Electric Earth in the Round with Illumination: Scatterlings

  • July 6, 2017 8:00 PM
  • July 7, 2017 8:00 PM

Multiple location lighting design by Nikki DeShea Smith

A multi-disciplinary, multi-layered, multi-directional "happening" site-specific performance will spring forth from various locations throughout the lobby, balconies, stairs, porch and catwalk.  Aspects of the design and flow will be related to works from the Aitken exhibition which feature artificial light (examples:  Electric Earth and SONG 1) in addition to broader themes/ideas from the full exhibition.  Costume designer Crickett Pettigrew will make costume accessories as part of the actual performance, and you might have a chance to wear one.  Viewers will have opportunities to participate if they like, and are invited to share/broadcast "live" any aspect of the performance events through social media.

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This summer's "Electric Earth Revolution" edition of the Modern Dance Festival at The Modern is inspired by the "Doug Aitken: Electric Earth" exhibition on display in the galleries at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.  Expect the unexpected during this celebration/exploration/examination of technology, communication, moving image, collaboration, and more.   Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth and friends will be collaborating to bring unique, one-of-a-kind performance events to life in collaboration with members of the audience.

Artist Doug Aitken is noted for saying, "The museum should be a structure for broadcasting, an antenna that reaches far and wide, well beyond its own walls." This year, we're placing those ideas at the core of an alternatively structured festival, and we invite all audience members to share/post/tweet/comment and even "live" broadcast on Facebook any aspect of the performance events as they happen in "real time."

Three-ring circus? Could it become a 50-ring circus?  Possibly!  The extent of the simultaneity will be up to the attendees who choose to step up to the plate or not.  So, whether you prefer to be a passive viewer, a fully active participant in the flesh and/or via cell phone technology, or someone who might fluctuate between introversion and extroversion at any time through any type of platform or mode of communication.