Chan Andreassend & The Arts Menagerie
3 nights of spontaneous creative happenings- doing things we do well.
7-9 November at 5 Rose Road Ponsonby. 8pm till late
Getting ready for NIGHT CIRCUS coinciding with "Art in the Dark" in Western Park a mere stones throw from Ponsonby`s longest running Art Studio and largest Artist Collaborative!
Chan Andreassend & The Arts Menagerie 3 nights of spontaneous creative happenings- doing things we do well. 7-9 November at 5 Rose Road Ponsonby. 8pm till late
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Five workshops were held at Chan Andreassend, 5 Rose Road, Ponsonby under Ronald and Karen's superb vision and guidance. Materials, light sources, various installation styles were animatedly discussed. Brainstorming stayed an important feature of all the workshops and most importantly, no idea was too small neither was any question silly at all! The emphasis was on the creative process rather than lighting techniques because lighting techniques, in Ronald’s words, “…exist for everything- from a plastic bag to a designed product.” Ronald and Karen made sure each Menagerine received unstinted support through this process even if it meant hurried resourcing trips or just listening to the Menagerines talk! “…besides if you think work of this calibre was only done by being all intense and serious… you’re wrong!! We had lots of fun getting all this ready for the evening and in the workshops too. In fact, we were never short of laughter or music... coffee or chocolates!" she concluded cheekily. He smiled and said "It must have been hard work, though, having to put all of this up... I mean besides all the work you artists... sorry, Menagerines, put in" If it weren’t for Dominika and Janina, we would have never had such smooth sailing through the workshops and 'Illuminate'. A page wouldn’t be enough to detail all the work these two lovely girls put in! They handled everything with commendable serenity and grace! In fact, we relied on their presence of mind to take us all through! “Is that James Bond there? And he?” The girl looked at the artists laughing as ‘Beat it’ slowed down to a moan. “He’s more than James Bond. He’s our auteur film-maker. You must have seen his film… it was projected on the wall outside” she said. “I get it, this awesome exhibition, the lights… but why are you all dressed up? A part of some fantastical concept?” he mused. “This is an interactive exhibition. What you actually call ‘dressed up’ is actually what we are… at least on the inside. Let me put it this way- jeans, shirts, t-shirts are actually our disguise. What makes us and ‘Illuminate’ so unique is that we’ve chosen to vocalize our inner personas. It’s an extension of our work… our artistic expression and identities.” Ronald, in one of the workshops, stressed the importance of artists and their personas. "Formal attire, " he announced " is the minimum for all artists". Naturally, it got everyone thinking. Janina threw all artists into frenzy with her emails... and for a worthy cause indeed!! Each of the Menagerines were uniquely turned out. The men took great pains to step outside the norm! We were very impressed by the effort everyone put in towards their personas. “What have I walked into!” exclaimed Visitor X as he surveyed a bunch of people engrossed in discussion, a girl creating her self-portrait and a few others happily dancing to Michael Jackson’s scratched cd. The girl put her camera down, smiled at him and matter-of-factly said “Oh… we’re having this… yes, this exhibition” she indicated with a sweeping gesture. “It’s called ‘Illuminate’”, she helpfully added. “Oh… oh wow, can I look around? Is it too late?” he asked, looking charmed. “Sure” she said as she took the camera up again. “Come” he said to his friend as they eagerly walked through the UV light into an installation of gigantic proportions…. Oh wait! Did we just get ahead of ourselves? Of this story? We’ll just begin at the beginning (though we don’t promise to stop!) 'Illuminate', as The Art Menagerie's (TAM) first interactive exhibition, explored the intriguing concept of identity. ‘Who am I?’ formed the central theme. Visitors to the 'Illuminate' exhibition were stunned to know it was our first exhibition, correction- first interactive exhibition. They were graciously taken around by the Menagerines- resplendent in their artistic personas. It was an evening that happily extended past the witching hour thanks to intrigued passer-bys, art junkies and supportive family members (of the Menagerines). “So… what is this? Who are you?” demanded Visitor X after a leisurely stroll around the venue. The girl was arranging her artwork now. She looked at him amusedly and said “Uhmm… this is an exhibition called ‘Illuminate’. We’ve all been working on our pieces for the last months, minimum. Our theme was conceived in collaborative brainstorming sessions after the very successful ‘White Nights’. We wanted to know our Menagerines through their self-perception and use light as a transformative medium. A wide variety of media ranging from perspex to rice paper, horticultural cloth, leather, string, found objects such as umbrella, paper lanterns and bags to industrial materials like resin, ceramic, plywood were used. Lighting techniques, as well, ranged from battery powered LEDs, UV Lights, Projections, Electric lighting utilizing tungsten and energy saving as well as candles! Visitor X took a deep breath and said “Wow. That would have been a lot of hard work. It all sounds pretty technical and intense to me. I could never do it.” The girl stood up straight, looked him in the eye and said “There is no place for the word ‘impossible’ in the Menagiverse! You just need a vision and all of us will work together to make it happen. (To be continued)
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