erect at each site and the kitchen comes out of the van and gets set up, and it’s in boxes and bins and tables and what not. The truck will do several things for us. It’s a vehicle that we can count on, with good tires. With rental vehicles you don’t always have control of that. It also has five seat belts and so ten plus five now gives us a threshold of 15 travelers. We tend to reserve a seat or two for guests, so generally we limit to 10 participants. Then there’s a program manager, an assistant that manages the kitchen and helps with the delivery of the program, and that historically, but not always, has been an alum of the program that’s then hired on to help run the operations. And so we’re a pretty tight group of 12 people total. Often though at various sites we’ll have guests. Often four to five extra people, some of them official, some of them just know where we are and want to show up for dinner. So, we tend to feed people wherever we go. When we’re in Marfa, our dining operation tends to grow as well because people want to come over for dinner. It’s great for the participants to interact with people as we travel and being able to invite people over for dinners is productive. So, the group is constantly expanding.

We also celebrate the exhibition at the end of the term, which happens the following spring. We host an even larger dinner in my workshop that expands to seat 99 people at one big table. That experience begins in the field. We move from the number of seat belts to how many people we can cook for, and ultimately, we celebrate the larger level.

…

NATHAN: I suspect it’s challenging to bring people and departments and academia together. I’m imagining the complexity of what you’re doing there. I think maybe as architects, we kind of have that side of us that likes data and spreadsheets and charts, and combining that with the mindset of those who go on a river trip for several weeks and have to pack their meat at the bottom of the cooler, to have it all staged out. I suspect it’s a fascinating exercise in its own right behind the scenes.

Chris: Totally. Another piece of this is, from the beginning, there was administrators that said, “Oh, this seems really great.” They get the visibility component. They get it even philosophically, and they are like, “This would be a nice summer thing you should do.” And from the beginning - and I don’t think we understood the power of our gesture at the beginning in answering that question, but I’ve come to really value it - we said, “No, this is way too important to be extracurricular. If we’re going to do this, it needs to be primary, to be a long semester.” That commitment and time and follow through on the part of the participants and everybody is super important.

NATHAN: Travel has always been so important to the architect’s education, to anyone’s education actually. I wish more people, Americans, did it in all fields, or had to in high school. I think of the classic one that you’re taught of in architecture schools, the grand tour, and think of the Land Arts of the American West as a variation of that. But appropriate to America, in its vastness, and, on the road, so many beautiful and uncomfortable things to see and learn from.

CHARLOTTE: I have to say, from a personal perspective, I remember seeing my first exhibition from your program and thinking, this is exciting! In academia, so many are set in their ways. But there’s a wonderful testament to creativity and a willingness to be open that I think is so desperately needed.

NATHAN: Charlotte would come if the special trailer has the Americano Espresso machine and New York Times delivery.

[laughter]

CHARLOTTE: And a shower. I don’t know, I like that.

Chris: One of the things about the... And this gets back a little bit to the accounting question, but we’ve... This all happens with a very meager budget and also, we have a limited footprint. You can only have so much gear personally, and we can only hold so much water. And water is super precious. So, we have enough for cooking and cleaning and, in recent years, we’ve started a tradition on the day before a move day that some of the water can be available for hair washing or bathing. It’s that balance of understanding finite resources. We need to also have some water reserved because we can’t be certain that we’re getting out of a given site, the conditioning of not counting on everything always working out and being prepared to get stuck for some time, and knowing that we will survive is important. With the new truck, it’s going to be able to hold a bit more. So, the potential to hold a bit more water and budget some of that water for bathing maybe possible. However, when I mention that to some alumni, they’re like, “No fucking way, you’re not having a shower.” They’re saying that because in their mind, that changes the whole ethos of the experience. Part of it is like, “If I had to suffer through this... “ But also it’s amazing how an annoyance is a thing to deal with. There’s ways to deal with it. It’s incredible how quickly concerns go away. There have even been people super freaked out or nervous about it going in and then after that first week, it’s like, “Oh, I figured out how to deal with this and it’s okay and I definitely am aware that I’m living in the world in a really different way than I would if I was at home having a shower every day.”

At a conference a few years back now in New York, at the College Arts Association, somebody asked a question about the lasting impacts on participants. I said, “That’s a great question. You should ask some of them ‘cause they’re in the room right now.” An art historian who was there stood up and said she still thinks about... how her daily shower is different now because of her time with Land Arts. She thinks about water. Even living in New York City, it’s a different animal and it’s a subtle, easy thing to say, a simple little cliche almost, but it also is a re-calibration about our relationship with the resource. Our relationship to each other, our relationship also to what’s important. Realizing like, “Oh, I really like bathing a lot but if I don’t and I’m in a group of people that... We’re all just dealing with that together, we can work this out, and it’s okay,” And that’s an amazing awareness and saturation place to get to.

CHARLOTTE: I just wanted to ask you as a conclusion: Now you’re sort of in Marfa. What are you doing there? Where does Marfa fit into your whole experience of West Texas, but also how does it fit into Land Arts and where you are and where you are going next.

Chris: So Marfa’s been a site in the land arts itinerary from the beginning. It’s important because of the legacy of Donald Judd’s work but even more so in the institutions that exist here. The Chinati Foundation, primarily, and also the Judd Foundation. This idea of deliberate and persistent fusing of art architecture and landscape, of situating specific works in specific buildings in a specific landscape. If you want to see that work you have to come to this place, you have to make the journey and see it in the conditions here. That’s a Land Arts gesture, by my definition. And so we’ve been coming here since the beginning because of that, and it’s super productive on all of those levels. And as the town has changed, it’s been interesting to see the evolution... There’s so few moments in our itinerary where we come into culture in a different way, and Marfa’s always been one of those. It has a very different energy than when we’re out just in total wilderness.

Within the last five years, the university expressed an interest in possibly developing a connection more formally to Marfa that’s manifested in certain programs in more focused summer workshops in art and in theater and dance. In architecture, we held a day-long symposium last year and a national conference a few years before that. There’s interest but it has yet to take on a more grounded presence. There’s been some talk, which I totally support, that the Land Arts program be based out of Marfa. The potential to think about what Spring offerings might be as continuation and preparation for the Fall, and that Marfa could be a really great laboratory environment. At the same time, I’m also in the Llano Estacado and love that amazing laboratory landscape. And so for me, one of the things that’s exciting is if we think about the role of Texas Tech University on the Llano Estacado in West Texas, also operating in El Paso, also operating in Marfa. We can think in a regional territory-based way and thinking about the connections back and forth rather than making satellites like “This is the colony living on Mars. Then we have the colony living on this other space station.” The College of Architecture has a program in El Paso that’s in an active working train station a stone’s throw from the international border. We can leverage an opportunity for the identity of our college as well as our university dealing with the border, dealing with this region, dealing with place. I think Marfa fits really well. I think Land Arts fits really well with that intent. And when I say fits well, I mean, it has the potential to activate and be a resource drawing people, and then also generating a whole myriad of productive works from that. And the catch, of course, with Marfa is that it’s a small community that’s highly desirable now. So the economics have gone a certain way. How we might be able to establish a foothold or kind of set up a space here is the big question that has yet to be answered. But I think it’s possibly solvable. I welcome working on that and the glimmers of hope in that possibility are fantastic. But there’s still lots of work to do.

CHARLOTTE: Well, this was fantastic, Chris. It was so wonderful to hear even more in-depth information about your background, but also about the Land Arts program.

NATHAN: It makes me want to go back. What am I doing up in Canada? [Laughing] Actually, in a way, some of our travels throughout the West, and special towns and sites on our road trips between Salt Lake City and Lubbock, have prompted us to look at new surroundings differently. Like, we are looking for some secret sauce that we hope most places have.

CHARLOTTE: Marfa’s a place I could move to in a heartbeat. I think it has everything that’s so gorgeous about West Texas.

NATHAN: And also in... the getting there.

Chris: My pleasure. Excited to see what comes of this. And just super quick, I was just looking for it, but can’t lay my hands on it. But I can send it to you. You asked about a favorite quote, which normally I hate. I despise, I shouldn’t say “hate.”

CHARLOTTE: Say hate.

Chris: I frown upon favorites questions. I don’t believe in favorites. I find them really tricky questions. But since we just lost Barry Lopez. He’s been on my mind a great deal and he was a friend to the program. And there’s something from his book The Rediscovery of North America that’s really powerful. That talks about the importance of spending time, committing time to places and listening more than proposing within the place. If we treat places, landscapes - he’s talking about like we might treat people - that there’s more to learn if we listen. That we understand that landscapes are much more complex, possibly even more so than language. To me, that’s a really beautiful idea so necessary now.

NATHAN: That’s a beautiful way to wrap this up. Thanks so much, Chris.

Check out Chris’s instagram, and images below as borrowed from the Land Arts program website where you can find MUCH more info!

Visual stacking at the Very Large Array, Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico. Photo by Henry Brown..jpg

Plane table surveying at White Sands National Monument, New Mexico..jpg

Pilot peak with bombing crater, Wendover, Utah. Photo by Chris Taylor..jpg

Light House by Nina Dubois, Tipover Canyon, North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizona..jpg

White Sands National Mounument, New Mexico..jpg

West or East, Utah. Photo by Aida Salán Sierra..jpg

Looking down on Las Vegas Piece, the southeastward leg is flaintly visible in the lower right, near Elgin, Nevada. Photo by Ashley May..jpg

NE PLUS ULTRA: FILM ARTIST TJ MARTINEZ / March 3, 2020 by Nathan Webster

Born in West Texas and raised in New Mexico, TJ is a native of the High Plains. His love of storytelling drew him to filmmaking. He has made both documentary and narrative films and enjoys the challenges and rewards of each. His films have screened at multiple conferences and festivals, including the American Folklore Society Conference and SXSW Film Festival. TJ holds an M.F.A. in Film Production from the University of Texas-Austin.

TJ is an Assistant Professor of Practice at the College of Media and Communication at Texas Tech University.

I have known TJ Martinez for close to three years and we have collaborated on several projects while I have been at Texas Tech University. He is now working on the NOW-ID film project I-MIGRANT, which will be shot at Stubb’s Memorial Park in downtown Lubbock, amongst other places. The film will be released late April.

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background: Where are you from and how did you end up in West Texas?

I’m originally from northeastern New Mexico, a region that is very close geographically and culturally to West Texas, so I am very used to the pace of life in West Texas.

I landed here after I finished my MFA if filmmaking at UT-Austin and entered the academic job market. I felt good about the folks at Texas Tech and this place felt ripe for creative opportunity, and thus began the current chapter in my life.

When did you know that you wanted to work as an artist and how did you choose you preferred medium?

Growing up in rural New Mexico, my days mostly consisted of schoolwork and ranch work on my family’s ranch. I always had an active imagination and would find myself letting my mind fantasize and get lost in the stories I saw in the movies. I would watch any VHS movie I could get my hands on and was mesmerized by all the different worlds that could be created. Eventually I began to gain a fascination with that creation process and began to read about and study filmmaking. I didn’t know how I would be a part of that world, but I knew I wanted to.

You are such a prolific artist: doing film as well as photography, which format do you prefer and why?

My first love is film. It’s what I fell in love with first and photography came later. The two are closely related in some ways yet very different in others. At the end of the day, I suppose I have a fascination with all the moving parts that go into making a film.

Photos taken by TJ Martinez of our dance students at Texas Tech University

Can you talk a little bit about your creative process, where do you look for inspiration?

Inspiration can come from anywhere, and I’ve found inspiration from a number of sources. I think what’s more important than where you get an idea, though, is the discipline to develop that idea. Ideas come and go, but if a good one comes along, that’s worth our attention and effort, it’s our responsibility to develop it, flesh it out, and execute it, or else that idea will never be realized and brought about into the world.

Who are some of the people who have inspired you in your work and why?

I work mostly in documentary film and I have been very inspired by some of the subjects in my films. People like Mac, the cowboy in my film All Around who lost his eyesight in a tragic accident but didn’t let that keep him from doing what he loves, riding broncs in the rodeo.

What do you consider to be some of the highlights in your career so far?

Making the film just mentioned, All Around, was definitely a highlight. It was challenging to figure out the best way to tell that story, but it was an incredibly rewarding creative process, as well as a collaborative one with my cinematographer and editor. That film has been very well received by many people and has won awards and screened at several festivals, including South by Southwest.

You work as a Professor of Practice at Texas Tech University, has teaching in any way helped you define your own creative voice? And what makes a good teacher of film?

I don’t know that it has helped me define my creative voice, but it has definitely helped me gain a deeper understanding of my craft. Being a teacher forces you to articulate as best you can the processes and techniques of what you do. When you’re forced to explain something, you understand it better. I think a good teacher in film is someone who can articulate those processes. A good teacher is also someone who understands what is objectively a good or bad choice by a student versus what is a matter of taste, and then knowing when and how to speak up about it.

Who do you consider to be three of the most significant artists in the world (living or dead)?

Three that have been very significant to me are Martin Scorcese, Jane Fonda, and Bruce Springsteen.

Looking towards the future, where do you see yourself as being in 25 years?

On my family’s ranch in New Mexico, drinking my coffee on the front porch in the morning as I watch the sun rise, and in that same spot sipping whiskey in the evening as I watch it set, a full day of hard work in the sun in between.

NE PLUS ULTRA: COSTUME DESIGNER MALLORY PRUCHA / October 27, 2019 by Nathan Webster

Mallory Prucha is an Assistant Professor of Costume Design at Texas Tech University, Fine Artist, and member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829, IATSE. She received an MFA in Costume Design/Technology from the UNL Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, an M.A. in Theatre Arts and B.A. in Studio Art from the University of NE-Omaha.

She has worked for such companies as Oregon Cabaret Theatre, Utah Festival Opera, NE Shakespeare, NE Repertory Theatre, Black Hills Playhouse, Southwest Shakespeare, in the capacity of Costume Designer, Master Cutter/Draper, Craftsperson, Dramaturg, Make-Up Artist, Scenic Designer, and Scenic Charge.

As a freelance Fine Artist, she has illustrated 7 volumes of poetry for author Dr. Toni Poll-Sorensen and "A Primer in Theatre History" by Dr. Bill Grange. She specializes in coordinating moulage for large-scale first-response exercises and simulation and has completed her first level of training for Composite Drawing for Law Enforcement.

I have only known Mallory for the last year and a half but she is such a creative force and an aesthetic kindred spirit, so it feels as if our collaborative friendship has lasted longer. I find her perspective to be profoundly authentic, honest and moving and I am excited to feature her voice here.

Please enjoy!

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background; where are you from and how did you become a costume designer?

I am from Omaha, Nebraska. Costume Design was both a rough synthesis of many different interests and exactly what I was meant to do. My formal training hinges on studio art. Enlivening the human condition through understanding of fashion, clothing, costume has provided to be my most noble artistic deep-dive.

*Professional Sidewalk Chalk Mural Sample created by Mallory.*

Can you talk a little bit about your creative process? Do you start with an idea, an emotion, energy, an image? Do you have specific rituals when you draw?
I start with a conversation. If my design originates in self-talk, I have already lost the process. Without collaboration, my work lives in a vacuum. This conversation is followed-up by tremendous amounts of research and development of a linguistic and visual vocabulary specific to the process, which often becomes the most gratifying part. My own creative process is deeply steeped in a synaesthetic landscape in which images marry music, movement, and ideas. It is lovely, confusing, and resembles my pencil clumsy tracing rough-textured paper to unearth an adequate summary of conversation.

What is the most important component to you in looking at design - function or aesthetics - should design ever be seen as being art?

Those two elements are inseparable and sacred to one another. Similarly, art and design are locked in a dance of equivocal value. I really like the classicist delineation of fine and useful arts—as it speaks to arts and design. Useful arts are bound by linear principles, fine art is the byproduct of genius. Chaos and order are both needed to create a balance, just as art and design are to create a successful picture. Both are also necessary for deeper inquiry.

*Composite Sketch Artist Sample. Mallory is currently working with Lubbock PD.*

Is having a sense of humor important in your design?

Yes… two words… Ecco Homme (aka Beast Jesus). This is my personal mascot when describing the importance of art and design, because it reminds me to revive a process with joy and laughter.

Tell us about some of the highlights in your professional career.

This questions sucks—the highlight is EVERY SINGLE DAY! I get to wake up and keep doing it! AND I get to keep learning!

In addition to many other publications, including 8 volumes of poetry based on a life in dance, written by Dr. Toni Poll-Sorensen, Mallory’s illustrations are part of the Brooklyn Public Library's permanent collection.

Who do you consider to be the most significant designer of all time and why?

That varies. I have design crushes on Gyo Pei, Iris Van Herpen, John Galiano, Jean Paul Gaultier…. There are so many brilliant minds. I suppose I do not follow sports because I LOVE DESIGNERS. This list varies every day.

Your favorite quote?

Illegitimae Non Carborendorum (don’t let the bastards get you down).

Where do you find most of your inspiration?

In the small moments of the day. Today, there was a small group of monarchs that did not escape the cold in their migration. They were clinging to this white ash tree outside of one of my window. They were simple and beautiful. I do also tend to fixate on Space exploration, the work of the individuals at CERN, and the Northern European Renaissance.

*Professional Make-Up Artistry... yes, that is Mallory.*

You are now the Head of Design at Texas Tech University and you are a phenomenal teacher - has teaching in any way helped you define your own creative voice? And what makes a good teacher of design?

Yes. I chose teaching over pursuing a much more prolific career in design. It teaches me to be a better person, scholar, human every day. A certain amount of my creative voice is dependent upon humility, and teaching is a well-spring of just that. A good teacher of anything never shies away from asking questions, displaying a willingness to reframe them, and being proven wrong. I think that the same is true for design, therefore teaching and design for me are inseparable.

Production images.

If you hadn't become a designer what profession do you think you would have excelled in/at?

Astrophysics- specifically planetary climatology.

Looking towards the future – where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 25 years?

Still looking forward.

NE PLUS ULTRA: DESIGNER SHANNON ROBERT / September 13, 2019 by Nathan Webster

Shannon Robert serves on the design faculty at Clemson University, and is a proud member of USA 829. She received the M.F.A. in scene design from Florida State University and studied at the Moscow Art Theatre Conservatory in 1991. Shannon was director of theatre and head of design at William Carey University and serves as a member of the Hollins University M.F.A. Playwriting Faculty (in the area of design). She served KCACTF as Region IV design chair, regional vice chair, and on national design committees. Shannon served on the board of directors and executive committee of SETC. She managed the paint/craft departments of The Spoon Group Productions in NJ/NY, and fabricated props/painted for the Broadway productions of The Grinch, Grease, Xanadu, Legally Blonde, Inherit the Wind, The Pirate Queen, Coram Boy, The Color Purple, Jersey Boys, Spamalot, and Hairspray. With Technical Theatre Solutions, she painted for the national tours of Cinderella, In the Heights, Mamma Mia (Vegas) and Something Rotten. For TTS Studios, she painted the London Barbicon and US tours of Jesus Christ Superstar. She has designed for The Warehouse Theatre, Aurora Theatre, Cincinnati Shakespeare, Theatrical Outfit, Salt Lake Acting Company, The Tennessee Williams Festival (Provincetown) Actor’s Express, Mill Mountain Theatre, Synchronicity Theatre, Serenbe Playhouse, Brian Clowdus Experiences, New Stage Theatre, Auburn University Theatre, Texas Tech University Theatre, Middle Tennessee State University, Southern Arena Theatre, University of Southern Mississippi, The Peace Center (Gala) and the University of West Georgia. She has worked internationally as a designer, consultant, and respondent. She served as design consultant for Albert and Associates Architects for The Saenger Theatre renovation, and as the Productions Unlimited consultant for the Upstate Children’s Museum featured climbing sculpture and has designed installations for the Upcountry History Museum (SC) for Jan Brett and Jerry Pinkney. Shannon was the Associate Artistic Director and Scene Designer in Residence for The Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, SC. She received Atlanta’s 2014, 2016, and 2018 Suzi Bass Awards for best set design for a musical for Mary Poppins, In the Heights, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the Broadway.com Best Set Design for a Musical for In the Heights (Atlanta). Most recently, Shannon’s work was selected for the PQ 2019 Exhibition in Prague as part of the United States Transformations Exhibit sponsored by USITT.

I have known Shannon for five years now and am so taken with her imagination, creativity, artistry, ingenious sense of humor and generosity of spirit. I am excited to feature her voice here.

Please enjoy!

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background; where are you from and how did you become a designer?

I am from New Orleans, LA. I was always interested in storytelling, art, and how people decorated their homes. When I was in fifth grade, I was selected for a gifted/talented art class taught by a man named Lloyd Sensat - he taught us one and two point perspective in fifth grade - we went to some of the local plantation homes to draw them and our work was displayed at Diversity Gallery in the French Quarter weeks later. We learned the stories of the plantation owners, the slaves, and how the homes were built. It was then that architecture and historic places started to dance in my head - loved learning about the history of how things were built because of climate and codes. I continued drawing, started doing theatre in high school - thought that I was going to become an actor (lol - gulp). I came to my senses in college when I realized I could actually make a living doing design and that I really liked it. My father tried to convince me to go to law school, but I decided to do an MFA in design. During those studies, I did an exchange with the Moscow Art Theatre Conservatory - that is how it all began.

What does it mean to be a production/set designer, what responsibilities do you have and who do you mainly collaborate with on set?

I collaborate with the entire team - when it is a new piece, that includes the playwright. It truly is a collaborative art. Typically, after reading the play several times, we meet and discuss how the director would like to tell the story - a big part of what we do is talk about what we see and think when we read the piece. Ultimately, it is important that we all land on the same page and serve the story the way the director is telling it, but we would not be doing our jobs if we didn't share what we got out of the play when we read it - this is important because with our different perspectives and ways of looking at the world around us, we might hit on themes, images, ideas that were not considered by others - I always love hearing what people get out of what they are reading.

After this initial phase, we go away and develop images, look books, pull out given circumstances, figure out how to create the world with our team, cast, in this moment, in the space we have with our budget and so on. My job is to serve the story and help the director tell it by creating the dramatic tension the piece wants. I pay attention to movement patterns and how the actors are using the space - there are times I have to make modifications so that the space works for the people who are using it and "living in it."

“In The Heights”

Tell us a little bit about the highlights of your career so far?

There have been so many highlights. I love creating moments that touch people. If I know that my work moves someone in a way that counts, I get great satisfaction from that. I also have enjoyed doing work that has an environmental approach - I love projects that allow me to feature or focus on recycling, upcycling, or think about sustainable sourcing - we need to do far more of that in our very wasteful industry.

Can you talk about your process?

Honestly, I feel that my process changes based on the play and the team - there are, of course, similarities in technical process, but the words on the page guide our direction and where we land - historical period plays require a different approach to research than a fantastical imaginary world, so I begin in different places. Some plays are language based, some are movement based or driven by the physical, others are driven by metaphor and image - some are linear, some are rooted in memory, or do not follow a sequential pattern. Each one of these specific methods of telling a story asks different questions of designers and directors. We have to unpack those questions together to reveal how we are going to answer those questions. That often informs me of where to begin and I usually get a gut punch on where to dig and what to explore further. I have learned that it is okay to not have answers to the questions right away - sometimes that is the point. I have also learned in my process that it is okay to let go of things when I am wrong about them - I never marry an idea. Something that might be precious to me (for whatever reason) might not jive with the director or work with the other elements - gotta let it go and figure out what will - this is always an important part of process.

I always push to reuse materials and reimagine them - I get excited about spending the least amount possible AND not putting anything new in landfills - keep it going.

What was the worst experience you have had as a production/set designer?

I designed (and directed) a production of Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses with a 6000 gallon pool in a theatre with a concrete deck (which I always loathed, but turned out to be fortunate). Everything with the set worked out swimmingly - I enjoyed the process and loved the production. We used a pump during the day to circulate the water through a heating system. At one point the technical director cleaned the pump and was putting clean water in from a hose. He somehow managed to accidentally pull the hose out of the pool and let it run for nearly an hour onto that concrete deck. There was about three inches of water in the space when he realized what he had done. It was all hands on deck to clean and dry it - it took about three hours and was a nightmare. We had a show that evening. I never want to deal with that kind of thing again. Ever.

Who are some of the people who have inspired you in your work?

I am inspired by words and thoughts - sometimes when I think of the beautiful things said by some of the masters in my field, I get chills. These are a few that hit me:

Robert Edmond Jones: In The Dramatic Imagination, he wrote:

“Many people confuse imagination with ingenuity, with inventiveness. But imagination is not this thing at all. It is the peculiar power of seeing with the eye of the mind. And it is the very essence of the theatre.”

Bertholt Brecht: "He who fights can lose. He who doesn't fight has already lost."

Jerzy Grotowski: "If you want to create a masterpiece, you should always avoid beautiful lies."

Bob Marley: "One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain."

What do you consider to be the most significant film ever made and why? Ooh - that is hard. There are so many that are great for different reasons. Just one? I have to say Citizen Kane, but I also really loved Pan's Labyrinth, The Shawshank Redemption, The Color Purple, and Schindler's List.

What is your favorite piece of art?

The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch - it is utterly fascinating - I could look at it forever and never tire of it- I want to have a conversation with him and get into his head when I see it. Damn. No words. Someone has done little sculptures of some of the characters that, if asked, most people would likely date as contemporary. They would never guess that those pieces were inspired by a triptych done in the late 15th century.

Who is your favorite Designer?

Rachel Hauck, set designer for Hadestown and What the Constitution Means To Me. Total badass rockstar. I am also really digging the work of David Korins and Derek McLane.

What is your favorite city that you have visited?

Paris and Prague (I obviously have a hard time choosing just one when you ask me to do that). They are both romantic, have rich histories, have unique cultures, beautiful architecture, and beautiful art. They both fill my heart in different ways, but how can one not love these cities?

What do you think the biggest misconception is about creating theatre?

That it does not take rigor or that it is "play" that doesn't require thought - there is so much math, science, engineering, technology, and purpose that goes into each decision. People are always amazed when they do realize what actually happens behind the scenes.

“Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “Sketches”

What is your favorite quote?

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller

I think this is an important quote and right now, at this time in our human journey, people need to hear it and be reminded how hatred works.

Why are you based in South Carolina and how do you feel that your location impacts your work?

I moved here with my ex-husband from New York (after growing weary of always being stuck on the Jersey Turnpike, or in the Lincoln Tunnel). I used to teach and I wanted to do that again. When we first moved down, I became the resident designer and associate artistic director of The Warehouse Theatre. I now teach full-time at Clemson University. A few things: there is nothing better than working with students and watching them grow their confidence and soar and succeed. I know that I cancel out a vote here and my being here makes a difference. I do end up traveling quite a bit for my free-lance design work, but I enjoy that. I get away and I have something new to bring home each time. Wherever I go, there I am. I don't feel like location matters in this fluid world in some ways, but the audience base is smaller and more conservative here, but understanding who your audience is and how to "share stories" with them is part of this art form and I think it has given me a better understanding of the politics of creating theatre art.

Who is the one person that you have always wanted to work with?

Anna Louizos - she is amazing. I love the detail in her work.

Looking towards the future – where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 25 years?

25? Wow - hope I am still upright and walking. I would love to be on a beach or in the mountains somewhere breathing clean air, drinking clean water, growing my own food, looking at our natural world that we learned to take care of. I hope I am with friends who care about our globe, about humanity, and about stories.

NE PLUS ULTRA: ARTIST COLBY BREWER / March 26, 2019 by Nathan Webster

Colby Brewer is known for his site-responsive artworks which challenge fixed ideas of interactional spaces by engaging institutions and their architecture. He produces ambitious sculptural installations that change the spatial dynamic of the site in which they are placed and at times, offer opportunities for audience interaction. Colby’s studio practice involves a constant mix of drawing, collage, sculpture, and video explorations. He has exhibited in galleries and museums in New York, Budapest, and Salt Lake City. In 2009, he was named Visual Arts Fellow for the Utah Division of Arts and Museums. He holds an MFA from Pratt Institute. Colby teaches drawing at Waterford School where he is Chair of the Visual Arts. He also organizes Waterford School’s Visiting Artist Program which has hosted nationally renowned artists like Sheila Pepe, Leighton Pierce, Burk Uzzle, and more.

Colby Brewer is not only a significant artist (in his own words he focuses on “Work that challenges fixed ideas of interactional spaces by engaging institutions and their architecture”) and a wonderful teacher, he also happens to be the Board chair of NOW-ID. What I find so inspiring about Colby is his commitment to and deep knowledge of contemporary art, his curiosity and his ability to make things happen.

As our Board chair he is forward looking, generous and widely connected, he is a calming influence at our meetings and as a person he is just plain lovely.

I am excited to feature his voice here.

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background; when did you know that you wanted to be an artist?

I’ve been drawing as long as I can remember and have always loved the process. My parents must have picked up on that because my mom got me a cool little light box, some books on perspective drawing and things like that at a very young age. I remember being impressed with my dad’s ability to draw and the way he held a pencil, the way he pulled lines instead of pushing them. The sound of the pencil on paper and the look of lines were really impressive to me. He’s also got this great handwriting that is sort of his own unique version of architectural lettering. I studied the movements and short, intentional strokes he used to write. So, very early on I was certainly hooked on drawing and making marks. I also realized as a teenager growing up in a very conservative environment that I didn’t quite fit in. Artists were always the people I wanted to be around and to be like.

Can you talk a little bit about your creative process? Do you start with an idea, an emotion, energy, an image? Do you have specific rituals when you work?

There have been times when I did have daily rituals that would lead into my process, but they’ve been rare. As it stands now, I’m a full time teacher, parent of two teenagers, etc. and my life doesn’t really allow for ritual. My time gets too chopped up for it. If I’m making smaller sculptural works I usually set up a system of limits that governs the making of the work. In that way, I do have ritual in my work. I’ve found over the years that I’m a reactive sort of artist. I feel like I do my best work when I’m responding to a specific site. For example if I’m given a chance to exhibit somewhere, I’m almost always compelled to examine the site and propose something outside or on top of the building rather than inside on the walls. NOW-ID’s upcoming Rite of Spring project is perfect for an artist like me to be involved in - we did a site visit a few days ago and I’m obsessing over it

A sculpture by Colby Brewer called 'ante-tracery' - rubber and screws, 4' x 3' x 2"

Who are some of the people who have inspired you in your work and why?

It’s funny, and maybe even cliché, but some of my earliest and favorite influences were punk bands and punk zines. There was a great music scene when I was growing up and I spent a lot of time and effort trying to tag along and participate in that. What else was a kid in suburban Salt Lake City going to do, right? Something about that way of approaching art and community made sense to me and has remained with me. I’ve had a lot of great teachers and friends who are artists - too many to list. Sheila Pepe has been a big influence as just an incredibly smart person, maker of things, connector of people. I had the honor of getting to know Burk Uzzle and Janet Kagan who are a huge influence in terms of their kindness, work ethic, generosity, and all around excellence.

Tell us about projects that you have coming up that excite you?

I’m obviously very excited about what NOW-ID is doing and the upcoming Rite of Spring project! I’ve also got a small mural collaboration coming up with local artist and longtime friend Ruel Brown. And in September I’m set to work on a video collaboration with documentary film maker Jenny Mackenzie and a group of Waterford students. And I’m looking forward to meeting up with you in Budapest this summer to scout out some potential performance sites!

What characterizes art in the State of Utah - is there a unique Utah art movement and if so, what and who epitomizes that for you and why? And why is work that is developed here important to have included in the National and International discourse about art?

Maybe that it is so often made by people with deep connections to other places, and yet they choose this as home base. I love that idea anyway. I don’t really see anything that could be called a movement here. Once you go beyond the traditional, regional picturesque and look for something more, there’s quite a bit of variety. It’s important for great art made anywhere to be included in the National/International discourse. The world is a lot smaller than it used to be.

View of an installation called '&ME!' - at UMFA collaboration with Sheila Pepe

View of an installation called 'static' - 12' x 16' x 18'

View of an installation called 'wRonGsiDe' - neon, 12' x 12' x 90'

You are an established teacher of Art at Waterford School, has teaching in any way helped define your own creative voice? And what makes a good teacher of art?

Teaching helps me to not turn too far into my own way of thinking. Because it’s all built on communication and relationships with other people who you are offering up ideas to. You need to always be aware of other people’s perceptions of the work you’re presenting and you need to have a good idea of whether you are reaching them or not. Good teachers have an ability to meet students where they are and then, hopefully, add a little bit to that to raise their skill level and thinking. My work has definitely evolved into the more collaborative and participatory as a direct result of teaching.

Where do you look for inspiration?

I often look to film and books, to travel and to language. When we’re not teaching in Utah, we live in Budapest with Anikó’s family. So, a sort of international, bi-lingual, dual-identification has become a huge influence on my work. I find inspiration in the fuzzy overlapping of locations and sort of never being settled in one place.

Who do you consider to be three of the most significant artists in the world and why?

Béla Tarr. I love his films for their look and pacing and the long, long shots. I find his work to be visually mesmerizing and conceptually brave. I also love the work of Shirin Neshat for many of the same reasons. I was transfixed by her film Fervor when I first saw it. I’ve also become a big fan of Julian Rosefeldt. Last summer I saw Manifesto at the Hungarian National Gallery and was blown away by the incredible way it was conceived, the way it looked, and Cate Blanchett’s ability to perform it.

What is your favorite quote?

The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. Each evening we see the sun set. We know that the earth is turning away from it. Yet the knowledge, the explanation, never quite fits the sight. — John Berger

If you hadn't become an artist what profession do you think you would have excelled in/at?

I wanted to be an architect when I was younger, but never had the math skills.

Looking towards the future – where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 25 years?

I have a suspicion that I might be living in Europe. I hope by then (wherever I am) that I’ll have enough experience and the means to help younger artists realize their ambitions.

NE PLUS ULTRA: Dancers - JO, TARA, Katherine, Adrian, Sydney and Liz. / November 15, 2018 by Nathan Webster

For this version of NE PLUS ULTRA I have interviewed some of our dancers. We have been so privileged to be able to work with extraordinary performers during these last 5 1/2 years and six of them are featured in this interview: Jo Blake, Tara McArthur, Katherine Lawrence, Adrian Fry, Sydney Petitt and Liz Ivkovich.

As a choreographer, I kind of fall in love with my dancers because they carry, inhabit and transform my work in ways that were intended and in ways that I never anticipated. The dialogue and trust that is generated in the creative process is uniquely intimate and personal and the dancers who I keep returning to are the ones who wear my vocabulary in their bodies. A process that allows me to not speak and to do and present physical tasks that are innately understood… is rich and rewarding. When we took “Exodus” to Denmark, my family came to watch the show both in Copenhagen and in Odense and they mentioned the fact that Tara’s interpretation of the choreography was like watching me but from a perspective that was uniquely different, thereby adding another dimension to the work and I think that sums up what I seek in a dancer, someone who understands, inhabits and transforms the work. And all of these dancers featured in this article alongside Kate, Brad, Jenn, Yumelia, TJ, Ted and Brian have that indefinable quality that makes them stand out as - artists.

Please enjoy this interview!

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background; when did you know that you wanted to become a dancer and why?

Tara: After hitting my head on the coffee table as a young child from dancing around the living room to the movie Dirty Dancing, my mom enrolled me in jazz classes. I did the usual recitals and even competitions. I loved performing and taking class, and it gave me a sense of community and belonging throughout my awkward and otherwise lonely teens years. I was also part of a pretty rigorous dance program in high school which taught me a lot of discipline, but there wasn’t much exposure to how people moved forward in their lives with dance. I entered university as a dance major without much sense of where it would take me, and at first had somewhat of an adjustment period being introduced to modern dance for the first time. It wasn’t until I did a study abroad program one semester in Australia, and found myself in tears watching the Bill T. Jones Dance Company. I knew in that moment that it was a necessity for me to be a dancer. That I wanted to move like that and be in a company of that caliber. I came back to my university with new direction and fervor for pursuing contemporary dance. For me, this field calls upon an intuitive, somatic intelligence, which I find really exciting, and is generally lacking in our world. It has given me a sense of power in times when I didn’t feel that way otherwise. I think when I’m performing it is among the few times in my life when I am truly and purely present.

Jo: In high school, Joe was performing a floor routine for the birds, fawns, and mice friends that would come out of the woods to observe. Little did he know that the local high school theater teacher was on the other side of the ravine watching him tumble to “Phantom of the Opera”. (The nosy teacher was with her daughter attending a Girl Scouts event.) The following day, the teacher asked Joe (he now goes by “jo”) if he would audition for “Pippin” because they needed a gymnast. It is then that he learned choreography . . . and it is then that his life changed FOREVER (cue the laughter of Count von Count of “Sesame Street”).

Joe would later audition for Pom Pons, another name for dance team, and become a team member of the all-female squad.

Time goes by . . . he trained in a competition studio for a bit (never competed), attended his first modern and ballet dance classes at Cleo Parker Robinson Dance (first stage dance performance), moved to Germany (taught jazz in a tiny studio to Paula Abdul “Vibeology” on a record player), accepted a scholarship to the University of Wyoming (best little town in the West), transferred to the University of Utah (met a woman by the name of Joan Woodbury, who would later become his boss), and auditioned for a company by the name of Ririe-Woodbury Dance where he met, danced for, and became friends with Charlotte Boye-Christensen (CBC).

Liz: I am always reconsidering where dance lives in my life. I started dancing because a friend was in ballet class. I stopped dancing after high school because I felt that dance was “too bougie” as I was becoming aware of the real issues facing the globe. I became a dancer again in my 20’s when I came to understand that dance and social change are inextricable. Today, I think a lot about how dance informs the way that I approach my work as a development professional.

Sydney: I am originally from Utah where I grew up training in all genres of dance. My mother put me in dance as a child and I became serious about the art form when I turned my focus to ballet. Although I believe I’ve always wanted to be a dancer; it wasn’t until I decided to pursue a degree in dance that I feel like I made that choice for myself.

Katherine: I grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut with my parents and two younger brothers. When I was four years old, my mom put me in dance classes because I loved to dance around the house. I immediately took to ballet. I was a very shy child socially, but dance provided me with a means to express myself, to shed my shyness. I have been asked before when that pivotal moment was when I knew I wanted to make dance my career, but I never had that moment. I have always had the feeling that I have to dance. It is a part of who I am. The ballet school that I attended when I was young was connected with a small company and so I always new that dance was a career possibility. I guess that I just took it for granted that I would have no problem making it my career.

Adrian: Like many ballet dancers, a holiday visit to the theater for the Nutcracker inspired me to want to be a dancer. At 5 I saw Ballet Omaha’s Nutcracker and I was enamored. After that initial viewing I acquired a cassette tape of the Nutcracker suite and played the Russian Trepak track endlessly as I energetically cavorted in the basement of my childhood home. I eventually curated those moves into a succinct dance and performed it to my elementary school during the Spring Talent Show. Dance lessons followed shortly after that performance.

I started taking classes at a local, small town school. By the time I was 13 I was looking for more of a challenge so I started taking classes with the Omaha Theater Ballet (formerly Ballet Omaha). I eventually became an apprentice with the company while still in high school. After I graduated I spent a year in the Professional Division with Pacific Northwest Ballet, then spent four years dancing with the Oregon Ballet Theatre. I just started my 9th season with Ballet West.

Can you tell us a little bit about your creative process - how do you learn new choreography?

Jo: When I learn choreography I stand behind the choreographer and pretend that they know what they are doing. (jk) And, with as little energy as possible, I will experiment with the choreography. (jk) Do I like to dance? No, not really. (jk) Do I want the choreographer to know that I am passionate about dance? Naaaah. (jk) Do I LOVE the creative process in the studio with the choreographer and dancers? HELL YEAH!! I live for the creative process!!

Katherine: I sometimes feel like I have a difficult time picking up choreography quickly because I get stuck on the details. I want to learn new choreography "right" the first time, so I can inhabit the choreographer's movement style and language right from the beginning. Once I learn the basics, I then try to explore the movement and make it a part of me, much like breathing. By the time I am performing a role, I want it to feel as natural as possible. I no longer want to have to think about the role, I want to become it.

Tara: My creative process is a constant evolution, shifting from project to project. When learning new movement I get really curious about the transitions between movements, shapes, or concepts, not only as a way to string it together and solidify it in my mental and physical memory, but also to find my own creative voice within a certain structure. When learning movement from someone else I like to try and imagine what the movement must feel like to them, what it would be like to be in that particular body, and then use that information to inform how I approach the choreography. If I’m asked to generate material, I feel most successful when I am able to fully immerse myself and ‘buy into' the world the choreographer is trying to create. Some people work from the fined tuned details out— I tend to start in broad strokes and narrow in on subtleties as I go. I am definitely movement driven as opposed to shape. My instincts are to blur the lines a bit.

Tara in rehearsal.

Adrian: When learning preexisting works, we learn tribally, meaning a person teaches us what they’ve learned before us. During my whole career we’ve had technology (DVDs) to learn off of as well, but we’ve always had a stager in the studio with us guiding the process. I’ve learned two ballets so far from stagers who have no experience dancing professionally but they are versed in either Laban or Benesh notation which was a fascinating experience. They have the choreography written out in a score and are able to read it like a map.

Sydney: When in a new creation process I try to be as pure of a dancer as possible for the choreographer. I desire to serve their vision. I also aim to move expansively within the realms of the choreography if it calls for it. I find big, full movement to be the most satisfying, so I try and keep that in mind when dancing either classical steps or in a new creation.

I’d say I am a visual learner. When learning phrase work it helps me to see it first before I put it into my body. However I’m learning to approach choreography kinesthetically by trying it on, and allowing my body to process before I over-think.

Liz: I almost have no answer here -- I am embarrassingly bad at learning new movement. I used to learn really quickly (ok, like in high school, but whatever, I’m only 32, so it’s recent history) and now it takes me so much mental labor to retain choreography. I absolutely have to do it full out a lot of times / I watch what other dancers are doing in the mirror until it settles into my body.

What are some of the highlights of your career so far?

Jo: First and foremost, performing in NOW-ID’s premiere performance, The Wedding, will always be one of my memorable career highlights. Not only was I able to perform one of my favorite works of Charlotte’s, but I also attended their wedding prior to the performance. Other highlights in my career include: dancing at the Teatro de La’ Ville in Paris; teaching students dance in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Ecuador, Nepal, and Thailand; developing my skills as a performer, teacher, and company member with Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company for almost a decade; and creating my own work as a collaborator/choreographer.

Photos from “The Wedding”(2013) featuring both Jo and Katherine.

Liz: I am thinking of four recent highlights: Performing in A Tonal Caress with NOW-ID this summer -- a transformative, healing, deeply enriching experience. After several years of fieldwork, publishing a scholarly article about Ananya Dance Theatre’s work in the Journal of Environmental Studies & Sciences. I am an adjunct at SLCC where I teach a Dance and Culture course that is both a diversity and a fine arts general education course. We have lots of intense discussions about difference. Recently a student wrote: “This assignment [researching the Bachata] has helped open my eyes about the effects of American immigration policies… it restore[d] the aspect of humanity to undocumented immigrants for me.” I just started my a new position as Development Director for Utahpresents, a multidisciplinary presenter who brings diverse performances to the University of Utah and the region. I feel like I’m living the dream right now.

Sydney: Performing with Kidd Pivot under the direction of Crystal Pite at City Center, a Chance to Dance with the BalletBoyz, filming the “The Mistle-Tones” and “A Tonal Caress” with NOW-ID

Photos from NOW-ID’s “A Tonal Caress” at Utah Museum of Fine Arts in Salt Lake City, July 2018.

Tara: The moments that stand out thus far in my career are most often when I have been on tour. The excitement of traveling with your close colleagues, sharing works with new audiences and experiencing different performance venues. When I danced with the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company we went on a 2-month tour through France performing the works of Alwin Nikolais. Although I didn’t love wearing unitards, the memories I shared with that group of people will last me a lifetime. Other highlights include performing at the Copenhagen Opera Festival with NOW-ID just after a downpour, and performing as part of a structured improvisation in an old Blacksmith shop with headlamps as our only light source in San Francisco for Hope Mohr Dance.

Katherine: I have been blessed with a long, exciting career. It has included some amazing experiences that I could never have dreamed of when I started dancing professionally twenty years ago. Many of those experiences have included traveling to parts of the world I may not have been able to go to otherwise. I would certainly have to include touring with NOW-ID to Denmark to perform Exodus at the Copenhagen Opera Festival, touring with Ballet West to Cuba to perform Nicolo Fonte's Presto at the 25th International Ballet Festival of Havana and Scotland to perform in an all Antony Tudor program at the Edinburgh Arts Festival (my first program with Ballet West), and touring across China and Taiwan with Ballet Internationale, Indianapolis. My career has also introduced me to some of the most interesting, inspiring, and diverse people I know. Most importantly, I met my husband when we both began our dance careers with Ballet Internationale, Indianapolis, and most of my closest friends are artists who have inspired me throughout my career.

Adrian: The first highlight is that I’ve been able to live as an artist for the last 13 years. The longer I dance the more I realize how much of a gift it is to be a dancer. It’s very extraordinary. Other highlights include dancing with NOW-ID in the Copenhagen Opera Festival in Denmark; Ballet West being one of the first American companies to be invited to the 25th International Ballet Festival in Havana, Cuba; getting promoted to Principal Dancer with Ballet West in 2017; and most recently, performing in George Balanchine’s Diamonds with Ballet West was a career highlight.

Photos from NOW-ID’s production and tour of “Exodus” to the Copenhagen Opera Festival and the Funen Opera House in Odense, Denmark, August 2016..

Without naming names what was the worst experience you have had as a dancer and what was the best?

Tara: Some of the most challenging experiences I’ve had as a dancer was when I really doubted myself and felt insecure about how I was dancing or contributing, which therefore put me too much in my head and overly focused on trying to please instead of following my instincts. Anytime there is toxic energy in rehearsals whether it be with the director or between dancers it takes a lot of energy to try and put a barrier up around yourself to as not absorb the negativity. Although sometimes this kind of tension can still produce an interesting result, so sometimes it really just depends. My best experiences have been when I fully believed in the piece I was in, felt interdependent and energetically connected with the other performers on stage. Moments that felt like markers in my development as an artist.

Katherine: One of the worst experiences I have had was dancing for a choreographer who continued to drastically change their choreography every rehearsal up and through the piece's opening night. Even worse, after dress rehearsal my partner and I, who for weeks had been thinking our duet was a light-hearted, smiley affair and had rehearsed it as such, were yelled at and told, "And why are you smiling?! This isn't supposed to be happy!" It was that nightmare situation where on stage and I felt like I had no clue what I was supposed to be doing. The choreographer clearly lacked direction and confidence. Instead of owning up to it, the dancers took the brunt of the blame. It was a highly unrewarding and nerve-wracking experience.

Sydney: In the past I worked for a company that was primarily image based. I started to lose my passion for dance when it became more about how I looked on the exterior, opposed to how I was performing. Our director had a harsh approach that I feel pushed beyond the limits of professionalism. The environment felt toxic and unnecessarily extreme. Generally, any environment where I feel supported as an artist and challenged as a mover is a fulfilling experience for me. However, one of the happiest times in my life was when I had the opportunity to perform all over Germany, Switzerland and Austria. An opportunity to travel and do what I love is something I will almost never turn down.

Adrian: One of my worst experiences as a dancer became the one of the best experiences. I was performing a show of the Nutcracker and I didn’t make a lift with my partner. This lift worked in the studio and even on stage the night prior in the dress rehearsal. But we were not coordinated in the performance. Even though this lift worked in the studio, it was still a maneuver that I dreaded: I danced the whole Grande Pas de Deux worrying about the press lifts that happen at the end. After that performance I really changed how I approached my work. It ignited a deeper work ethic in me as I was in the studio everyday with my partner practicing in order to make it permanent. That event was more of a mental hurdle for me than a physical one. It was a shedding of ego and an embrace of my weakness that created a different kind of confidence in myself. Dancing invites me to confront my insecurities daily. My dancing partner claims that it was one of the best things to happen to me because it launched me to a place of mental and physical strength that I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise.

Liz: The worst experience was the process of getting my MFA. But the best experiences and relationships grew out of those challenging days, so perhaps it was actually the best experience in disguise?

Jo: Worst: Being trapped in a silver mylar bag (performing a trio where I am unable to see any of my fellow dancers). . .on a bench . . .on a raked stage . . . with the music track skipping. This was during the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. Positive moment, after the tears and personal freak-out, was being told that it was the best performance we have done thus far.

Best: Returning to NOW-ID after a two-year hiatus (graduate school at the University of Washington). I will always cherish the creative process with CBC, dancing alongside some phenomenal beings (Liz, Sydney, Walter, Karen, Mark, and the men), and re-discovering my passion for dancing. Also, was lovely to create work with fellow artists who have a passion for life, community, and the power of the personal voice (km).

Who are some of the people who have inspired you in your work and why?

Tara: The first choreographer I worked for and my former professor, Keith Johnson, has been a mainstay of inspiration, mentorship and friendship for me in my career. The training I received from him and the aesthetic of his work has influenced and shaped not only my dancing, but the lens with which I view other work from. Another highly influential person has been you Charlotte! Your work has always struck me with its highly articulate and specific movement vocabulary while simultaneously carrying so much velocity and wild abandon. The rigor and physicality inherent in the movement has motivated and pushed me along with just being struck by how prolific you are in creating! In addition I’ve been inspired by the style and aesthetic of Doug Varone, the intelligent and deeply researched work of Hope Mohr, the epic and sensual work of Pina Bausch, the liquidity and brilliance of Crystal Pite and William Forsythe.

Jo:

CBC — obvious.

Damian Lejat

Crystal Pite

Marina Abramovic

They are all creative powerhouses. They all use their physical voice to make a statement.

Sydney: Crystal Pite -- the energy brought to a room through the creative process/branching out to work with all types of artists. Ohad Naharin -- his inventive nature/explorative movement based off of sensation. Charlotte Boye-Christensen -- collaborative achievements/focus on finding movement vocabulary that supports the intention and voice of the piece.

Katherine: Recently I have found a lot of inspiration from my son. Watching him learn to navigate the world and experience so many firsts has granted me a new perspective in my job as an artist. Dancers spend countless hours in the studio trying to perfect our art so that we can accurately portray a character, a relationship, an idea, or an emotion. But in doing so, we sometimes lose the realness, the rawness of life. He has helped to remind me of this. I have also found inspiration from the vast number of dancers, choreographers, musicians, and artists I have worked with throughout my career. There is always more to explore, new perspectives to take, boundaries that can be pushed further and we all have different ways of approaching those challenges. Observing this in others inspires me in my work.

Liz: Dr. Ananya Chatterjea and the artists of Ananya Dance Theater have taught me so much about social justice, the attention to craft that dance requires, and the power of ensemble.

Choreographer Sara Shelton Mann described dancers as “the shamans of Western society” and that inspires me -- the energy work we do through performance is important in ways that I don’t fully know how to articulate.

My friend and choreographer Maya Taylor as built an inspiring freelance career in LA and NOLA in ways that are innovative and cross disciplines. She represents the kind of artist who just gets into the studio and WORKS. I respect that rigor 150%.

Adrian: Underneath a dancer’s hard work is more hard work. I’m inspired by my Ballet West colleagues each day. I’m inspired by dancers who work tirelessly and curiously and who love dancing. I’m inspired by my wife, who is also a dancer, and is also a tireless worker in all realms of her life. She is fully dedicated to curating beauty everywhere and that energizes how I work each day.

What is the project that you have always wanted to do?

Jo: I have always wanted to . . . be a resident choreographer for a contemporary modern company. I have always wanted . . . to teach at a university. Now, I want to close my eyes and sleep.

Katherine: It is the one that I haven't thought of yet. For instance, when Charlotte asked me about dancing in NOW-ID's first project The Wedding, it was unlike any project I had been involved with before and was completely off my radar of possibility. But I grew and learned so much as an artist that summer, in ways I could never have anticipated. Those are the types of projects I want to do.

The artists featured in “The Wedding” (2013).

Adrian: I would love to be a part of more dance on film. I think videos are a key way people receive information and art these days. And I love the marriage of different mediums: music, design, production, dance, and film all meeting together. I’d also like to be a part of dance education in some way or another because I think there are a lot of unawakened dance lovers in the world. I think just giving people a few keys with which they can view dance can change their whole experience.

Tara: In my fantasy world I would love to be in a work by Anne Teresa De Keersmaekerr. I would also love to perform in a large modern art museum at some point.

Liz: I have a book that I want to write about dominant aesthetics and subaltern dances in Utah, which I keep thinking of as a PhD dissertation that becomes a book. Maybe the other way around? Eventually, I hope to see Utah become a hub for new work and scholarship in environmental dance and theater. That’s a big project that I dream about a lot.

Sydney: Since I can remember, I’ve been interested in dancing for MOMIX. The inventiveness, physical strength and focus on classical/contemporary techniques the company offers, is something that I am constantly searching for. Each production seems to work with various elements that are really exciting to me; whether it be through the use of props, optical illusions, or really pushing the limits of the physical body.

Looking towards the future – where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 25 years?

Jo: In 25 years??? I cannot even think about what I want to do in 5 years. One of my goals, currently, is to live in the moment. And that is what I am doing. I am living, loving, and laughing right NOW. (you see what I did there.).

Sydney: Twenty-five years from now, I’d love to have my own company continuously working towards developing my own voice/vocabulary of movement. It is important for me to remain creative in my work as I identify with the world around me. Collaborating with other artists is something I value, as well as pushing the boundaries of dance as an art form.

On the other hand, I greatly enjoy being involved in academia. In college I remember turning to my mentors and thinking, “this is what I want to be doing.” If I can continue to teach while working professionally, that would be ideal. Being a Dean or Director of a Fine Arts Program where I am constantly advocating for the arts, is something on my radar as well.

Katherine: I would love to be working as a ballet master for a ballet company, or promoting dance in some manner. For a long time, dance has enjoyed a tradition of passing down choreography from one generation to the next, while also evolving to reflect the current societal values and trends and to push barriers. When my body can no longer take the vigorous lifestyle of dancing all day every day, I still want to be in the studio, helping the art to continue to move forward.

Adrian: I hope to own properties and businesses with my wife, Jordan. Maybe we’ll have a grown child or two. Maybe I’ll teach a little bit of ballet on the side. Maybe I’ll choreograph a dance piece or two a year. And we’ll have a Scottish Terrier.

Tara: In 25 years I want to have a healthy body that can still express itself through movement. I hope to still be performing in some capacity, but being more on the creating/directing side. I also want to own a tiny cabin in the woods.

Liz: Staying fortified!

NE PLUS ULTRA: FILM ARTIST JAN ANDREWS / August 13, 2018 by Nathan Webster

Jan Andrews is a creator of video art and documentaries. She has received numerous awards in both categories. Her documentary on poet Joseph Brodsky was an official selection of the 2010 Venice Film Festival, and a 2010 Visual Arts Fellowship was awarded to her from the Utah Division of Museums & Arts for her video art.

Jan has worked on several film projects with NOW-ID, on films that were documentation of performances and also promotional videos. To be able to collaborate with your editor is such a gift and Jan is the gift that keeps on giving - she is intuitive, curious, creative and profoundly skilled and we are grateful to work with her.

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background. When did you know that you wanted to work as an artist and how did you choose you preferred medium?

I began making films in 1983 when I returned from Egypt as I wished to return and make a film of the extraordinary culture of the Bedouin I had been studying in the Sinai Desert. I had been taking photographs since I was a child and had taken many interesting photos of Egypt but I really wanted to show the movement of people and animals in that stark and seemingly barren environment. Some of my first films, shot in 16mm, which was the format of the time, were of anthropological issues but I made them more as experimental meditations than a strict documentary. My first films were well received and played at many festivals and art galleries so I was hooked. Sadly, I never returned to Egypt to make the film that still hovers in my dreams.

You originally studied Anthropology - has that area of research figured into your creative work?

I did study anthropology and drifted into paleontology and forensic work as I found the dead more interesting than the living (and, with limited exceptions, I still do). I approach most of my work from a different tier or perspective but I have made documentaries whose stories unfold more traditionally because the subject matter required a more direct approach such as for a famous writer of nonfiction nature books who was struck twice by lightening and a Russian Poet exiled from his homeland and his language who won the Nobel Prize in literature and became a poet Laureate of the U.S. But I still try to apply a certain way of story telling that may lift my work from the ordinary.

You are such a prolific artist: doing short films, documentaries, photography, which format do you prefer and why?

I really enjoy all of these mediums. Being diverse in one’s interests leads you to want to express ideas in different ways. When I was in high school I did drawings and sculpted in clay. I find that even though I now put a camera between myself and the subject I am still drawing and sculpting. How you frame a subject, how you follow and frame the action, using available light, etc. is emotionally quite similar to those other art forms.

Can you talk a little bit about your creative process, where do you look for inspiration?

I usually always have a camera with me and have shot hours and hours of video (including many strips of outtakes of 16mm). When I have an idea for a piece I go through a multitude of clips and often find enough shots to tell a story. For example, I made an experimental film about the Kamikaze pilots when I found a booklet the Japanese Government had given them to guide them to their certain death and I used images of birds I had shot through the years as a metaphor for the planes.

Who are some of the people who have inspired you in your work and why?

There are many documentary and fiction filmmakers I admire; however, the major influence on my work can be laid at the feet of Chris Marker, a French filmmaker of exquisite, profound and personal films that reveal the essence of human nature. The topics of these films are universal and as relevant today as when they were made. His style was unique and the stories were told as if someone was reading you letters about what they had seen and experienced and philosophical viewpoints of the state of the human condition. Because of this, in my early films I never had a narrator but let the images and the people I filmed tell the story. This strategy is also due to my love of Ingmar Bergman’s films. He told simple stories of human behavior and carved into them wider meaning that touched, in profound ways, what I had studied in anthropology about societies and how some people adhere to norms but others, the interesting ones, create their own individuality which can succeed or lead to utter failure.

What do you consider to be some of the highlights in your career so far?

One of my early films was accepted into the Sundance film festival. It also traveled the world playing at festivals, shown in art galleries and had a limited theatrical release. I also received an NEA grant for that film and for the following film. It used to be much easier to get funding for creative work that was more artful and experimental. My last full-length film was about the Russian poet Joseph Brodsky who was exiled from his country in the 1970’s. He lived in New York and became friends with Mikhail Baryshnikov who invited the film to be screened at the Baryshnikov Center and he also curated it into a couple of festivals. When I met him he told me it was the best film about Brodsky that he had seen. I have met some very interesting people making these films and some of them have remained friends and friendship is a way one’s own life grows larger.

"JOSEPH BRODSKY: IN THE PRISON OF LATITUDES".

Traveling seems to be important to you - can you talk a little bit about why traveling is a source of inspiration for you in your work and describe a couple of your favorite travel destinations?

I became an anthropologist with the idea I would travel to exotic locals and live among the locals; however, as I changed my area of interest to skeletons, they usually hang out in archeology labs... I traveled nonetheless and, as I mentioned in the beginning, eventually traveled to Egypt and was there for several months. When I made the Brodsky film I traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia and Venice, Italy where he was buried and where my film premiered. In general, I enjoy travel just to be taken out of myself and into another world. When I return I find that I am rejuvenated and ready for a new artistic adventure.

You are an established artist in Utah and have worked here for many years. Do you think the city has changed a lot over the years in terms of the type and quality of work that is being explored and presented? What companies or artists working here excite you and why?

I do have friends who are artists and do interesting and exciting works. One of my oldest friends, Gary Vlasic, is an inspiration for his variety of talents from performance to his interesting art pieces. He appeared in an early film of mine in which he used choreography to interpret schizophrenia. The film also included Linda Smith of Repertory Dance Theatre who portrayed someone with amnesia. I of course must mention NOW-ID as I have edited many of your recent works and have been intrigued by the process of creating a dance/theatre piece. They always tell a story in a strange way like an experimental documentary film. Trent Alvey has a wide range of formats from installations to paintings. There are many local artists I admire and I should not try to name them because I am sure to leave someone out.

"In Suspect Terrain" (1996) featuring Gary Vlasic and Linda Smith. — "In Suspect Terrain" (1996) featuring Gary Vlasic and Linda Smith.

Who do you consider to be three of the most significant artists in the world (living or dead)?

Anselm Kiefer. Marlene Dumas. Ai WeiWei.

Looking towards the future, where do you see yourself as being in 25 years?

Ashes spread in the Southern Utah Desert.

NE PLUS ULTRA: POET WALTER KADIKI. / February 7, 2018 by Nathan Webster

Watch the interview with our "Tonal Caress" collaborator - Walter Kadiki here:

NE PLUS ULTRA: ARTISTS BONNIE SUCEC AND SUSAN BECK. / August 7, 2017 by Nathan Webster

Title:  “Behind You Will Be A Life / You  Will Never Want To See Again” — Title: “Behind You Will Be A Life / You Will Never Want To See Again”

Bonnie Phelps Sucec is the creator of spiritual and imagist works and also an art educator. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Sucec first studied with Don Olsen at Jordan High School. She then studied at Brigham Young University from 1960 to 1962, at California College of Arts and Crafts from 1962 to 1963 and last but not least at the University of Virginia Commonwealth University for two years. Sucec earned an MFA in painting drawing from the University of Utah in 1984. Her work is nonrepresentational and her preferred medium is gouache. The War and the World, Life Line, and Fluid Vision are examples of her work. Her work is included in the collection of the Salt Lake Art Center, the Utah Arts Council, and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. The Phillips Gallery represents her work.

http://bonniesucec.com

Susan Johnson Beck is a mixed-media artist, painter, and educator. She studied at the University of Utah where she earned her B.A. in 1965, and her M.F.A. in 1968. She also studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts. Teaching experiences include the University of Utah 1969-present, Utah State 2001-present, S.L.A.C. 1969-70, 23 years at Rowland Hall, Artist in Education Program of Lollapalooza (a children's art program), Salt Lake City Arts Council, and some private instruction. Beck is an excellent teacher with extensive training in traditional painting technique. Described as a portrait specialist in the mid-1970's, she was painting a series of detailed still-life objects by the end of the decade. Yet her ideas have drawn her increasingly toward the use of mixed media and a wider range of expressive forms in more recent years. Her work has been shown at the Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake Arts Center Faculty Exhibition, Utah Biennials, Utah Arts Council shows, The Springville Museum of Art, Weber State College, and at S.L.A.C. with Bonnie Susec and Meredith Moench Summer 1997.

http://www.art.utah.edu/faculty-2/faculty-list/susan-beck/

I have worked with both Bonnie and Susan over the years and consider them to be two of my dearest friends. Both of them have strong artistic convictions and unique creative sensibilities. They are fearless and soulful in their work and have boundless curiosity, energy and intuition . They are also just incredibly lovely and generous human beings and actually created my wedding cake back in 2013 - the most extraordinary wedding cake anybody could have asked for.

Bonnie and Susan have been friends for many years and developed a unique show together at Finch Lane Gallery back in 2014 titled "Short Stories", which was later expanded to a larger exhibition at Kimball Art Center in Park City in 2015 titled "Out Of Sight/In The Mind". These exhibitions were the inspiration for this interview.

Please enjoy!

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background; when did you know that you wanted to be an artist?

Susan: I have loved drawing as long as I can remember loving anything. It was something I have been able to do well and has driven my interest in exploring art techniques and concepts. It is helpful when teachers and acquaintances praise ones work because it can support an interest and move it forward into a commitment. I attended the University of Utah for both my Bachelor and Master degrees. I was also able to spend a year between degrees studying art at the California College of Art and Design. This experience was very important in expanding my view beyond Utah. I had a very ordinary childhood with one exception. My brother died in an accident when I was 17. It was a very important event in my life and has affected every choice I have made.

Bonnie: I always thought I was an artist, of sorts, because I made stuff out of boxes, ribbons, junk, and magazines. It wasn't until I went to High School and my teacher was Don Olsen, he was a well-known abstract painter, that I thought that maybe it was possible to to just be a painter.

Can you talk a little bit about your creative process? Do you start with an idea, an emotion, energy, an image? Do you have specific rituals when you paint?

Susan: I usually start with an image developed in drawing notebooks; usually they are figurative but not always. From there, it is a process of adding on until the surface is fairly complex and can then be developed by refining with color, value, texture and additional contextual elements. The emotional quality involves conscious decisions that usually relate to observations in nature, and how imagery makes me feel when I experience various qualities. The original drawing dictates the direction of the piece throughout the process, which can be chaotic at times. I like this part the most.

Bonnie: My teacher was an abstract painter, so that is how I learned to paint. This was in the late 50's. I start with moving the paint and then I concentrate on color, shape, patterns, movement. I became familiar with the abstract artists work, there was an expression of energy and movement. I painted on everything and work on a large scale.

Title: “During The Week She Doesn’t Eat Much / She Only Eats Like This On Sunday” Susan Beck (top), Bonnie Sucec (Bottom).

Who are some of the people who have inspired you in your work and why?

Bonnie: I admire the work of lots of artists of all kinds...but I would say Don Olsen, Shari Urquart, and of course Susan.

Susan: I love children’s artwork for the spontaneity found there as well as the uninhibited spirit of their work; ditto for outsider art and primitive art. Also other artists who are close friends because I see their process and the development of their work on an ongoing basis. I also love other forms of art including dance and music. There is a kinship of spirit and intent that I feel close to.

You have been friends for many years, how did you meet? Do you feel that you have inspired each other's work through the years and if so how?

Susan: I met Bonnie because of her work. She was selling the most delightful painted dough figures at the Utah Arts Festival in 1977. I was working at the Art Festival through a CITA program called Artist’s In The City. I bought several of the figures, which I still have, and arranged to meet her at her home to get several more after the festival was over. Once I was in her home, I recognized a sister of the head, and when I left for home, it was with several additional pieces of artwork, a guinea pig named Faye, and a lasting friendship. We have done many big and small activities together: Lallapalooza, a children’s art agency that developed experiential, discovery art projects, teaching through the Utah Arts Council, visiting galleries and exhibits, and most importantly, we have always drawn together. There are so many aspects of Bonnie’s work that hold my attention: her freedom of expression, her daring use of color, her obsession with textures, her unusual compositions, but mostly her sense of humor.

Bonnie: Susan makes me disciplined. I would have never done the kind of work we did together if it wasn't for her persistence. Susan and her work challenge me. I am grateful for that.

Talk a little bit about the project that you were both involved with and that evolved over a seven-year period. Why was it an important project for you to do together and what discoveries did you make about each other as artists and friends in the process? And what did you discover about yourself?

"Out Of Sight/In The Mind" at Kimball Art Center in Park City, 2015

Susan: This project developed rather naturally through our drawing together. I think artists are always looking for some device to jar them out of their myopic view of their work. Bonnie and I have a very similar aesthetic appreciation, and I think I can say, we truly like each other’s work. We were both at a point of wanting a challenge in our work, and this seemed to be an interesting, workable idea. Drawing from verbal description has many layers. First, your own habits and preferences, then your strangely biased idea of the other person’s work, then the challenge of setting those aside to find a fresh yet personal approach to the elements of art used to create any piece of artwork. You are trying to stay true to yourself but respectful of the other person’s description. Since I use a lot of black and white in my work, I often found I would over exaggerate Bonnie’s description of color. If she said pink in a described area, I saw magenta when it actually could turn out to be pale peach. Describing a piece of artwork is difficult and is as much about mood and meaning as it is about technical aspects. In fact probably even more so. There is also an interesting thing with composition. I was often surprised at how similar that component could be in our interpretations. It made me think there are some overriding compositional elements that drive our choices. My most important discovery was to find how much I could trust both Bonnie and myself through this work. She never disappoints.

Bonnie: Our work is very different: images, style, color, patternmaking, and message are sometimes quite opposite. It was at times hard for me to work from Susan's verbal explanation of her painting. Sometimes I thought I just couldn't do it. Mainly because of course I wanted my paintings to be good, as she did as well. It was a challenge.

Title: “ The Body Remembers / Ancient Reasons”

Susan's (Left), Bonnie's (Right).

Title: “ A Shadow / Beneath The Surface”

Bonnie's (Bottom), Susan's (Top)

Title: “Try To Cover It Up / And There It Is Again”

Susan's (Bottom), Bonnie's (Top).

Title: “75 Years / Past Yearning”

Susan's (Left), Bonnie's (Right).

Title: “Lake Over / Lake”

Susan's (Top), Bonnie's (bottom)

I love the introduction to this show, where you stress " strong partnerships initiate and excite experimental approaches to materials, imagery, and compositional devices as part of a larger practice. The goal was not to duplicate but to achieve a greater personal vocabulary within a very complex visual arena." Susan - can you talk about what insights you had from a form (craft's) perspective about your own work and Bonnie’s?

Susan: Because my training was heavily based in using materials to recreate the “real” world, I rely on that skill for success. That pretty much had to go out the window in this project. So my work is light and shade defining objects, fairly colorless, a lot of depth of field, horizon line, that kind of stuff. Bonnie’s work is colorful, textural, relatively flat, no attention to a horizon line or associated size relationships. Her work is full of humor for all to see, I think my work is funny, but most people see it as deadly depressing and morbid. The cross over into more of her world was so good for sense of humor. She really got me into the beauty of oil pastels, which I hadn’t really used much before we did this project. It turned out they are so flexible for layering, changing existing images, and creating unusual colors and textures to achieve complex, interesting surfaces.

You are both such established Utah artists. What characterizes art in this State - is there a unique Utah art movement and if so, what and who epitomizes that for you and why? And why is work that is developed here important to have included in the National and International discourse about art?

Bonnie: There is a strong tradition for landscape and figure art in Utah. It makes sense. I also think by not being influenced by popular trends, there is a creative energy here.

Susan: It is difficult to be an artist in this state. The culture here does not include a lot of visual art, and there seems to be no involved audience for more challenging work. Even artists who are more within the range of what one would think of as acceptable find a very small market for their work. Still, there are a surprising number of very interesting artists working here. Fortunately, there are several non-profit venues that show more experimental work, thus the importance of funding for arts organizations. Art is a reflection of culture and Utah needs to be included this cultural documentation in all its forms.

Title: “Here’s The Thing / You Might Not Be Seeing The Big Picture” by Susan Beck.

Title: “Here’s The Thing / You Might Not Be Seeing The Big Picture” by Bonnie Sucec.

Title: “Waiting For Fate / Like A Bus” by Susan Beck.

Title: “Waiting For Fate / Like A Bus” by Bonnie Sucec.

Title: “In The Woods / But Not Alone" by Bonnie Sucec.

Title: “In The Woods / But Not Alone" by Susan Beck.

Title: “You Might As Well Live / In The Wrong Direction" by Susan Beck.

Title: “You Might As Well Live / In The Wrong Direction" by Bonnie Sucec.

Both of you are great teachers of art, has teaching in any way helped you define your own creative voice? And what makes a good teacher of art?

Bonnie: What makes a good teacher of art is listening and being aware. Also compassion - that goes for everything in life.

Susan: Teaching has been a microscope through which I try to look at all the many aspects that make up art. The challenge in teaching is to articulate what makes artwork in all it’s many facets and helpfully impart that information for the student to use, as they will. It is always exciting to see what students come up with to solve problems. That is what one spends most of the time doing - looking for solutions to problems. Very much like putting a puzzle together. A good teacher loves and understands the subject and appreciates the many facets of each student, then looks forward to what happens when these two come together.

Where do you look for inspiration?

Bonnie: I see inspiration everywhere. I love to look at art. I'm inspired creatively.

Susan: Everything is capable of inspiring but I especially love music, dance, nature in all forms, surprise encounters with the visual world, weird books with or without pictures, other artists work, the newspaper.

What moves you?

Susan: Honesty.

Bonnie: A unique idea. An unexpected surprise. Passion. A dedication to discovery, hard work and gentle acts.

Who do you consider to be three of the most significant artists in the world and why?

Susan: Very hard, if not impossible, for me to answer. So much of what we see is a product of time and in each time period there are innovators and refiners, experimenters and technicians, realists and explorers of imagination. Who can say? We have probably forgotten more important players than we remember or never knew about - so many more. I am reading a book titled “Ship of Theseus” which refers to a long forgotten war and the ship with which the conqueror waged his battles. The ship was honored by vowing to preserve it for all time. As time passed the ship began to disintegrate, and it was necessary to replace rotting boards. Well once you replace parts of it, is it the same ship or is it something else? The more boards you replace does it become less what it was and more something else? I see this question like a long history of ships - building, repairing, and replacing, all-important and necessary and part of an evolution.

What is your favorite quote?

Susan: “I am more like myself than I used to be” from an old friend of mine.

If you hadn't become an artist what profession do you think you would have excelled in/at?

Susan: I would like to have been a musician, but that is out of the question because preforming in public paralyzes me. But I think, I could have been a good gardener or a park ranger.

Bonnie: Good question. I don't know.

Looking towards the future – where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 25 years?

Bonnie: I probably won't be around. I am happy to have the time to do my work.

Susan: Out of the picture.

Wedding cake created by Susan and Bonnie back in 2013.

NE PLUS ULTRA: WRITER DAVID KRANES / July 20, 2017 by Nathan Webster

David Kranes writes about magicians, gamblers, hit men, painters, casino workers. His characters are frequently displaced seekers with volatile emotions—but always human. He writes about the West. And his characters struggle and love in its surreal landscapes of Las Vegas casinos, Utah deserts, and Montana towns. He exposes the magic in the mundane, the surreal in the simple, and the bizarre in the banal.

As artistic director of Robert Redford’s Sundance Playwright's Lab for 14 years, David Kranes served as dramaturg and mentor for many now celebrated works in American theatre, including Pulitzer Prize winners Angels In America (Tony Kushner) and The Kentucky Cycle (Robert Schenkkan). He also worked with other renowned playwrights including Donald Marguiles, Milcha Sanchez Scott, and Philip Gotanda, and actors Kathy Bates, John Malkovich, J.T. Walsh, and theatre artist Julie Taymor.

With many stories anthologized, David Kranes is a Pushcart Prize nominee for “Blue Motel”; Pushcart winner for “Cordials” (1996)—this story appearing also in Best of Pushcart Anthology (2004); recipient of the Utah Governor’s Award in the Arts, CBS Playwrights Award, National Repertory Play Contest, and Wrangler Award for “Best Short Story Collection” for Low Tide In The Desert.

I have known David for seven years now. Nathan and I worked with him on two separate projects, he is an inspiring mentor to us and a dear friend!

Please enjoy!

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background; when did you know that you wanted to be a writer?

I grew up in a Boston suburb, surrounded by my parents' high-powered group of intellectuals: physicians, lawyers, economists, physicists....some of the Nobel winners. Many of these folk--on the side--painted, concertized, wrote. The message was: You do something SIGNIFICANT and, if you're anything, do some sort of art on the side. But you never do art to call attention to yourself. It was a pretty amazing but intimidating circle. To say that I was intimidated doesn't touch what I felt. So I acted out. And, in doing so, discovered writing. A teacher encouraged me. So that's where it started. It wasn't until senior year in high-school that I got at all serious. Which led to some good college acceptances. I was pre-med in college, took a left turn, went to Columbia Law School, had a breakdown and decided--for better or worse, with my parents blessing or not--I'd better do what I feel the fire of: write. So--

What books inspired you growing up and why?

Books?

You are such a prolific and diverse writer: doing screen plays, theatre plays, novels, short stories – which format do you prefer and do you feel that moving between formats makes you a better writer?

In America, writers--as in so many professions--tend to be specialists. In Europe, a writer is a person-of-language. Beckett wrote novels, plays, a film entitled "Film." Philosophers write novels and poetry.

If words are one's raw materials for expression, the European model makes more sense to me.

Can you talk a little bit about your creative process as a writer? Do you have specific rituals when you write?

I drink coffee. Later in the day, I drink wine. I write every day (and did, even when I was teaching) for at least 2 hours. I "work out." Sometimes it's just the exercise of arranging and rearranging words. Sometimes something-I-can't-name ignites. I have a general objective when I begin, but I give myself permission to "stray." Sometimes I do what I thought I'd do when I began. Sometimes I end up in South Dakota.

Who are some of the people who have inspired you in your work and why?

The list is too long. Some have inspired me through the work they've done. Others have inspired me in their dedication. I'm drawn to people with a gentle ferocity. I believe that art forgives....which is another way of wording Mr. Hemingway's, "Good writers aren't always good scoutmasters." Unfortunately there are too many whose art doesn't merit forgiveness. I'm inspired by artists who give almost as much of their energy attempting to be good people--good citizens in the world--as in being good artists.

You are an incredibly intuitive teacher and mentor to many - what is it you get out of teaching and do you think teaching informs your writing?

I had many, many bad teachers -- mostly in secondary school but some in college as well. Always, when I was being "taught," I'd find myself thinking (of my teacher), "Don't you get it?! Don't you see that this is the way you should be teaching? Why doesn't the teaching profession have the "Do no harm" ethic? What's the opposite of "harm?" Mentors should be aiming to do that. When I teach well, I feel clean. It's good to write from that feeling, because I know I'm going to get awfully dirty in the writing.

You were the artistic director of Robert Redford’s Sundance Playwrights Lab
for 14 years, serving as dramaturg and mentor for many now celebrated works in American theatre. Can you talk a little bit about how that came about and what you felt your contribution was to the Lab?

I'm trying to write a book about what's asked in this question. I had a film project in the very first Sundance film Lab. I complimented Mr. Redford on his structuring of that Lab. I said he'd done a lot to create "planned accident." Perhaps he liked what I said, because the following year I was asked to create the Playwright's Lab. My designing of the Lab followed two principles: (1) that it was a Lab--thus, what was worked on had no predictable or assured outcome. There would be informed work trying to make a promising thing exceptional....but without a deadline or assurances; (2) I shaped a process which was what I would want a play of my own--in the most ideal of circumstances--to be subject to.

Why is it important for new playwrights to be able to work through their material in that kind of context – what tools do you think it provides them with that they wouldn’t otherwise have gotten?

The Sundance Process (1) removes any deadline for "opening" and (2) provides contact with thinkers and resource artists (dancers, painters, historians, etc, etc) that a traditional "rehearsal" process wouldn't provide.

Can you share some of the highlights from your period of time at Sundance?

First: Robert Schenkaan and Donald Marguiles returned to Sundance at points when they were deeply discouraged and wondered if they could ever finish another play. Both went on, after that, to win Pulitzers.

Second: Tony Kushner arrived at Sundance with the 1st 40 pp. of Angels In America. He wasn't sure he could get beyond those pages. They were worked on again and again for 2 weeks. On the second-to-last day, Tony said, "I think I can write now," and left the actors to keep rehearsing the 40 pp. On the night of his final reading, he came down the mountain at dinner time with the whole first draft of the first half of Angels.

We read it that night. Wow!

You have a side career, as a leading expert in the US on new directions in casino design - which is brilliant! How did you develop this interest and does it inspire your writing?

The world of casinos is a world of craziness and improbability. That appeals to me. Also I have a very strong sense of design space.

What moves you?

Fearless vulnerability.

Nathan, Ethan Phillips and David Kranes during the creation of the piece "But, Seriously".

Who do you consider to be three of the most significant
writers (dead or alive) in the world?

Shakespeare, Cervantes, Samuel Beckett.

Are there important qualities that you believe an artistically successful writer has to have?

The "artistically successful writer" should be unafraid that s/he will be judged mad.

What outside of literature, theatre and film inspires you and why?

You mean, besides visual art, photography, dance, music, the ocean, the air, the rainforest?

What is your favorite quote?

"The gift travels."

If you hadn't become a writer what profession do you think you would have excelled in/at?

According to a battery of tests I took at the age of 14, I should have been an architect.

Looking towards the future – where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 25 years?

In 25 years? C'mon, Charlotte: Get serious!

NE PLUS ULTRA: ADAM BATEMAN / April 26, 2017 by Nathan Webster

Adam Bateman received a BA in English and Spanish at BYU and an MFA in Sculpure from Pratt Institute. He is an artist and curator who has exhibited his work internationally, across the United Sates and at every major art museum in Utah. He is the 2008 recipient of the Utah Division of Arts and Museums Visual Artist Fellowship and the 2013 Joan Mitchell Fellowship. He has curated projects in Los Angeles and New York City as well as for a few venues in Utah including CUAC, a non-profit space that he operated for twelve and half years in Salt Lake City.

Adam is a close friend and collaborator of NOW-ID - he even performed in our "NOWHERE" show back in 2015. It has been so inspiring to see his extraordinary commitment and generosity to the art scene in Utah and how incredibly significant he has been in shaping our community. This interview is a tribute to him and CUAC!

Please enjoy!

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background; when did you know that you wanted to be an Artist?

I grew up in Ephraim, Utah. It was small and poor and had very limited opportunities in lots of ways. Art opportunities in particular were limited. My aunt Kathleen Peterson is an artist and I grew up next door to her and always thought I might want to be an artist, except I thought I wasn’t talented enough to do it.

I lived for a year in Guatemala City when I was 23. While there I discovered bohemian life… I would hang out at coffee shops and talk about Che Guevara, read poetry, and talk about art. So clichéd. I started making drawings. When I returned to BYU I took a 3D design class from Brian Christensen who encouraged me to keep making sculptures and keep pursuing art as a focus of study. This eventually led to my decision to go to Pratt Institute for graduate school in Sculpture.

You chose to focus on Sculpture as your medium - why?

I was an English Major with a Spanish Minor. I discovered the world of ideas and of critical theory. Through my sculpture classes that I took by accident, I found out that the world of ideas collided with the world of making things. I had always built things my whole life. It was a revelation.

Tell us a little bit about your creative process - do you work conceptually or formalistically?

I totally work conceptually—even though I think my work has a strong aesthetic/formal presence. I almost always start with an idea then, through mental work, I develop a way to manifest those ideas in a visual way—the concepts also tend to engage with the intersection of visual culture and ideas. I usually conceptualize what the artwork will look like before I start and then simply fabricate it. Now that I’ve started painting, I feel like a “real” artist like never before, because I have much more of an intuitive process with them.

Examples of Adam Bateman's work over the years.

What have been some of the highlights of your career as an Artist so far?

That’s hard to answer because they range from personal breakthroughs to new ideas to museum shows and awards. Maybe I’m most proud of being a Joan Mitchell Fellow. That is a real honor.

Who are some of the people who have inspired you in your work and why?

Theorist Kenneth Burke through Greg Clark, and Greg Clark himself have been hugely influential. Neither are in the art world but both write about symbolic language and identity—Greg Clark about how those ideas apply to the landscape and how it influences identity. A graduate professor, Robert Zakarian, has influenced the way I look at art and the way I understand it. Matthew Choberka and Jared Latimer helped me understand painting. Elizabeth Tremante changed the way I think of landscape painting. Countless conversations with Jason Metcalf, Aaron Moulton, Micol Hebron, Laura Hurtado, and Enoch Lambert about ideas and about art have shaped my ideas.

Who are your three favorite artists?

Pierre Huyghe, Matthew Barney, Robert Smithson. I guess.

What do you think are the most important features that a successful Artist has?

I have been doing a lot of thinking about this lately. I’ve been redefining what success looks like. By the numbers, only 0.5% of all MFAs in art ever hold a tenure track position. Only 0.08% of all BFAs + MFAs (Bachelor of Fine Art + Master of Fine Art) ever make a living solely as an artist. Those are ridiculously low odds. I think success is being able to make art you want to make and exhibit it sometimes. I think if you’re able to continue doing that, you are contributing to culture and expressing yourself in a meaningful way. Reaching economic success and critical acclaim involves too much that is outside of an artist’s control.

You have been so prolific in your career, working Nationally and Internationally - why was it important for you to come back to Utah and be based here?

Ultimately my art is about place and identity. It’s about how aspects of Americanicty have been institutionalized and made visual—how institutional architectural forms re-enforce American Identity. My version of American Identity is tied to this place. It’s tied to Utah. I also like that there is opportunity to make a difference here.

Tell us about the idea behind creating CUAC - what role did you feel that it played in Utah and why was it originally based in Ephraim?

When I moved from NYC I was concerned that I wouldn’t have a community of people around me that understood contemporary art in the way I did. I felt like I had it within me to help create that community—to retain artists that might otherwise leave the state, to attract Utahns living elsewhere to return, to bring my colleagues from elsewhere to spend time here. It was originally in my home town because I was able to inherit a 501(c)3 and a building and make it into my vision. The door opened there.

Having run CUAC for 12.5 years now, first in Ephraim and later in Salt Lake City - how do you feel that the arts community in Utah has changed over that period of time and having been such an advocate for the arts here, what do you think are the strengths but also the weaknesses of our community?

When CUAC opened (as a contemporary art space), there were only two or three contemporary artists in Utah who were exhibiting their work outside of Utah. Now there are about 40. Since CUAC opened, BYU’s MOA and UMFA and Nora Eccles Museum and Utah State and the Harris Gallery at Weber State have all hired contemporary art curators; Salt Lake Art Center changed it’s name and focus to be UMOCA, GARFO and Kayo and NOX Contemporary and God Hates Robots and Granary Art Center have been open; Rio Gallery has hired a contemporary art focused Felica Baca. Our little community has grown a lot. I can’t say how much CUAC has catalyzed that, but we have at least been part of a shift in zeitgeist.

I think the biggest strengths in our community are the strong programs BYU and Weber State have and the large number of ambitious and talented young artists that come out of those programs as well as UofU and Utah State (and Snow College). There are lots of good artists here. The weakness is the availability of venues for those artists to exhibit their work and get support. There is still as strong feeling among financial supporters of the arts that is suspicious of contemporary art—not because of content, but because it competes with more traditional art that is strong in our state. There is still a feeling that contemporary art is the weird anomaly compared to the big brother of traditional regional art without the understanding that the reverse is true with a global perspective.

Images from CUAC (Central Utah Art Center) in Salt Lake City.

How could the community have helped in preventing the closure of CUAC?

This is a tricky question. There are two answers, at least. The first is that for a cultural non-profit to thrive, it needs a solid, regular source of income that the organization can count on to cover things like rent and basic operations. ZAP Tier 1 recipients receive somewhere around 1/3 of their operating budget from ZAP each year. They can count on that as a baseline to raise money against. They then seek funding to support programming. CUAC lost that important component of our funding. There isn’t much most people can do to replace that. We have been super fortunate to have that support for so long. That is what we lost. That loss is why we are closing.

On the other hand, CUAC, and all non-profit arts organizations rely on community support for the other two thirds of our budgets. This support goes directly into programmatic community offerings, in CUAC’s case, exhibitions and education programming. The costs directly related to exhibitions (e.g. shipping, artist travel, painting the space, printing postcards, etc) came to about $60,000 each year. CUAC had about 12,000 visitors each year. If each person who visited CUAC had donated $5 each year, we could have paid for our exhibition programming. This is something I think most people don’t understand. If people want cultural institutions to thrive in our city, they should give money to support them. Even small amounts like $5 really help if there is a culture of supporting organizations we love and want to see continue. I hope people in Salt Lake will read this and choose their five favorite non-profits and commit to donating $5 or $50 or $100 or whatever they can to supporting them. If we all do this, important offerings will continue to exist and will even grow.

What is the next chapter in your life - tell us about some of the projects that you are working on these coming months? And is there a project that you have always wanted to do?

The month of May is about building a large sculpture that will go to Las Vegas for a museum show in September. June is a residency at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans. In July I’m installing a permanent sculpture at Southern Oregon University. I’m hoping to do a lot of backpacking in the desert. I’m hoping to go surfing in Costa Rica. I’ll be applying for lots of jobs too.

Looking towards the future – where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 25 years?

I have no idea how to reasonably answer this question. If I was independently wealthy I’d operate an exhibition venue in Salt Lake City and I’d make art. If doors open the right way, I’ll be a famous artist and I’ll be engaged in the development of community through cultural organizations. I feel like the reality is that there are forces outside of me that can impede those things from happening or they can make them happen. I think a likely scenario is that like most other good artists, I’ll keep making my art and keep scrambling to pay the bills. I thought that would have been in Utah. Now it’s looking like it might be somewhere else.

NE PLUS ULTRA: MIME ARTIST YASS HAKOSHIMA / February 21, 2017 by Nathan Webster

Yass Hakoshima in "Maze". Photo courtesy of C. Wang.

Yass Hakoshima began his career while dancing with the Yokoyama Ballet troupe in Japan. His initial success led him to the United States, where he studied modern dance with Erick Hawkins and mime with Etienne Decroux. In the late ’60s Hakoshima made his stage debut in New York, and thereafter embarked on a 10-year tour of the United States, performing in over 400 cities in 49 states.

In 1976, he established the Yass Hakoshima Mime Theatre, incorporated as Danmari Ltd. He has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Suntory Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Soros Foundation, Deluxe Corporation Foundation, and from many other corporations and individuals. Mr. Hakoshima is now an international favorite, touring from New Zealand to Montreal, and Hong Kong to Berlin.

I have known Yass and his wife, the dancer Renate Boue for close to 20 years now and am completely inspired by their endless creativity and pursuit of artistic excellence. Yass is an extraordinary performer with an incredible amount of stamina and curiosity for the world around him.

Please enjoy.

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND; WHEN AND WHY DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU WANTED TO BECOME A MIME ARTIST?

When I was ten or twelve years old, I was a good story teller. I explained stories in a convincing manner to my classmates and friends. In fact, I enjoyed doing this myself. During my life in Tokyo 1955-58, working at Tokyo Keikan, I took daily ballet classes with the Haruki Yokoyama Ballet and mime classes with Hieronobu Oikawa, who had just returned from Paris, where he had done studio work under Etienne Dercroux. While the Yokoyama Ballet Co. had been touring in Hokkaido for a 3-week engagement, I danced in “Coppelia” and “Swan Lake.” As you can imagine, we always performed on large stages with wonderful audiences. Somehow I got the idea to try out some of my created mime pieces. During the intermission after the first performance I proposed this to the artistic director and to my surprise, the offer was accepted. I would be performing my own choreographed solos! Because at that time very very few artists were showing European style mime, only at a few occasions Japanese people were able to see mime when they were watching European movies. Therefore my appearances were very unique at that time for Japanese audiences to see mime in a live performance, and it became a great hit during the Hokkaido Ballet tour. On a big stage, one person doing something called Mime was a great challenge. During that time I was also reading a lot of literature and constantly searching Western theatre history, and finding Western art forms, specifically about the art of mime, which at that time was very little known in Japan. Twice I was able to see Marcel Marceau perform in Tokyo, which confirmed my vision of getting more and more interested in the art form of mime.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR BREAK-THROUGH PART AS A MIME?

After many years of choreographing numerous performance works, I realized that one of the popular mime styles, the so-called 20th century classic short vignette, which is so beautiful and absolutely stark, sharp, direct and showing human expression. It holds a poignant deep meaning like a powerful black and white calligraphy. However to exist among the other “big brothers” like opera, symphony concert and many other types of theatrical forms, which use enormous visual effects like stage sets, costumes, fantastic songs, dialogues, all of which can over-whelmingly impress audiences with enormous excitement. Mime on the other hand, and especially soloist performing on the big stage, without song, no talking, just demonstrating body expression of everyday gestures in life, was not enough! I found one clue: ”visualization of music” could help me to step out of the short vignette style. I concentrated on 15 to 20 minute scenes of short stories or events, well edited, and still keeping a poetic sense and deep meaning. I listened to selected music over and over until the entire score was built into my body. I enjoyed it so much because I finally found it: Freedom of Expression!

HOW DO YOU CREATE A CAREER FOR YOURSELF AS A MIME AND WHERE DO YOU FEEL THAT THE BIGGEST AUDIENCE IS FOR YOUR WORK?

Yass Hakoshima in "Spell". Photo courtesy of Johan Elbers.

My career began originally in Europe when I lived in Germany and gradually began to create evening length programs that I could offer to various presenting organizations, such as universities, arts centers, theatres etc. When I moved back to the USA in 1966, I had my NYC debut at the 92nd street Y and also at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, which were attended by several representatives of artist agencies. I was signed up with one agency. I stayed with them for over ten years, touring all over the USA in all states but one! It was a very hard touring time. Sometimes I toured in my own car, sometimes I flew, sometimes taking a bus! It was a very strenuous period, with one-night stands, visiting hundreds of colleges and universities, community concerts,festivals.

In order to make ends meet I had to be my own stage manager, lighting designer, performer, choreographer, music director, costume designer, mask maker, props creator etc etc.

All these performances were mostly one-night-stands, including also one- or two-week residencies. Eventually, in 1976, other agencies became interested in my work and I was represented by an International agency (Kazuko Hillyer International) in New York for 13 years. Now I would be touring to larger festivals and theatres around the world.

Simultaneously I would also work with international agencies in Europe, as well as in Asia. And I was touring practically all year-round. The biggest audiences for my work are definitely in Germany and in Taiwan because I had so many performance tours in these countries. Also audiences in Australia and South America were equally receptive and understanding.

I SEE YOU AS SUCH A POWERFUL STORYTELLER - CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS. HOW TO CREATE A CHARACTER? DOES INTUITION PLAY A ROLE IN YOUR PROCESS?

Mime is the art of creating a world of reality. The performer re-creates the world around him as well as represents and expresses his own inner world for others to see. The “outer” world contains objects, people, animals, and organic life of all sorts, which become the sum of the performer’s environment. The “inner” world consists of his/her own feelings, thoughts, impulses and dreams. Illusion can be created objectively. Objective mime creates objects and environments around you. In subjective mime, you become the object itself, such as marionette, tree, flower or eagle.

One of the most important aspects of a mime performance is the creation of illusion. When a mime creates a fantasy — something that is there when it really is not - that is an illusion. When you see a mime perform, you will see many illusions - invisible objects such as a wall, a door, a chair, or movements such as the blowing of the wind, the rocking of the waves of the sea, an eagle flying in space.

TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE HIGHLIGHTS OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR.

One of the most recent highlights of my career has been my annual national tours in Taiwan, twelve times from 1983 to 2003. The Taiwan audiences named me “Shan Tao An” (Chinese for Yass Hakoshima). One of the most important stages I appeared on during my professional career was one week of performances at the Taiwan National Theatre, a 3000 seat fantastic theatre and wonderful audiences. Opening my career as professional artist were two special theatres in Germany: in Berlin the Akademie der Künste and the beautiful Rococo style Markgrafen-Theater in Erlangen. My first New York performance was at Kaufman Hall at the 92nd street Y and the same year (1966) I appeared at the Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival in a program with Edward Vilella and Carmen De Lavallade.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT MIME THEATRE?

Mime is simple body language to express a story or essay, events, illusions, crazy fantasies, fables or daily street scenes, dreams, etc. These are raw materials for artistic choreography. However, how to break it down to simple body language format is the crucial point.

Marcel Marceau created most obvious and very common scenes of every-day-life in a poetic way, with comedic nuances and great facial expression. His creations were easy to understand.

However the simple way to express in an artistic way is always very difficult. After Marceau’s worldwide success from 1976 until around 2006, street mimes appeared on every corner in the USA to entertain and amuse audiences in comedic acts.

Of course, everybody enjoyed watching their plays and comedic acts. However those mime artists did not give the public a sense of the ART FORM of mime. Gradually people left from those acts and labeled these performers white-faced meaningless entertainers because it is so easy to start moving around without much training or experience, special talent or serious artistry. Anybody can copy actions in a white face, and therefore people gradually lost interest in the art of mime. The public does not know the various styles of exciting, high level of classic, abstract mime, dramatic or comedic mime performed in the theatre by artists who have been trained for many years, who can compete with other art forms like opera, spoken theatre etc. When we ask people "what is mime,” people usually answer immediately, “I know it, a white-faced street entertainer or comedian! They are so funny and cute!” Is that all?

Yass Hakoshima in Melan. Photo courtesy of Raul Gil.

I have met so many people during my touring time, and at that point I thought seriously that I have to teach and educate people about the ART of mime. This encompasses the comedic act, to give laughter for a complete opposite situation, such as in the tragic drama of human behavior.

WHO ARE SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE INSPIRED YOU IN YOUR WORK AND WHY?

Composer George Crumb, whose music has inspired me tremendously for many of my recent works. Stefan Odry, photographer in Germany. Akira Kurusawa, film director. Jean Louis Barrault, actor/mime. Comedie Francaise, Jules Dassin. Film director, Vaslav Nijinsky. Igor Stravinsky. All of these have such explosive, artistic, creative energy, and yet they are very human.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE THREE MOST SIGNIFICANT FEATURES A GREAT MIME HAS TO HAVE?

A. Creative power to submerge into the concrete illusion or fantasy world.

B. Vivid memory – memorable, detailed events that the artist encountered throughout his/her life. (The power to submerge into your illusional world).

C. A physically and spiritually completely well-trained body.

WHERE DO YOU LOOK FOR INSPIRATION?

Street scenes, daily events, films, video, museums, books, music, photographs.

YOU HAVE SUCH AMAZING COMEDIC TIMING, YET YOU ALSO MANAGE TO DO MORE DRAMATIC ROLES, WHAT DO YOU PREFER AND WHY?

Since 2001 I put all my energy and past valuable experiences into dramatic, abstract work, accompanied by music (mostly live music) and simple costumes, masks, sculpture and paintings. Adding my choreography, creating multi-disciplinary arts projects.

This is what I thoroughly enjoy!

WHAT COUNTRY IN THE WORLD DO YOU THINK HAS THE LONGEST AND MOST APPRECIATED HISTORY OF GREAT MIME?

Italy, France, China, Japan, India.

IF YOU HADN'T BECOME A MIME WHAT PROFESSION DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD HAVE EXCELLED IN/AT?

My mother was an opera singer, so I was introduced to music at an early age. I could have continued studying music. I love conducting and could see myself having become a conductor.

LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE, WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE AND WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE DOING IN 25 YEARS?

I will be continuing to create new work, teaching, lecturing in the US, Europe and other foreign countries. I am also planning to publish a book consisting of tour memories, with photographs and essays. I am looking for a publisher now!

www.yasshakoshima.com

Yass Hakoshima, his wife Renate Boue and Nathan in 2013.

NE PLUS ULTRA: Architect ED RAWLINGS / January 9, 2017 by Nathan Webster

Ed Rawlings

Ed Rawlings has practiced architecture in New York City for the last 28 years. A graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he has led several award-winning projects, including Dance Theater Workshop/The Dance Building, The Roosevelt Island School, the Pedestrian Walkway Canopies at Newark Liberty International Airport, and 215 Sullivan Street. After starting his career in New York City at Michael Fieldman and Partners, Ed opened Rawlings Architects in 1998.

I have known Ed for close to twenty years, as I went to Tisch School of the Arts with his wife, Jennifer Phillips, an extraordinary dancer based out of NYC. It has been inspiring to see Ed build his architectural firm in NYC with integrity and vision and to see the scale of the projects that he has successfully completed. I have always loved talking to him about the creative process and wanted to give you, our readers a window into the world that he has created.

Please enjoy!

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background. When, where and why did your interest in architecture emerge?

I grew up as a “corporate brat”- our family moved often as my father worked for American Can Company which had facilities all over the world. I was born in Los Angeles and at the age of 4 we moved to American Samoa, then England, then Puerto Rico, then New Jersey and Connecticut for high school. From each place we lived, we would travel extensively. As I recall, a trip to Sydney, Australia from American Samoa in 1970 brought me to the Sydney Opera House by Jørn Utzon, which was still under construction, but clearly discernable as to what it would be. I knew I wanted to be an architect at that moment at the age of 6. Traveling extensively through Europe as a child also made a great impression on me and I have vivid memories of Rome, London, Paris, Barcelona, and Copenhagen. I studied architecture at Rensselaer in upstate New York and have been obsessed with design ever since. I guess a terse way to explain this might be that the opportunity to shape the world we live in and hopefully make it a better and more beautiful place is the role of the architect. It is by nature a kind of naively optimistic endeavor, but it seems like something worthwhile nonetheless.

How long did it take for you to build your company Rawlings Architects to become a sustainable business and did you know quite early on that you wanted to start your own company and why?

After graduating from Rensselaer, I continued to teach design studio there for about a year and a half while working part time for the firm Architecture+ in Troy, NY. I moved to New York City in 1988 and have lived in Brooklyn since then. Working for Michael Fieldman and Partners from 1988 until 1998 taught me much about how to design buildings, run projects, and manage a practice. I think most architects probably want to have their own firm, I certainly always did, as it allows the most freedom to work out design problems. For me it began incrementally with side projects which I worked on during nights and weekends. Michael Fieldman has always been very supportive of my work and we developed a unique transitional arrangement in 1998 when I opened Rawlings Architects.

What projects helped define your company and why?

I would say our defining project was the first project of the new firm which was the Dance Theater Workshop (now NY Live Arts). We were originally hired to “peer review” a proposal that a developer had offered to enlarge Dance Theater Workshop’s two story former garage in Chelsea, in return for residential space above. I saw an opening and produced an unsolicited alternate design, taking advantage of zoning code knowledge I had amassed of the years. Our design had about 50% more sellable residential area and a larger theater and support space. This was compelling of course, and led DTW to abandon the previous developer and solicit other proposals for our design. When the dust settled we had landed our first new building in New York City and were the architect for the Dance Theater Workshop portion of the building as well as the residential portion above. David White who was the director of DTW was extremely supportive and championed our design throughout the process. And this project was also a labor of love - my wife Jennifer Phillips is a modern dancer trained at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, which is how I know you [Charlotte]! The project was successful for both DTW and the developer and won an AIA award in 2005. Charles Blaichman led the development team and is friend and client who continues to commission our work. We have been fortunate to get most of our private sector work through word of mouth, we don’t actively market.

Above: Dance Theater Workshop (now NY Live Arts). Photo by Edward Hueber.

What is the most challenging aspect of running an architectural firm in NYC?

Money.

New York is an expensive place to do anything. Producing good architecture is very labor intensive, so there are challenges of balancing things. It is also more and more about collaboration and having a great team. My partner Steven Kilian has collaborated with me since 1999. One of our core principles is to search for an elegant solution which solves multiple problems simultaneously. This kind of an approach can often lead to unexpected solutions. Sometimes I think getting a building built is analogous to putting together a movie or a performance piece - it takes a lot of people, with very different skills, and it takes a certain spirit of making something together. Someone has to have the helm, but everyone needs to own it.

You have been involved in such a wide range of projects from Dance Theater Workshop's new building in Chelsea to the Thompson Boutique hotel - what type of projects do you prefer to work on? What projects would you like to work on that you haven't worked on yet?

Above: Thompson LES (now 60 LES). Photo by Edward Hueber.

We have been fortunate to have worked on many new ground up or major renovation projects in New York City including public schools which we have worked on since 1988. Multifamily housing, hotels, and educational facilities are the 3 main project types we currently have on the boards and each have their unique qualities that often inform the others. Our recent 215 Sullivan Street project which is an adaptive reuse and addition to a Children’s Aid Society building designed by Calvert Vaux is a recent award winning project I am also proud of.

I don’t believe a firm needs experience in a certain type of project to design a great solution, just a willingness to dive in and ask a lot of questions and imagine scenarios. Sometimes a cinematic imagining of inhabiting is a way to get at it. Often it is a very repetitive process of testing iterations, evaluating, discarding and trying again.

As to possible future projects, I could say I would like for us to be doing more performance spaces, libraries, museums or higher education facilities – but really I think the more honest response that gets a little closer to our approach is that each project is unique and presents interesting intellectual and expressive opportunities and that there is always a compelling solution waiting to be discovered.

Above: 215 Sullivan Street project, NYC (photo by Alexander Severin).

I still have a candle stick holder that you designed twenty years ago do you have any products that you are thinking about right now?

We are currently very fortunate to be busy with buildings to design, so we are not working on any industrial or product designs at the moment. We think of a building on a continuum from the smallest scale to the urban (and global as sustainability and energy become more dominant considerations). I do have some ideas for things like a shopping cart and an eCup but they always seem to stay on the back burner…

Given the mission of NOW-ID - what is your experience designing for dance and theater - I remember seeing an installation you did for Ellis Wood Dance in NYC some years back, which was pretty extraordinary?

I have always been interested in dance and performance and the relationship and contrasts with architecture. My wife Jennifer danced with Ellis Wood Dance for many years, and several times Ellis invited me to design sets for her pieces. I loved the process of trying to find a balance of a set design that supports the work but does not upstage, creates a mood that reinforces or opens up the work, is also easily deployable and transportable, and is not expensive. Some of the later sets became almost Sol LeWitt-like instructions for assembling things for a future tech crew. One of my favorites was a piece that used colorful rock climbing rope, monofilament, fishing line weights and spring clips. The rope was suspended a few feet above the stage forming a square in plan, the monofilament suspended the rope and the weights pulled it down, forming an irregular zig-zag when viewed from the audience. It formed an internal architectural space, implied a landscape, and was really easy to transport and quick to assemble and strike. Another favorite was a video piece I produced as a backdrop with incredible music composed and performed by Daniel Bernard Roumain. I spent a lot of time with a digital video camera, taught myself video editing, and listened to Daniel’s music constantly. It was a wonderful experience and a great honor to see Hurricane Flora performed at Dance Theater Workshop with Jennifer and the company performing on stage.

Above: Ellis Wood performing in Ellis Wood Dance designed by Ed Rawlings.

What or who inspires you in your creative process?

That is complicated as I think about it. I guess it is a range of disparate things all rolling around.

Renzo Piano, my daughter Adeline, Stanley Kubric, the Carmen Herrera painting we saw yesterday, the way a cat walks out of the room, Nadia Sirota’s music, the Pantheon with rain coming in the oculus, what is dark matter really? I guess for me, a way that seems to work is to immerse myself in a problem for a long period of time and then leave it and go for a run or visit a museum and then return to it and look at it again upside down.

What are your ambitions for Rawlings Architects moving forward?

I would like us to design more things. More importantly, I would like to grow the practice into something that can continue for more than just my tenure, and to establish a culture with the team that can endure for making the built environment a better place.

Where do you see yourself in 25 years?

Hopefully alive and with Jennifer and Adeline. New York City. Continuing to design and transitioning the firm to younger partners as Michael Fieldman did for me. Continuing to be a guest critic at architectural schools. A sailboat in the picture would be great too.

You can see more of our work at www.rawlingsarchitects.com

NE PLUS ULTRA: NANA BUGGE RASMUSSEN / October 30, 2016 by Nathan Webster

Nana Bugge Rasmussen is a Danish Opera Singer, who works with Lied as well as opera and church music. Already parallel to her studies she appeared as a soloist in both operas and operetta in Denmark and Germany.

Already as a child, Nana Bugge Rasmussen was greatly interested in singing and so she got her first vocal training in the Childrens Choir of the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where she started at eight years old. Parallel to private vocal studies with opera singer Anne Margrethe Dahl, she studied philosophy at the University of Copenhagen from 2005 to 2007, where she got accepted both at the Royal Danish Academy of Music (RDAM), Copenhagen, as well as at Universität der Künste, Berlin. She ultimately began her studies in Berlin and continued in Copenhagen and, in 2010, she gained her BA-degree from RDAM, and in 2013 her MA-degree. Already parallel to her studies, she had appeared as a soloist in both operas and operetta in Denmark and Germany.

In November 2013 she won the 3rd prize at the competition Concorso Internazionale Musica Sacra in Rome and in September 2014 she won the 2nd prize at Concours International de Chant Baroque in Froville, France.

Also a keen lieder-singer, she has given numerous recitals and has a vast repertoire within the field of church music. Since July 2015 she is part of the programme 'Den Unge Elite', sponsored by the Danish Arts Foundation: a grant given to highly talented musicians with focus on building an international career.

I worked with Nana in 2014 on the Copenhagen based "Figura Ensemble's" production "Et Glimt Saa Er Jeg Vaek" at the Marienlyst Castle in Denmark and then later in EXODUS in 2016. She is an extraordinary artist and a lovely human being and it felt natural to include her in our NE PLUS ULTRA interview series.

Please enjoy!

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background - when did you know that you wanted to become an opera singer and where did you receive your training?

I knew from from a young age that I wanted to become a singer; My father is an opera singer so I was influenced by him. I got my first training in the Childrens Choir of the Academy of Music in Copenhagen and I was sure I would become a soprano or, well, I was a soprano as a child, most children are, so I was greatly disappointed the first time I was told to sing the alto voice. The Queen of the Night, Violetta, Mimi and all the others left me that day and never came back but with time I learned to love the possibilities in the mezzo/alto-field. Later I got my training at the Universitet der Kunste in Berlin and at the Academy in Copenhagen.

I have now worked with you twice and you strike me as such a physical and dynamic yet precise performer. Was that part of your training and do you like to receive very specific blocking notes in the creation or staging of a piece or do you prefer to be able to be more flexible in your choices on stage?

Well, to me the creation of a figure on stage should always contain more than the singing. Opera is by nature not as naturalistic as acting on it's own, but this should not be an excuse to forget about the physicality of the figure and actually I think there are hardly any limits to what you can do. It just sometimes has consequences for the singing - you have to consider your priorities in a given situation. I danced classical ballet as a child and since then the physical elements of my education have mainly been added by myself, varying according to what was needed. I like blocking notes if I can manage to make them my own. If not, I like to discuss them. It might very well be my problem, and not a problem of the note in itself; however, my problem will eventually be a problem of the production, so discussion might be useful... at the right time, of course.

You never seem to pretend on stage, you really inhabit the roles that you do - what is your creative process in getting to that place and is collaboration important to you?

Collaboration is crucial and I am very sensitive to what I call energies on stage, perhaps too sensitive, but I am working on that. I think the creative process consists of several layers processing at the same time: There ís language - the language of the sung text and the pictures, feelings and mood it creates in you. It ís connotations and context. Also, on an auditive level: Sometimes I like to just repeat text many times in many different ways and just see what it does. Sometimes it goes somewhere absurd. Then there ís more classical research about a period, a person, some incident, inventing relations on stage. And then last but not least the music, everything you know about it together with the intuitions of harmonies, phrasing, where it wants to go. And, with all of the above, what is the extract, the core of it all when carefully mixed - that core is the drive in the end and it should be.

What have been some of the highlights so far in your career? I have had the great joy to collaborate twice with the amazing counter-tenor Andreas Scholl, who nowadays also conducts. He ís incredibly sharing and generous with his talent. Both times I sang Bach, a composer who ís for me out of this world, and with two fabulous orchestras, Accademia Bizantina and Kammerorchester Basel. In 2014 I sung Dido in Purcellís Dido and Aeneas - that ís a monumental role and it was wonderful to sing.

Without naming any names can you describe an experience in your professional life with a director or a cast that was less successful and why that was? With this question I get back to the theme of energies - I have had a few times where the energies go in too many directions, that a cast simply doesn't aim at a common goal - or that the conflicts that might exist off-stage between set-designer and director go on-stage as a bad energy - and that ís really counterproductive for everyone. On the other hand I think it ís really rare that all of this works perfectly all the way through - and it might not be a big problem for the final result.

What city in your opinion has the most exciting opera scene? It ís a hard choice but I think Berlin is amazing because there is such a vast amount of Opera houses with their various profiles. But perhaps I am also mentioning that city because I know it better than other cities. Theater an der Wien has a great profile when it comes to early music and they have made some beautiful productions in Oslo in their wonderful new Opera house there as well.

What do you think are the most important psychological features that a successful opera singer has? Mental and physical stamina, a good balance between creativity and discipline.

Where do you find inspiration for your work? I listen to other singers from many different periods. From great acting as well, and film, but mainly theater. And from art. Hieronymus Bosch has been a great inspiration in a lot of work, specifically with certain parts of Bach's music and generally with the church-music.

Who are some of the people who have inspired you the most in your work and why? Andreas Scholl with his musicality, my dad, always insisting that singing is not an excuse for bad acting and unnatural moves on stage, Sarah Connolly for singing exquisitely, my singing teacher Susanna Eken for being so consequential and honest. Well. There are many. But these are a few.

What is your favorite quote? I don't have one. But a good one is this, about what you do as a performer - Paraphrasing: A glass is not a mirror. You don't see yourself in it, you have to be able to look through and see the purpose of what you are doing, the audience, the responsibility towards the composer, the librettist. And the audience should be able to look through to you. You have to keep your glass clean to always stay focused on the purpose of performing, which is bigger than you - Janet Baker in conversation with Joyce DiDonato.

Tell us about any projects that you have coming up and that you are excited about? Just now I am preparing a line-up of lied-recitals in November and May with a premiere of 4 songs written to Goethe's Mignon-texts from Wilhelm Meister by Swedish composer Filip Melo. It ís such a great program, apart from the premiere it consists of Schumanns Mignon-lieder, yes, to the same Goethe-texts, and of songs by Berg and Webern. It ís such a privilege to work on this gorgeously loaded music.

Looking towards the future - where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 25 years? I would like to have a healthy voice which can still sing, and I would like to be able to have a bit more influence on the projects that I do. I have so many ideas floating around in my head and I think it will take at least 25 years before I will be able to make them all come true.

NE PLUS ULTRA; ORE INC. / October 14, 2016 by Nathan Webster

Following up on the recent and stunningly beautiful performance by Genevieve Christianson at NOW-ID’s annual gala House of Apocalypse, directors Charlotte Boye-Christensen and Nathan Webster recently met with Gen and partner Shane Larson of Ore Inc as subjects for our latest Ne Plus Ultra interview series. It’s a long one but a good one. We loved hearing about this exceptional company and their world class process, design and clients and we hope you do too. Please read below as Gen, Shane, Kim, Nathan and Charlotte cover Ore Inc, Lean Manufacturing, the Zen of Welding, parallels and contrasts in viewing art vs design and Ore’s upcoming pop-up event/panel/office/party ‘Ore Offsite’at the upcoming American Society of Landscape Architect’s annual conference in New Orleans.

http://www.oreoffsite.com/

Enjoy!

Charlotte Boye-Christensen Nathan Webster

Nathan: Shane - you also have a background in fashion. Could you talk a bit about that, and how did you go from that to metal?

Shane: I was in fashion. I had moved to New York and worked for Ralph Lauren for a couple of years and did window display at Bloomingdale's and worked on product at the mansion on Madison Avenue. I had worked in clothing in the fashion industry in Utah before I moved and focused on it out there. I got to meet a great group of people. We spent time at Marc Jacob's studio and I was good friends with a couple of the Armani models. I was living the 20 year old fashion dream in New York. It was awesome, but I got my fill of that and really got interested in furniture and architectural design while I was there. I still had a shop in Salt Lake and I knew how to weld. I knew how to make stuff and decided I wanted to make metal stuff specifically, and I couldn't do anything there so I moved back to Salt Lake and started working with metal.

They were individual commissions, all custom, and most of it went to Deer Valley but over the years I branched out to projects in Las Vegas and Los Angeles and San Francisco and around the west. I ran that company for 15 years and and expanded my expertise in all metals and materials and methods of manipulation of all of those materials, so casting and welding, and all sorts of stuff.

Charlotte: Do you mainly work with steel or do you work with many different kinds of materials?

Shane: Mainly aluminum, steel, and stainless steel, bronze, whatever it takes but, at Ore, definitely the majority is aluminum.

Nathan: And now you can bring all the learning from those 15 years about the material and making to something you are able to produce repeatedly, efficiently.

Shane: It's interesting how our work has become that. We have a catalog of standard things that we don't have to think that much about anymore because we have already figured it out, which is wonderful. Yet I still get the creative head scratching collaborative relationship with architects to figure out the really complicated things and solve them with our shop, so I get both. I'm lucky in that way. Then, for us, because it's a better business model, we can scale it and, also, now it doesn't all hang on me. Others are estimating things, we talk, my office is right there. We talk all day about the projects that are going on and the shop is seven minutes away and I talk with those guys all the time. I can help but I don't have to be the guy in a welding helmet.

We're fortunate that we found an audience; we found a need out there for customizable landscape architecture related things. The timing of outdoor living as an interest on a consumer level has helped. People want to be outside, spend more time outside, and there's a lot more thought about the interaction of exterior architecture as it relates to large scale architecture, so architects and landscape architects are working closer together, or often times the architect just does the exterior as well.

Fuse Planter System - LED Toe Kick Lighting - Custom Anthracite Powder Coat - Ore Designs Inc. - NYC (12).jpg

Fuse Planter System - LED Toe Kick Lighting - Custom Anthracite Powder Coat - Ore Designs Inc. - NYC (17).jpg

Fuse Planter System - LED Toe Kick Lighting - Custom Anthracite Powder Coat - Ore Designs Inc. - NYC (19).jpg

Fuse Planter System - LED Toe Kick Lighting - Custom Anthracite Powder Coat - Ore Designs Inc. - NYC (14).jpg

Ore Products.

Charlotte: Do you find that you do most of your work locally or otherwise?

Shane: While work here is increasing, we are mostly in New York City, Washington DC, Boston and San Francisco. We specialize in roof top gardens, on high rises, both residential and commercial and those cities have a lot of these.

Charlotte: What is the concept of your upcoming event Ore Offsite, taking place in New Orleans on October 21 and 22?

Shane: The American Society of Landscape Architects have an annual conference that changes from city to city every year and we have participated every year for ten years. It's significant that a lot of our customers are in the same city, at the same time.

At the last one, we had a massive, gorgeous booth and had lots of interaction and saw our favorite customers and yet we came away from it completely exhausted and wondering why we do it to ourselves. We do know that when we speak to people at the trade show and our customers, it's much more about the social interaction - talking about things more so than walking around and looking at every little thing and seeing how it all works. The most valuable part is that social component, so we thought, "Let's just throw a party. Let's have a social event." I'm generally opposed to fun. I didn't want to throw a frat party or just a cocktail party. It had to be a meaningful party. So, we developed Ore Offsite, and we're having it at the New Orleans Jazz Market. It relates specifically to the city, it's super cool.

We're going to open with a cocktail party with hors d'oeuvres and then we're going to retire to an adjoining auditorium where we'll hear invited speakers speak on public art and infrastructure. The panel will consist of moderator Liesel Fenner - public art program director for the state of Maryland, and the panelists include Cliff Garten - sculptor and landscape architect, Angela Adams - director of public art in Arlington VA and Todd Bressi - public art and cultural planner based in Philadelphia.
The event won't be about an Ore sales pitch. Ore is presenting this opportunity for like-minded people to get together and essentially nerd out on landscape architecture. We all share this passion. I'm a metal dork but I love trees. This is what I do. It's a perfect blend.

*The invitation to Ore Offsite designed by 7d8.*

Nathan: It sounds like a great model, something we are into, blending social events with different forms of art or design or business, and in a meaningful way.

Shane: The last thing I want to hear is another sales pitch, and so we are bringing people together to talk about stuff that we're into - the idea of using public art to invigorate a city. We'll have product there, but it's not to be selling. Then, the following day we will set private appointments for people who want to know more and need to meet with us. We get to pull them out of the drudgery of a trade show, bring them to a nice space where it's quiet and we can talk shop if they want to.

Charlotte: We love the idea of engaging art to invigorate a city, at all scales. We were just in Copenhagen, to tour our show Exodus, and were inspired by the ways they build upon their network and lifestyle related to cycling. In one project, a park called Superkilen includes pieces inspired by and inspiring the whole community... They've invested in the area, using art in a way where it isn't this additional thing but something that grows out of the place. Many of the objects have been specially imported or copied from foreign designs. They include swings from Iraq, benches from Brazil, a fountain from Morocco and litter bins from England. There are neon signs from throughout the world advertising everything from a Russian hotel to a Chinese beauty parlour. Even the manhole covers come from Zanzibar, Gdansk and Paris. In all, there are 108 plants and artefacts illustrating the ethnic diversity of the local population.

Superkilen in Copenhagen.

Shane: That's what's interesting with gardens, they come in all shapes and sizes. Cliff Garten (speaking at Ore Offsite) does pretty things in pretty places, and he also does some interesting stuff on freeway overpasses and stuff. We've actually manufactured some of his pieces.

Nathan: In this example, are you guys talking about the concept together and then you guys produce the drawings for making it, cutting it, fabricating?

Shane: He's a unique relationship. I'm friends with the foundry in Lehi who does all of his work. They contacted me to make a lot of the pieces they were using to make his stuff, so I got to know him through the back door, and now we've worked on several projects and become pals so when this event came up, I thought Cliff could come speak. He's not really doing the sales pitch either. He's speaking of concept and public art and infrastructure.

Nathan: As an architect, I am drawn to European projects and back east, where landscape design is more considered with respect to hardscape, compared to here. I love public places in New York, Toronto, Montreal, Lyons and Copenhagen, where they really finesse the details, and the integration with a city and buildings, and how spaces are used for living. Architects and landscape architects really bring things together. A lot of projects here, but of course not all, it seems landscape architects are oftent filling in the blanks and medians and laying out golf courses and that kind of stuff, more soft instead of hard...

Shane: For sure there's still the traditional types who are thinking about irrigation and drainage and slope and grade and all of that, but the clients we're chasing are a lot more considerate about building a neighborhood and the livability, all of it.

Gen: And the outdoors are equally as important as indoors.

Charlotte: Do you feel that is developing here in Salt Lake City?

Shane: For sure. For example at the new Eccles Performing Arts Center. We did the planters directly out front on Main St, and our stuff is specified on Regent St which may potentially get some sculpture, but that's all specifically considered green space and public space. That's happening. There's quite a bit of stuff that's happening - all of the residential places here popping up, all of the apartment buildings, all of them have public space, common space upstairs. Fortunately we've done four of those projects, so for sure it's happening but moreso for us on the national level.

I spoke earlier specifically about coming back to Utah to have access to a shop, but I am also here because I have to be on my bike and ski and snowboard. I have to do all that stuff that I missed that when I was back east. I love to be outside. I love to play. Here, we live in the city essentially and I can be on my bike and on a trail in ten minutes. It's awesome. That is a big part also, the lifestyle part, for us being here. I get my city fix all throughout the year as I do most all of the traveling for Ore, so I'm always in the city, which is awesome.

Ore custom made piece.

Charlotte: It's important to continuously have in mind what's happening in the rest of the world, with regards to your field but also in general. That global perspective is super important to our company. Otherwise I don't know what we're comparing ourselves to.

Gen: That's how the Ore Offsite was born as well, with that in mind. It's a small world, yet it's huge with regards to landscape and architecture. We seek a collaborative process and to learn while we're doing it and we're here. Yes, we're Ore - We can help you come up with solutions and you can use our product; however, we want people to meet and interact. Our guests will continue to support ASLA, walk the floor but, for the same amount of money as participating, Ore will throw this amazing gathering.

Nathan: It'll be way more memorable for everybody, and you will stand out.

Gen: Exactly. Then people will have one-on-one contact with new customers and with our current line and people. As we found out, the last few years they've been coming to our booth and weren't walking around looking at new product. They would bring plans to our booth and want to talk about that. We thought, we don't have space for that, and then you have people that are taking pictures of our stuff and walking away.

Nathan: It's fun. I like the model, that you have an event, but also have the day or times to meet individually with people like that, like a little popup office.

Gen: We hope that it continues. That's why Ore Offsite is so great, because it can be anywhere.

Charlotte: In all of your travels, what city strikes you as being the most conscious of urban planning and outdoor spaces?

Shane: New York is really good, it's really amazing what they're doing there, on that tiny little island, but space is hard to come by.

Nathan: Which space is coming to your mind as you're saying that, any in particular? Or planning moves in general?

Shane: Both, just the overall attitude there. It's always considered. The common area. The entrance to the building. Individual spaces and decks and how it all works. Right now in Manhattan, we're working on some amazing projects. We're working on our second Renzo Piano job. We're working on a deck for Jeffrey Koons, and we're doing a project for Robert Stern. We're all over the map.

Gen: A lot of people hear about us from other firms. Something that's very unique about us is that we're very collaborative to work with. Our customer service is pretty awesome, and you get to talk to Shane to help come up with solutions for the dreams and ideas in your head. We can make that a reality. We have our own shop and we build everything from start to finish.

Shane: We also 3-d model everything we make. The manager of the Department is a licensed architect. We show 3-d models describing conflicts or problems and digitally our solutions, how it can work. We add a lot of value to these firms, who rely on us to take this and kick them back a list of problems and solutions.

Charlotte: It has to be interesting to work with so many different mediums: You're working with artists, you're working with architects, you're working with landscape.

Shane: I like that. For me, I'm a methods and material guy, so it doesn't matter if it's fabric - it's all different ways of manipulation. It's the same with metal, to create the end result, and the aesthetic is the driver - What methods and materials and how are you going to manipulate them to create that? That's really what we bring to our customers. Often times they're showing us the end result and we have to think, Oh, well, that's got to be aluminum or that's got to be bronze, or then it's going to have to be cast, or we figure out the methods to manipulate the material, whatever it is, to get to that. That's how my brain works.

You guys, NOW-ID, what you do and what Gen does as a singer is a lot more nebulous. What's the end result is something we are trying to convey. I make something you can park your shit on, something that you can run into. You guys are trying to transcend something. That's the hard part. I can deal with a table.

Nathan: It's true. I see the intangibles, the indefinable. You're like, "Where's the hard table at the end of this? What am I holding on to?"

Shane: You don't know what it's going to be until it is over. That's horrifying to me. I can make something and stare at it and walk around in circles and pull it back apart and put it back together. I'm after the end aesthetic effect.

Nathan: I think Charlotte is too. It's fascinating for me to watch her process. It's so intuitive, different I'm sure than how you work, but she too is seeking an aesthetic and it is a making that creates a world. There's a world onstage.

Charlotte: There's a real craft too.

Shane: And quality right? At the very least it has to be interesting to look at or pretty and you are trying to move somebody with it.

Nathan: Yeah, but there is something there. It's also interesting just to watch how different people interpret. Some people want to understand, to know... the story, to say this is what I saw as the story. Others are content to just feeel good through the whole thing.

Shane: Yeah, there's lots of discussion about art and the viewer. It's all about the viewer. It's the same piece but it could mean photography to one person, or it could be a really important social statement.

Nathan: It happens in the design world too. Most people don't have the language to describe it or understand maybe the history or proportion, but when they experience an object or a space, not necessarily foreground big shazam big designs... there's something about architecture or design that just is and is solid, and yet if someone does pay attention they realize there's something that went into that... There's again an unspeakable quality that comes out through the making, the story, that informs those things.

Charlotte: I think maybe because I grew up in Copenhagen, design is so much part of my/our DNA. The whole craft element of design is super important.

Shane: Yeah, it's social. There's an apprentice and there's a master. It's terrific. It's different in America. It's interesting. It seems to be, in the past also, there's a lot more utilitarian here. Think of Los Angeles, the river channels, the canals, these massive concrete structures that with a little strip of water and not appealing or attractive in the least, compared to the way they think about waterways and transport in Copenhagen. The US attitude is it holds water. At a society level it doesn't have to be pretty. That just costs more. It's the value of it, values are different.

Charlotte: Yeah that's so interesting, because the value aspect is crucial in that discussion?

Shane: Yeah, in the US it seems everybody can get to the practicality utilitarian way. It works.

Gen: You go to places like Italy and Copenhagen and France, you have to work with what you have and you better make it look good. That's only fair.

Shane: There's a lot more city living, people walking around.

Nathan: That's what I was going to say too - how a society or individual engages with the city makes a difference. If you're always in your car you're not seeing things at the same way as if you're walking or biking on the Vancouver seawall or the harbor in Copenhagen.

Charlotte: We were so excited to have Ore's support and to work with Gen as a singer at our House of Apocalypse Gala this year. Can you tell us more about Gen's role at Ore?

Shane: She knows all of the front end of the business and has expertise in all that front end part of the business. Today we have a proper CFO with a proper education and work history and the whole bit and he's constantly in Gen's office asking for her help and taking advantage of her brain. Kim and I were talking about it yesterday buy we had an employee ask, What is Gen's title? Well, that's a good question.

Kim: Yeah we don't know. She does everything.

Shane: Yeah and does it well. She has a high personal standard. She's super helpful for me because I'm focused, like all humans, on my sharpest tools, so I always use my sharp tools, right? I leave my dull tools in the tool box. She has the sharp versions of my dull tools so her perspective is always very helpful and insightful.

Nathan: That's fantastic.

Charlotte: Does she miss singing though?

Shane: She doesn't miss performing and the stress of all of that. She doesn't miss traveling because she used to travel a lot. She misses singing and she has never stopped. She just performs a lot less frequently but she always has something going on.

She comes to life on the stage. It's so much fun to watch her do it. Whenever you watch a passionate, talented person practice their craft, it's awesome to watch, whether you are into the craft or not, to watch it happen.

Charlotte: Was this where you originally started the company, out here, wherever we are, at the manufacturing facility?

Shane: No so we were in West Salt Lake, which turned into Orem and then a number of places. When I started, my family always had a shop so I had a space to work in. Then I rented storage space in Murray and I expanded a bunch of storage units together, I think it was maybe like 5,000 square feet.

We started out in one space here in North Salt Lake and now I think we have 8 spaces or so. This has been fine out here, it's been convenient and weíve been able to grow into additional space. It hasn't been the most ideal, how it's all set up, you'll see but we've moved things around enough time that it's nearly the most ideal. It's still close to our new office, but it's out of the way so the rent is competitive.

Kim: Have you talked about Lean Manufacturing yet?

Shane: It is a manufacturing philosophy on how to make things in an efficient manner. The current thinking in the Toyota manufacturing technique has revolutionized American manufacturing. Toyota, Japan had known of it for years and the manufacturing techniques that Toyota developed is the primary reason that they were able to destroy the US market competitively. They can produce a better product for a cheaper price, consistently, and fast. It's all based around this really philosophical method to the point you can now follow it. There's an instruction booklet.

It's all about identifying waste in a process and eliminating it so you're only doing pure process stuff. In this philosophy you have to identify what is value add time, value add time is what customers are willing to pay for. A customer wants their planter welded together, right? You have to maximize the amount of welding that you do in a day. The customer is not willing to pay for the fabricator walking over and picking the piece off the cart or looking at the blue print or moving it around, that's all waste.

It's literally about looking in a microscope at each and every process and figuring out how you can eliminate the unnecessary stuff so that the welder is squeezing the trigger on the welder as long as possible.

And when you can do that the results are extraordinary. Locally - OC Tanner has gone through the Lean transformation and has actually won awards in it. OC Tanner - they're not just the jewelry store - actually make little trinket things for award stuff and they have a many different variations. One of their products used to take 26 days from the time the phone rang to the time it went out the door. Now it happens in an hour. They tripled their throughput with the same number of people just by getting the unnecessary stuff out of the way. Herman Miller too, an Aeron chair comes off of their line every thirty seconds.

Yet, there is resistance in general to the whole concept, because it's so counter to the traditional American method of manufacturing in an assembly line.

Charlotte: Do you miss the hands on experience? Because I could imagine that would be kind of be therapeutic.

Shane: I do a little bit actually.

Nathan: It's zen for me to physically make things sometimes. As architects, we are often in the world of the screen, both finite but infinitely large, and it's fun to break from that reality, get dirty, use the body, to work around the house or something where I'm actually picking up a piece of wood and figuring out how it goes together and seeing that coming together of things. I think it's good for my brain too, to exercise different parts, think at a different pace. Same for good old hand drawing.

Shane: Yeah, you're plugged in a different way. I was at the shop just the other day, and there were some things that weren't quite right, so I grabbed the sander and I was working on the finish and I thought God, I miss fine-tuning a finish.... you know, this is pretty good. Some of the guys have worked down there long enough that they've seen me put the welding helmet on and show them how to do it.

Kim: Like that time that you were testing that patina, there was literally an audience of 15 people by the end of it because Shane had put on his wellies and we were like What's happening?

Nathan: That's awesome, though.

Shane: It is good. Everybody's had the boss that doesn't know what the fuck they're talking about and telling everybody what to do, but I actually know what the fuck I'm talking about, can speak shop speak, and I would rather operate from that level. I get to use all the language that I grew up with around job sites, and one of my favorites that everybody at our shop knows is, stop at perfect. Perfect is good enough.

Charlotte: Well there's also this whole, obviously, different investment, because it's also your company. You started this.

Shane: It's got to be right.

Charlotte: Sometimes that's sort of exhausting - I find that exhausting. You know what I mean? You want things to be freaking perfect.

Shane: Right and that's the other critical part of Lean. The goal of Lean Manufacturing is more out the door at either the same acceptable or higher level of quality. You can't make stuff faster and give up quality. It has to be better quality, and faster through.

Charlotte: Also the fabricators, the guys welding stuff. They are artisans, right? They take stake in what their making. It's a craft to them. It is so interesting though, when I see people not doing what would make them more competitive globally.

Shane: They don't believe. One of the books I'm reading right now makes the point that, in order to understand, you have to disagree. In order to get to the understanding, you have to say You're full of shit. That's wrong. You're wrong. Because this is how I do it and I know how I do it is the right way. So you have to go through that discovery.

Nathan: That's true. It's important to have those discussions.

Shane: So we as a company talk about it all the time. We have Thursday afternoon book club where all of the managers and all of the department leads are reading a specific book on Lean so we can get a universal language and a universal understanding about it.

It's awesome because one of the primary points of Lean is that it is not driven by management. It's the artisan. They know. They know how to make it faster. They know what's in their way. Management's job is to ask the right questions and to listen and then provide them with what they need to do their jobs. Period. That's all it is. You go out and ask the fabricators, what's a pain in the ass for them?
They may say: I can never find a hammer. I say, Why the fuck don't we have ten hammers, a hammer at every station?

The biggest differences are the simplest things. In one of our patination processes, an oxidizing process, the person on the night crew had morphed it into his process which took ten hours. Heíd do it then put it out in the parking lot and it has to be in the sun four or five hours and then it comes back in and then you hand rub it and then you put the glaze on it. It was the most ridiculous thing. We can't have stuff sitting around for a shift. But it was what was going on and needed a fix.

It was my patina process. I developed it, so we got the video camera, I went out there, took the same pot, took my jacket off, put my muc-lucs on and I patina'd a pot from start to finish in. Thirteen minutes. Now that video is the training video. You do it like this!

Ne Plus Ultra: Holly Addi / July 9, 2016 by Nathan Webster

Holly Addi (°1973, SLC, Utah, United States) makes paintings and mixed media artworks. By rejecting an objective truth and global cultural narratives, Addi creates with daily, recognizable elements, an unprecedented situation in which the viewer is confronted with the conditioning of his own perception and has to reconsider his biased position.

She created and runs the boutique and art gallery Arte Haus Collectif in Salt Lake City together with product designer Heidi Jube. On July 29th NOW-ID together with Arte Haus will be hosting a "meet the Artists" dinner at this incredible store in Salt Lake City - come check out the amazing art and merchandise that is on display there. This is truly a jewel in Salt lake City. Learn more about Holly and Art Haus below.

Enjoy!

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background?

Since childhood I have had an affinity for all things creative. I was very into writing, poetry, theatre, acting, design, costumes, and fashion. When it came to the artsy side of life I always had an opinion, I think my parents kept wondering just where I had come from. As a child I remember waiting for the Sunday paper to be delivered so I could devour the 'arts' section. I couldn't wait to see the next art news, play auditions, or exhibit. I studied psychology because I think it is fascinating. Psychology is the backbone to the artist's mind. What artist do you know that truly isn't a little bit crazy? It's kind of a necessity in this field. Shortly after I graduated from the University of Utah at the age of 22 I opened a high end floral studio and boutique named 'Artichokes & Co.' which focused on the art & composition of arranging florals and gift design, and painted as well on weekends. Artichokes was a huge success, open for 15 years. I then took my designs national when I started a catalog company and offered these designs to the entire US. However, the idea of big business and pumping out fast paced concepts as the creative director, but all based around "money", I felt like my soul was being stolen. It was at that point I decided to get back to my roots and paint full time. For me, it was a wake up call. I think it is really important as an artist to nurture your talent and not let anyone turn that light off. Art takes digging deep. I see so many talented individuals who are bought and sold, and don't let their talents truly emerge.

Have you always been interested in art and design or did something/someone ignite that interest in you?

I have always painted, and I'm captivated by good design and love working with color. I began painting when I was in high school. In my twenties I started painting more but it wasn't until my late twenties that I sold my first piece.

How did your store Arte Haus Collectif come about? Tell us a little bit about your collaboration with co-owner Heidi Jube, choosing location and shaping the design and concept of the store?

Arte Haus Collectif was a merge of my love for design and great things, and a place to flagship my art. I teamed up with Heidi Jube who has a candle line, Monokle Collection, and decided to venture in the dwell shop together and it would be a beautiful curated collection of art and objects of desire for your home to make it beautiful. Heidi sells her candles exclusively in Salt Lake at Arte Haus. Our goal is to continue curating and grow the gallery organically. There really isn't anywhere like Arte Haus in Salt Lake City.

How do you choose the designers/artists who you are interested in presenting and do you guys always agree?

We choose designers and artists that have the same philosophy as we do- clean aesthetic, great color compositions and formations, and full of soul. We feel that art should be refined, but not complicated and mindful in it's direction, but not neurotic and methodical. Letting natural talent exude in an imperfect way is showing it's true beauty. We are also very price conscious. We don't want Arte Haus to feel as though you can't afford it. Art and design should be for 'all.' People need beauty; it enhances a way of living.

There is such a unique flavor to the store – how do you walk that line of both wanting to present local work but also work from elsewhere?

We love the integration of local, domestic, and international. Being able to bring it all together and curate a space that feels right is perfection. And staying true to the philosophy is imperative to us.

I love your art – there is a real minimalist sophistication to your work – can you talk about your creative process?

My works are based on life’s imperfections and how it all relates back to beauty. Truly, life is so imperfect but there is that magical wonder how it all comes together. The good, the bad, the evil, the weeds, the flowers, all of it. My art style is 'composition of perfectionism' and how to embrace the wonder, rather than question it. And at the end, you look at it, and see beauty through it all.

Who are some of your favorite designers and artists, who you look to for inspiration?

Linda Rodin is definitely an Inspiration and role model - she is elegant and graceful. She defines herself, her style, and her philosophy. That’s my model.

What city outside of SLC inspires you?

There are so many! New York obviously but I love the way of life and aesthetic of the true Scandinavian style and smaller towns in Europe. I just love the aesthetic, my ancestors are from a little town in Italy nestled up by the Swiss Alps; maybe it's just inherent. In fact, we wanted Arte Haus to feel as though you had stepped inside a small quaint gallery and shop in Copenhagen, Paris, or Berlin.

What are some exciting things that are coming up for Arte Haus or yourself that you want to share? Heidi and I both have another passion - philanthropy. We are going to be teaming up with different foundations for 2017 and letting the art shine through these organizations and giving back. We will be hosting evenings and parties for these foundations with great hope to actually make a difference by donating a portion of the art sales!

What do you see yourself as doing and where do you want to be in 25 years?

Wow, that brings me to the ripe old age of 68! I hope to say I will have successfully raised my daughters to each become something greater than I ever was, and I will definitely not act as though I am 68. I think one thing that defines me as an artist is that I have a very child like approach to what I do. As many times as I keep falling down, I seem to always get back up.

NE PLUS ULTRA: GARY VLASIC / May 30, 2016 by Nathan Webster

Gary Vlasic is an accomplished performer, artist, event-planner, designer and much much more! He brings an extraordinarily diverse background of mediums together to create unforgettable visual experiences. These encompass large scale events, interior design, art direction, performance, site specific design, and image making. For 12 years Gary performed with and was co-director of "A Company of Four" – C04. For the past 20 years Gary has worked extensively in the event and production design arena. His current project, V Project brings to life a studio experience with a diverse team of collaborators and talents to explore the boundaries of art, design, and architecture.

Gary Vlasic is a collaborator and Board member of NOW-ID. I have personally known Gary for 16 years - I met him in connection with one of my first projects in Salt Lake City in 2000. He is forever curious and pushing boundaries - his input and output is extraordinary and I adore having him as a friend and as a creative confidant.

Gary is at the moment working on an art installation with fellow artist Colour Maisch titled "ALBEDO/NIGREDO. It opens at Finch Lane in Salt Lake City on June 17th, 2016 and runs through August 5th, 2016.

Enjoy!

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Please tell us a little bit about your background? You trained originally as a dancer - how do you think that early training helped shape what you are currently pursuing as an artist and as an event planner?

My dance training was from the University of Utah's Modern Dance Department. I had started with ballet training quite late and studied in a small studio on Floral Street from a teacher from Russia: Professor Ratimer Antik. Russian Ballet training for two years led me to the University of Utah. I started dancing at 21 years old and had little time to catch up and find my place in the dance world. I knew I wanted to do my own work and I partnered with my two friends Mark Lowdermilk and Susie McGee in a company we called CO4 / Company of Four. We had that dance company for 12 years. Our work became strictly Site specific work over the 12 years of exploration together. As I look at my art life and my work as an event designer and producer, I realize that my dance company experience and choreographic experience was the core of my business and art making. In the dance world I was able to wear so many hats, Choreography, Stage Design / Set Design, Lighting, Costuming. Architectural considerations regarding Site specific work allowed me to consider how that site influenced and informed the dance theater performances I created. I found a natural transition to Event production and design as these tools were exactly the foundation to my business and my art projects and art production.

Tell us a little bit about your creative process as an event planner, a designer, and as an artist? Are those three processes distinctly different or do you see similarities?

I have found that my design mind and design process works hand in hand with my art process. Creating from a design eye first actually helps me to frame my work and inform it in a way, where it has a strong structure. That said, I also believe that the art process is a completely different influence and has it’s own process and voice. I try to link these two worlds together. Sometimes it isn’t successful. For me, it all comes down to good theater that provokes and hopefully leaves us with an impression and moves people to tears.

I get the impression that music is important to you - can you talk about why? Who are two of your favorite composers/musicians?

I always begin with music and sound scores to all art and theater productions. It seems that a score or piece of music can inform the whole structure and core of a work. I find that soundscapes are my greatest influence and I look to composers, who create strong environments with sound. I am currently Influenced by Hans Peter Kuhn and Jonathan Belper. I am influenced by all classical music as well as pop. The tension and juxtaposition can be powerful.

What fashion designer do you look to for inspiration? What architect? What product designer? What artist? And why?

Fashion designers: Rick Owens, Sruli Recht, Craig Green and of course Alexander McQueen. Architect Inspirations: Rem Koolhaus, Diller Scofidio + Renfro and anything Brutalist. Product designers : Rick Owens Couture design in Furniture and Faye Toogood/Toogood design. Artists: Cy Twombly (his paintings make me cry) Neo Rauch (His paintings make me want to create theater around them), Anselm Kiefer (His work and scale inspire me to think big), Banks Violette (His work provokes and his materiality speaks to me).

I saw an interview recently, where you talked about the "Darker Edges" being interesting to you - what do you mean by "Darker Edges"? And why do you think it is important to embrace those sides of yourself?

I find that most of my artwork and process is informed by a dark edge. The dark exploration combined with emotional content can shake down and provoke us to dig deeper. It is our jobs as artists and theater makers to make people see things and feel things that an edge from a darker reference can move us and transform us to do. It is important to feel uncomfortable and restless in these visions. Within all darkness lies a thread of light and lightness.

If you weren't living in SLC, what would be your city of choice and why? What city currently do you think generates the most interesting art and design?

I am fortunate to have a dual life that allows me to be in NYC and home based in SLC. Of course, NYC offers me a huge luxury to see and experience the world of art and theater and allows me to do my constant homework. I seek inspiration all the time. I am blown away with the realization that so much good artwork and design is coming from great cities all over the world. I don’t see that one city or part of the world is any more inspired. We have the ability to connect to the world and experience all these good influences from our screens and that is very exciting.

I know that 'alone time" is important to you, what is it that you generate from being alone and do you feel that it is an important component in your creative process?

I find that my art process and internal process needs to find refuge in being alone. I admit that I feel more sensitive as I grow older and with that sensitivity is a need to protect myself and my process. I am less available and more economical about who and what I give my energy to these days. I am most true to myself and my process when allowed the luxury of time and space to create and to gather myself. I find that my work has clarity and meaning through process and time alone.

I love that your mind seems to be continuously creatively alert, how do you retain that curiosity in the world and act on your instincts? There seems to be very little fear in the choices that you make...

I appreciate your comment Charlotte. I do feel that I am always looking for the inspired moments and creative surge. It is all around us. I have always had a restless desire for looking and searching. It is my homework. I think it shows in peoples' work, when they don’t do their homework and see what is happening in the world and in their art forms. It is our job as artists to seek and question. It is a process of constantly unlearning what we know. Also, we must remind ourselves to be gracious to everyone in that process.

What is your favorite quote?

Artist : Teresita Fernandez :"Being an artist is not just about what happens when you are in the studio. The way you live, the people you choose to love and the way you love them, the way you vote, the words that come out of your mouth, the size of the world you make for yourselves, your ability to influence the things you believe in, your obsessions, your failures — all of these components will also become the raw material for the art you make."

If you could only bring 5 things with you to a remote island, what would they be?

1- Fire making, 2- Music, 3- Unlimited pencils and paper, 4- A companion, 5- A boat (haha).

Where do you see yourself as being and doing in 25 years?

I see myself surrounded with beautiful artwork, creating art and experiences and being sustained from this art life that I have been seeking and expressing. Sharing it with deep generosity. My life as a museum.

NE PLUS ULTRA: ALEXANDRA HARBOLD / May 19, 2016 by Nathan Webster

Alexandra Harbold is a director/actor/dramaturge living and working in Salt lake City. She founded "Flying Bobcat Theatrical Laboratory" together with actor Robert Scott Smith in 2013. "Flying Bobcat" produces and creates performance based works. Additionally Alexandra has worked with local companies: Salt Lake Acting Company, Plan-B and Pioneer Theater. Alexandra and Flying Bobcat Theatrical Laboratory collaborated with NOW-ID back in 2014 on our dance-theater piece FEAST out at the Great Saltair.

I had the privilege of working choreographically with Andra on FEAST and she has such powerful internal strength, vulnerability, fearlessness and integrity in the choices she makes in the creative process. On top of that she has an intuitive musicality, sensuality and intellect that she readily accesses and a natural affinity for movement. She is indeed a force to be reckoned with!

Enjoy!

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background - I know that you studied at Goldsmith's College in London amongst other places, why did you choose their program? And did you originally train as an actor?

I did originally train as an actor. I went to the University of London Goldsmiths College after working with director Nesta Jones my senior year at Middlebury College, where I earned my undergraduate degree in Theatre. I wanted to continue training with Nesta and to have the opportunity to study in London.

What do you enjoy the most: acting or directing and why?

I truly love both, but directing is more intuitive for me. What I imagine creating is often beyond what I can do as an actor or as an individual artist. What Tamilla wrote about the actor’s art also resonates very strongly for me – and as an actor, I don’t think I’ve ever achieved the presence, risk, and alignment with the work that she articulates so beautifully – I do keep hunting and striving for it, and I am thankful for directors who challenge me to go further. I recognize it in other actors.

Tell us a little bit about your creative process as an actor and as a director- are there similarities?

My creative processes as an actor and as a director overlap. Whether it’s an existing play or a devised project, once I’ve read the play, I start digging and hoarding research, images, and music which feel connected to the text - feeling around for my own instincts about the play, its core question. It helps me recognize the play-world of the production we’re creating, its idiosyncratic beauty and rules. As a director and actor, it feels like the process is to align your own curiosity and appetites to the living questions in the text. When I first started acting and directing, it felt like there was a mysterious and elusive “right” way to approach a text – a target that you either hit or didn’t (I often felt like I couldn’t see the target, full stop.) Now I’m hunting for the unique alignment of that text and that company of artists – recognizing the possibilities that are only present because of that gathering of creative minds. Rehearsal is a process of drafting, layers, and constellations.

Why did you decide to create the company "Flying Bobcat" with actor Robert Scott Smith, what void did you feel that it was filling and can you talk a little bit about the philosophy behind the company? How do the two of you compliment each other?

Scott and I started collaborating together when he returned from NYC to serve as the Creative Director for the Leonardo Museum. He had developed a program called POPUP@Leo to create devised work and invited me to play on the inaugural project. Our first project, SENSES 5, led to our collaborating on two other devised POPUP works in the same year, LOVE and MIND OVER MATTER. When we began, we started from the ground with only raw ideas about a point of departure or how we would develop the work; in a very short time, we’d forged a working method and shared language that we continue to use and expand upon now. We both respond very strongly to mythos, design, movement, and music. We were also hungry for the kind of work and experimentation that we saw in London and New York.

I think we complement each other because our imaginations are both kindred but distinct, and we call out each other’s strengths and push each other. A strength I believe we share is recognizing collaborators who create the visual and aural worlds we dream about – we couldn’t do the work we want to do without them.

Our latest project with Salt Lake Acting Company and Dallas Graham’s Red Fred Project, Climbing with Tigers, is a perfect example. Scott asked our Feast collaborator, Playwright Troy Deutsch,to adapt Nathan Glad and Dallas’ book for the stage. He then asked SLAC if they could give the project a home. Scott’s asks and Troy and SLAC’s generous yeses led to the opportunity to assemble a creative force of artists.

Photography by Caitlin Blue

There is a strong visual, almost cinematic component to the work that you are doing with "Flying Bobcat" - is that important to you in creating new work? It doesn't strike me as being naturalistic theater that you are cultivating; instead it feels fiercely experimental, which is exciting - was that also why you called it a Laboratory?

Both Scott and I are drawn to the immersive, shape-shifting play-world possibilities that working with film and projections creates. And yes, thank you! I love “fiercely experimental.” That’s exactly why we included Laboratory to our name. We wanted experimentation to be at the very core of our creative identity and company mission.

What excites you about being based in Salt Lake City as an artist and what do you miss from being based in a bigger city? Do you feel that there are limitations/restrictions in working here and also what are the benefits/sources of inspiration?

I find Salt Lake City exciting because there is an appetite for experimentation and the work that coexists with a strong sense of home and community. A bigger city would allow for greater cross-pollination of creative ideas. I think more exposure to artists from around the world would galvanize our own work and encourage us to take bigger imaginative risks.

What city in the world do you see as having the most exciting theater scene and why?

I find London a thrilling and vital theatre city (Complicite, Frantic Assembly, the Court, the National, et al) – not only for the work created there, but for it as a crossroads for international theatre. It also feels like home to me. NDT and Ivo Van Hove’s Toneelgroep Amsterdam tempt me to visit Amsterdam.

Tell us a little bit about the highlights of your career so far? Climbing with Tigers is certainly a highlight. Working with Animator & Graphic Artist Jarom Neumann as he created the visual world of the projections was a particular joy. Tribes (Salt Lake Acting Company) and Picnic (The Grand) this year were also landmarks for me as a director. As an actor/performer, working with you, Scott, Jesper Egelund (composer/musician), Troy, Jo, Yumelia, Jenn (dancers) and Nathan on NOW-ID’s Feast.

Who are some of the people who have inspired you in your work and why?

I am inspired by Director Mary Robinson every time I get to be in the room to witness her work. Her attention and questions stir up something electric in the work – nothing is incidental. Anne Bogart and Tina Landau (The Viewpoints Book) have transformed the way I see space and staging – and they’ve taught me to embrace “exquisite pressure".

Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett’s The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre – their generosity with sharing their secrets so we can all experiment.

What is your favorite quote?

Two came to mind. “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett "Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question” e.e. cummings.

I asked this question of Director Tamilla Woodard and I want to ask the same of you because I think it is an important one: Have you experienced sexism in your work as a Director and if so, how have you dealt with it? Do you see more female directors working in theater today compared to when you started?

It is important. I’ve encountered sexism as an actor and director - some inadvertent - some more intentional - rationalized and self-justified, which feels more corrosive in a process. Directing offers creative agency and a defining voice in the process. It also affords the opportunity and responsibility to imagine and to facilitate a different conversation in the room and in the work. I have had the opportunity to work with and witness the process of many incredible women directors: Mary Robinson, Karen Azenberg, Robin Wilks-Dunn, Adrianne Moore, Shana Gold, Julie Kramer, Anne Bogart, Cheryl Faraone, and others. As a director and teacher, I work to support and mentor other female directors and actors.

As an actor - what director have you always wanted to work with (Dead or Alive)? As a Director - what actor have you always wanted to work with (Dead or Alive)?

There are so many. As an actor and director, I would love to have the opportunity to work with Complicite founder Simon McBurney. As a director, I would love to work with actor Helen McCrory.

Tell us a little bit about some of the projects that are coming up for you and that you are excited about?

There are two projects that I am excited to collaborate on that will go into production early in the fall. I am dramaturging Pioneer Theatre Company’s The Last Ship, with music and lyrics by Sting and book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey, directed by Karen Azenberg. I am directing the University of Utah Studio 115 production of Carson Kreitzer’s Self Defense, or Death of Some Salesmen, based on the story of Aileen Wuornos.

Looking towards the future where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 25 years?

Having adventures with (my husband) Joe and creating work with friends who challenge and inspire me.

NE PLUS ULTRA: ROLF HEIM / April 20, 2016 by Nathan Webster

Born in Switzerland Rolf Heim trained as an actor at the Institute for Stageart in Sweden 1984-1986 and later as a director at The School of Stage Arts, Theatre Cantabile, 1989-92. With actor and playwriter Claus Beck-Nielsen under the name 20th Century Ghost he directed the plays: Andy Warhol, Rupies and Balls and Theatre Butcher. Rolf Heim is artistic director of the Boat Theater in Copenhagen, where he has staged numerous productions. Aside from this appointment there he has also staged Miss. Julie at the Kaleidoscope Theater for which he received the significant Danish theater acknowledgement: The Reumert Prize, and later the Nick Cave Theatre concert at Aarhus Theatre in Denmark.

Rolf is part of the collaborative team for NOW-ID's next big production EXODUS - we are excited to see his incredibly creative and original mind set in motion. Please see our most recent NE PLUS ULTRA interview here.

Enjoy!

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Tell us a little bit about your background; you originally trained in dance, why did you make the change to theater or was it more of an organic evolution as opposed to an intentional decision?

I only worked for a short period of time with dance and as I am not a trained dancer, physical theater was always my main focus. Already as a child I expressed my emotions physically, when I was happy I had to run or dance and when I was sad, I went for long walks.

How do you think your background in movement has influenced your work in theater?

It clearly gave my work a very physical and visual expression. For me it was never enough as a director to have actors who only felt something on stage, I wanted to see that emotion in action, expressed through the body. My work on stage is seldom traditional or naturalistic - it always has a physical expression.

Your work strikes me as having a really strong stylistic point of view - interpreting a text through movement language seems important to you - can you talk about why? Also, on that note I loved hearing about your puppet theater piece "Jernring" (Iron ring) - what can Puppet Theater add to your form that you wouldn't have been able to achieve through human performance?

Theater is a "live" event, things are happening right now on stage for the audience. So energy is important. I want to see and feel the actors at the same time. To only pretend is not enough.
Puppets are magical as they only come to life through animation. An animated puppet is still not a living human being, but it gets life, or becomes alive through the imagination of the audience. It is in the mind of the audience, that the puppet gets feelings and movement. On stage you see the actors, how they move a puppet, but as a spectator you choose to believe that the puppet is alive. We become like children again playing with a toy, giving life to it only by imagination.
So engaging the public, without them being aware of it provides them with a more powerful experience. And a puppet is never embarrassing or too sentimental, etc., something, you can't always say about real actors.

Do you consider your work to be more performance art than Theater and in reality do these kinds of terms and distinctions even matter anymore in talking about performances?

My work is very much influenced by Performance Theater. Meaning - there is no hierarchy between text, light, set, actions, actors, and so on, everything or any effect can be used in order to resolve a scene or tell at story. Normally in theater, the actor and his/her text is the most important thing, the rest is just decoration.

Do you see a difference in the direction that theater/performance is heading in Europe compared to the States and can you talk about what those difference are? Also, what city in your opinion has the most exciting contemporary theater?

I do not really know so much about the theater in US. But in Europe, it differs from country to country. Avant-garde and Performance Theater are both very strong in Germany, The Netherlands, and in Belgium. All of their city theaters are working with directors, who think about art and not only about the entertainment value. Theater is seen as an art form in those countries, it is well funded and has a public, which appreciates innovative theater.

Tell us a little bit about "Baadteateret" in Copenhagen? It is quite unique because of size and placement - how do these features play into the shaping of your repertoire?

It is a unique and intimate stage with only 80 seats on a boat situated in the middle of historical Copenhagen. Perfect for Puppet Theater! We can afford to be experimental, because we are so small. Ticket sales don’t really influence our budget, as there are so few seats. So we focus on developing puppetry, doing research and having a laboratory attitude towards our work. Ironically, that has made us very popular and we often sell out our shows.

Tell us a little bit about the highlights of your career so far?

I think those shows where I worked very uncompromised, not thinking about success or how the critics would receive the work. Instead just following my intuition and taste. Those have become huge successes, which feels in a weird way very cool.
A show about Andy Warhol in the beginning of my career had that effect, and opened a lot of doors to the more established theaters for me. Then The Nick Cave Theater concerts became a huge thing some years later, and lately I would say “Jernring” (Iron ring), puppetry show on Baadteateret. So highlights for me are the ones where my innovative, artistic work reaches our audiences and critics.

What is your creative process like - is collaboration important to you and if so why?

More people have more ideas than one person. So I listen very much to my actors, sound, set, lighting designers. I always tell them that 80% of my ideas don’t work and that counts for every body. So throw in ideas, but do not insist on them.
I always know one moment at a time what we are heading for, but not where we end. Having a team, which works under those circumstances, demands that you as a director really motivate and lead...

Who are some of the people who have inspired you the most in your work and why?

"The Wooster Group" (a New York City-based experimental theater company known for creating numerous original dramatic works) because of the way they rehearse - they keep on trying things out, until it works. They also taught me, what musicality is in a dramaturgy, and the basic rules of Performance Theater.

Robert Lepage (A Canadian Theater artist) in his early years, showing magic realism on stage.

Peter Brook (A British Film and Theater director), because the research of an artist never ends.

La La La Human Steps (A Canadian contemporary Dance Company under the direction of Edouard Lock, which has unfortunately closed down in 2015) because they produced shows which can’t be further away from what you normally see on stage, but it knocks you out...

Where do you look to for inspiration? Do you watch a lot of theater in your spare time or are there other mediums that interest you more? There seems to be a real cinematic quality to what you do, hence my question.

Film yes, visual art in general, museums of any kind, kids playing, watching every day life and of course theater - mainly abroad.

What is your favorite quote?

"This little finger, still doesn’t obey me". Pablo Casals, a world known cello player, who has won every award you can win in classical music, and played all over the world. The quote was his answer to a journalist, who asked him when he turned 80-years old. 'You have reached everything a musician can dream of, what is left?

This became or is my main motivation in work, 'keep on developing, never stop...."

Who is the actor that you have always wanted to work with and what is the project that you have always wanted to do?

Actors - none. Projects - lots.
But my experience tells my, that when you after years of waiting finally are allowed to make your dream project, it becomes a disappointment. Dreams are here to be pursued but not to be fulfilled. So I turn it around and say, the project I work on right know, is the only one I want to do. And that works!!!

Looking towards the future – where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 25 years?

I will be 70-years old, and the answer is quite conservative: looking at my children and being happy about who they have become.
And besides that: painting, writing, taking a walk with my dog, ... and maybe doing a show once in a while.

INTERNATIONAL / INTERDISCIPLINARY
DANCE & DESIGN CO.

NE PLUS ULTRA: ARCHITECT BRIAN WAKELIN / October 10, 2024 by Nathan Webster

Tell us a little bit about your background. When, where and why did your interest in architecture emerge?

How long did it take for you to build your company Public Architecture to become a sustainable business and did you know quite early on that you wanted to start your own company and if so, why?

**What projects helped define your company and why and can you talk a little bit about the philosophy and values that Public was founded on?**

What is the most challenging aspect of running an architectural firm in Vancouver and what do you appreciate the most about working in Vancouver?

What type of projects do you prefer to work on and why?

What or who inspires you in your creative process?

Are there cities that you have traveled to that have inspired your work?

Is Vancouver, in your mind, a city that is ambitious enough design wise?

What are your ambitions for Public Architecture moving forward?

Where do you see yourself in 25 years?

NE PLUS ULTRA: ARCHITECT CHRIS TAYLOR / March 9, 2021 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: FILM ARTIST TJ MARTINEZ / March 3, 2020 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: COSTUME DESIGNER MALLORY PRUCHA / October 27, 2019 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: DESIGNER SHANNON ROBERT / September 13, 2019 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: ARTIST COLBY BREWER / March 26, 2019 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: Dancers - JO, TARA, Katherine, Adrian, Sydney and Liz. / November 15, 2018 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: FILM ARTIST JAN ANDREWS / August 13, 2018 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: POET WALTER KADIKI. / February 7, 2018 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: ARTISTS BONNIE SUCEC AND SUSAN BECK. / August 7, 2017 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: WRITER DAVID KRANES / July 20, 2017 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: ADAM BATEMAN / April 26, 2017 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: MIME ARTIST YASS HAKOSHIMA / February 21, 2017 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: Architect ED RAWLINGS / January 9, 2017 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: NANA BUGGE RASMUSSEN / October 30, 2016 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA; ORE INC. / October 14, 2016 by Nathan Webster

Ne Plus Ultra: Holly Addi / July 9, 2016 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: GARY VLASIC / May 30, 2016 by Nathan Webster

I saw an interview recently, where you talked about the "Darker Edges" being interesting to you - what do you mean by "Darker Edges"? And why do you think it is important to embrace those sides of yourself?

NE PLUS ULTRA: ALEXANDRA HARBOLD / May 19, 2016 by Nathan Webster

NE PLUS ULTRA: ROLF HEIM / April 20, 2016 by Nathan Webster

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