HAAK (HAPPY ANARCHIST ADVENTURE KIDS)

Project:
Getting to Know Your Stranger!

Artists:
Cecily Andersen + a stranger (Sarah Rocker)
Brieana Ruais + a stranger (Mikella Millen)
Meryl OﾕConnor + a stranger (Mike Nirenberg)
Leah Farrell + a stranger (Christopher Ryan)

Stage 1:
Each of the four primary artists must locate a ﾒstrangerﾓ (def: someone with who they are not acquainted). The ﾒstrangerﾓ may be located through advertising, postings, networking or other means. The ﾒstrangerﾓ must be committed, willing and able to participate for the duration of the project.

Stage 2:
A commitment pact is signed between the stranger and the artist. The couple then engages in a short acquaintance period lasting 11 days. A series of outlined activities to this effect are performed and documented as appropriate.

Stage 3:
Once the ﾒstrangerﾓ and the artist complete Stage 2 they cease communication. Using the following three weeks both the artist and the ﾒstrangerﾓ create pieces that reflect their process and experience with the project. The three weeks is concluded with hanging of the show, which will include the individual documentation and final work of the eight participants.

Questions that would be in the Reading Guide if there were such a thing:
What is the social importance of defining someone as a ﾒstrangerﾓ?
What do you gain when a stranger becomes an acquaintance or a friend? What do you lose?
Where is the line between stranger and acquaintance?

The project is structured to be impersonal at the beginning and progressively becomes humanized, allowing for unique relationships to develop. How well does this reflect the reality of interpersonal acquaintance in New York City?

A certain amount of trust is extended by both the artist, trusting that the stranger will complete the project, and by the stranger, trusting the potential of what was presented to them. If you were presented with this project would you have accepted? Why or why not?

In general, how much do you trust your average stranger?

15 MINUTE TRANSLATIONAL PORTRAITS_a participatory art installation

Artists:
Meryl O'Connor - painter and conceptual artist
Leah Farrell - poet and organizer

The gist: portrait making where an audience member is described through metaphor, lucid channeling, cliche, and poetry, among other literary devices by Leah, in the style that crosses a psychic reading and a street sketch. Typewriter. (5min). The product is then given to Meryl who translates the words back to the visual through an communion with the words, an association of features and colors to create a personality and a life-like portrait. Acrylics. (10min)
Expectations: A slew of miss-lines and strokes as well as moments of super-revelation that exposes the gray ground between writing and painting as well as examines what is received when we share ourselves in art as a model and/or as a step the process towards a final product.

SONO OTO_A CONCERT ABOUT STRANGERS (you)

Pop tunes are usually written about lovers, friends or issues the song-writer has been tackling for years. But what happens when a band writes pop songs (spontaneously)about the strangers who fill the room watching them? Sono Oto (www.SonoOto.com) will attempt this during an upcoming exhibition of art created by and about strangers. As the audience drinks and mingles before the show, the band will walk around and take notes. They will write down important sentences they hear and summarize whole conversations. They will study peopleﾕs expressions, clothes, and body language and invent elaborate stories that explain the people they see. They will even record bits and pieces of conversation.

The band will then gather their notes and spend 20 minutes turning them into songs. Obviously this is impossible, so most of the writing will take place as they perform in front of the audience. The band will also use the samples of conversation they record and incorporate them into the music. The band will play no pre-written music and will not write any songs about people they knew before that night. In this way, Sono Oto will further the theme of the exhibition by continuing to explore the meaning of strangers. Will pop songs about strangers work or does there need to be a level of intimacy for the tunes to be convincing? Hopefully the event will bring new light to the art while bringing new guests and enthusiasm to what is already an exciting event.

SONO OTO is made up of Mark Phillips, Nick Kinsey, and Brigham Brough. Nick and Brigham have spent the past 6 months in Cuba playing bass and drums together. Through their studies of jazz, Haitian, and Cuban music they provide a backbone for the music that is unprecedented in its tightness and tastefulness. Mark Phillips has been writing songs since he was 12 years old. His lyrics are often written off the top of his head as he plays a song for the first time. He will be joined by life-long friend Chris Jenkins. The two have spent countless hours at the piano writing songs and lyrics on the spot that fall somewhere between ridiculous and profound. Besides playing pots, pans, and guitar, Jenkins will sing impromptu backing lyrics.