SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2007
Mobile Aesthetics & Social Movements: Thinkspace
12:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. Polycentric sessions, San Francisco Art Institute,
Lecture hall and classrooms
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“RESIDENT.ALIEN.” is a 7 minute
video work (available in standard and high definition) exploring the
respective immigration experiences of the artists to the United States—Marina
Kelly immigrated from Scotland at age 7 and Kate Hewson immigrated from
South Africa at age 11.
The video features aerial performance (gestural
movement phrases performed on suspended chairs), sound recordings (the
artists’ spoken text mixed into an original sound score), suspended
objects (actual belongings related to our respective immigrations and
symbols of our memories and experiences) and video projection.
The process of creating the piece started with
the sharing of personal stories about the artists’ immigration
experiences, many of which seemed so particular to their identities
as immigrants as to be incomprehensible to non-immigrants. Particularly
powerful images and text from these conversations were selected and
used as the starting point in constructing the sculptural, movement,
textual, and sound elements of the installation.
Some sub-themes explored in the work include:
The fairytale expectations of a new land vs. reality; flying across
borders/between countries; reinvention of the self in a new land; passing
as a native, the alchemical power of immigration to transform the self
into “other” and the familiar into the strange.
Participant Bios:
Kate Hewson is a modern dancer and multimedia
artist based in Madison, WI. She has also lived and performed in Belgium,
England, and South Africa, her country of origin. She has presented
her own aerial and modern choreography and performed with companies
including Li Chiao-Ping Dance, Jin-Wen Yu Dance, Cycropia Aerial Dance,
and Connolly Dance Company and in works by Jan Erkert, Claudia Melrose,
and by many local artists. Last year she co-presented the peer-reviewed
site-specific multimedia dance installation RESIDENT.ALIEN. at the UW-Madison
TRANS Conference. She was a member of Cycropia Aerial Dance Company
for five years, and teaches aerial and modern dance in the community.
She has degrees in French and International Studies and a master’s
degree in Image Studies. She is currently working on an MFA in Dance
Choreography and Performance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
In addition, she is a freelance web designer, and coordinates interdisciplinary
arts residencies at UW-Madison for artists including Marc Bamuthi Joseph,
Ute Ritschel, Judith Helfand, Fred Ho, Matthew Buckingham, and Gunther
Schuller.
Marina Kelly is a multi-media artist based in
Madison, Wisconsin. She has studied and danced with a variety of local
individuals and companies, including Kristanne Connolly, Ellen Moore,
Li Chiao-Ping and Cycropia Aerial Dance. Marina specializes in a number
of photographic forms, including Polaroid transfer techniques, Holga
prints and digital photography. Recent shows include: “Off Broadway”
2005 and 2006 at the Madison Enterprise Center’s Commonwealth
Gallery, and a solo show at Sunroom Gallery in Madison, Wisconsin in
December of 2005. Recent video projects include: “Taking a Bow:
Reflections on Ellen Moore's Modern Dance Improv. Class” and “The
Hidden Agenda”, documenting artist Carol Bjerke's installation
art.
Marina integrates video into live performances
such as the recent work, “Silhouette”, a dance/video piece
performed with Christine Olson as part of the “Dark Side of the
Moon” Exhibit at Commonwealth Development Corp. and the site-specific
multimedia dance installation RESIDENT.ALIEN. at the UW-Madison TRANS
Conference.