INSTALLATIONS, PUBLIC ART & VENUE DESIGN
HOMEADE T/F
Above: A detail of the mural portion of California-based artist Yulia Pinkusevich’s installation “Stilted,” which will appear in Alley A
T/F EXTENDS ITS ARTSY TENTACLES further and deeper in 2013, bringing more amazing visual artists from near and far to reinvent venues and transform public spaces. What began as a visual backdrop for our fest ten years ago is now an integral part of every aspect of what we do.
ALLEY A If the Box Office is the heart of the festival, Alley A is its main artery. California-based artist Yulia Pinkusevich gives us “Stilted,” her take on
the Collective Architecture of the Impossible, an imagined city that appropriates structures from all corners of the globe to create a utopia on stilts. Fest-goers will want to explore the entire alley from Ragtag to the Forrest Theater to experience this ambitious work.
THE BLUE NOTE The Columbia landmark spreads its fins a bit further this year, as Glenn Rice’s glowing sea creatures swim among the barnacle-covered walls and amidst oceanic stalactites and stalagmites, newly discovered by Tracy Greever-Rice. Upstairs, bathe in a sea of video donated by the Chicago Film Archives and resident archivist Anne Wells, encrusted in coral courtesy of local artist Sarah Mercer. Finally, don’t miss Bob Hartzell’s paper lamps high above the theater floor.
BOX OFFICE Designers Gabrielle Parish, Audrey Keiffer, Madeline Carl, and Dan Bugnitz have shaped an interactive playland of the miniature and gargantuan. You’ll feel dwarfed by gigantic termite mounds and can grab a photo op in our eight-foot-tall bird’s nest. Stopping to marvel at our crazy-quilt neighborhood, those of you with sharp eyes will spot glimpses of past fests. While you peruse the merch, take a gander at Gabe Parish’s shantytown, which sprouts adjacent to Ann Mehr’s Lee Elementary students’ “Box City.” In the DIY spirit, Ashley Gross, Jake Wandel, and their team of workers have created a towering wall treatment using pallets.
CAMPFIRE STORIES Fran Lakatos has conjured up an even larger array of animals to sit alongside us as we listen to this year’s Campfire Stories. Illuminated by Sarah Mercer’s fire, you’ll wonder if these adorable critters are really made of wood!
FORREST THEATER Tree by tree, Michael Marcum continues his metal reforestation project with help from Elsa Mae Kelley-Marcum. Laura Haynes and her students from Mexico, MO, have created leafy garlands to bring some of Michael’s trees together in the Black and Gold Room. Elsewhere, Fran Lakatos’ shadow boxes flicker inside the infamous birch forest.
THE GLOBE Camellia Cosgray’s lighted megamap resides inside the theater along with Shea Boresi’s stained-glass panels; these glowing marvels are made entirely of tissue paper and glue. Gabe Parish’s phone stanchions and tin-can phone booth help keep the lobby organized, and Lisa Suits has keyed up Barb the Buffalo’s hide. On your way out, take a gander at Willy Wilson’s dragon, who has a new paint job courtesy of Matt Schacht and Taylor Shaw.
THE GREAT WALL The Great Wall is a curated series of documentaries that play on the west outside wall of the Picturehouse. See these magical snippets of film on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night from 7 to 11pm.
JESSE HALL Artist Greg Orloff’s film reel, pieced together out of a mishmash of electronic gadgetry and light, graces Jesse Hall. Keep an eye out for it as you enter the theater.
MISSOURI THEATRE Inspired by London Fieldwork’s “Spontaneous City” and Safdi’s “Habitat,” T/F’s Anarchic Production Wedge knows all us oxygen addicts have swung from and hung out in the trees. With birdhouses and tiny homes stacked and snuggled among the branches, our plane tree provides plenty for patron perusal. LUMEN the Robot will be also stopping by; be sure to say hello!
MOJO’S Constructed by local artist Chance Kramer, bicycle wheels form the bases of intricate spinning chandeliers; their shapes create complex shadows that will enhance your music-going experience.
MOVEABLE TYPE You’ll find Kyle Durrie and her letterpressing 1982 Chevy van in the parking lot of the Picturehouse (SE corner of Tenth and Elm) on Friday (11am—12:30pm, 2—3:30pm, 5—6:30pm), Saturday (noon—2pm, 3—4:30pm, 5:30—7pm), and Sunday (noon—1:30pm, 2:30—4pm, 5—6:30pm). Stop by to create your own limited edition T/F 2013 printed souvenir.
SE CORNER OF NINTH & CHERRY Local artists Gabe Meyer and Brian Doss form a Trash/Treasure chimera with “From Here to Home,” their dumpster turned work of art. Challenging traditional notions of what makes a house a home, they tempt passersby to curl up and take a nap beneath the warm glow of discarded plastic bags.
ODD FELLOWS LODGE Chicago artist Theresa Vishnevetskaya adds to the charm of the Odd Fellows Lodge with her weird and wonderful piece “Organ No. 2,” an interactive repurposed organ.
PARTIES At @ction, bask in the glow of local magic makers Gabe Meyer and Brian Doss’ light-filled creations and thematic projections while you dance your heart out. Take a break to hang out in the various dwellings they’ve created.
THE PICTUREHOUSE Gabe Meyer’s T/F archway welcomes you into the venue; Greg Orloff’s Trash Tree reaches up to meet the colorful bottles turned hanging flower garden; the stairwell is once again draped with triangular rainbows. The Goodnow sisters (Sarah and Sasha) have spent countless hours weaving and knitting multicolored materials together to create their tent-like pods; those of you interested in a more intimate spot to wait can sit inside these intricate creations. Inside, Nathan Truesdell, Sam Spencer, Steve Rice, Rick Agran, Nick Michael, Chelsea Myers, and the MU Micro-Doc class update the larger-than-life video portraits of our fellow mid-Missourians. Sponsored by Advanced Radiology.
THE PICTUREHOUSE LAWN Assembled out of reclaimed materials, the Migratory Hive Project is an exploratory, shared-art experience featuring the work of 13 artists (Emily Peters, Bill Russell, Sarah Leitten, Allen Killian-Moore, Kristen Althoff, Rebecca Estee, Annie Wentz, Kristen Bartel, Juliet Hinley, Cindy Tower, Stella Lopez & Tristan Lopez, Michael Allen, and Carlie Trosclair), all part of the St. Louis SPORE collective. The sheer size of it will amaze you, but look closely for hidden details.
RAGTAG CINEMA & UPRISE BAKERY Local photographer Tony Irons and once-local artist Nate Truesdell present two very different perspectives at the Uprise gallery. Tony’s Palm Springs series shows a landscape rich with contrast and color, while Nate’s whimsical project (called “100 pickups”) may inspire you to greet strangers differently. Outside on the Hittsville lawn, our trusty giant T/F sign (made by local artist Michael Marcum) has found some friends: tiny x-ray insects created by Ann Mehr’s students at Lee Elementary. These little creatures are looking for new homes, so if one of them takes a shine to you, slip it in your pocket on your way out of the theater.
ON SIDEWALKS & WALLS The Mud Stencils are back for their third year with T/F. Jesse Graves and Morgan Herum, with help from some local mud-lovers, paint the town in a temporary sort of way! Keep your eye out for these lovely works of art as you wander the fest.
We Were inspired to mark ten years of festival making by paying homage to our DIY (do it yourself) roots, derived from America’s punk rock scene. More accurately, we wanted to talk up DIT, or “do it together”—including T/F’s grassroots army that produces the festival every year, making all of the venue designs, installations, and good mojo. Not to mention all of our sponsors, visiting filmmakers, musicians, and artists.
In order to root this in the tangible, we hit upon the notion of placemaking, creating pleasurable, people-oriented spaces by “repairing” cities that had become merely thoroughfares for cars. The artists will fix the streets! We were inspired by images of vertical neighborhoods, whether on Chinese rooftops or Brazilian favelas. We also looked at examples of visionary architecture, such as the one-of-a-kind treehouses by Terunobu Fujimori. Lastly we referenced “the prodigious builders” from the animal world such as bees, beavers, spiders, and birds.
We knew that last year’s artist Erik Buckham was the man to create a fanciful world that would serve as tribute to unlikely pursuits everywhere. In addition to bringing the Influencing Machine to life for True/False in 2012, Erik Buckham has designed some of the most beautiful and recognizable film posters including Beasts of the Southern Wild.
What he’s devised is a happy, optimistic image pointing forward to good times. To us it says, We are a resilient and clever species, and we can figure things out, even with the enormous challenges ahead.