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Children roamed about the three frenetic floors of the H&H Building, dressed up in clanking, gaping high heels and boas, eyes cobalt blue and lips Barbie pink, having returned from Jackie Milad and Sarada Conaway’s “Make-Over” station. 20-somethings and post-grads looking smugly interested and vaguely amused hovered near the video installations, and by the end of the night, in the hallways smoking cigarettes. “Roaming” artists (as they call themselves), described as “spontaneous” in where and when they would appear engaged festival-goers and took requests.
The Transmodern Festival, though allying itself with ideas surrounding the avant-garde, (that is – before, or advance, guard) – is doing something, in my opinion, separate. With movements such as Posthumanism in which the limitations of the human form are recognized, but broken down, through the radical use of technology and artistic means, the outcome and stimulation for many of the performers and installations at the Transmodern Festival seemed child’s-play, almost carnival-esque. Not that this is to the Festival’s discredit. Quite the opposite. It is this feverish energy that holds the Festival’s power: those in attendance and those involved in performing are committed to the exploration and creation of all things creative, no categories or explanation required.
And indeed, there were no explanations. No neat description boxes placed next to the exhibits, no arrows pointing towards where you should proceed. The art was there for the viewers’ taking, and thus, the exhibits entrapped many, depending on each person’s preferences. Many of the installations took a few minutes to register as installations at all. In a first run-through, I passed by a few exhibits mistaken as ambience. But no, after a few static moments in front of these seemingly innocuous piles, the installation would spring to life. I became particularly engrossed in the spastic movie art of Julia Oldham, a series of four or five screens picturing the artist fashioning herself as somewhat of an insect, filmed frantically moving her limbs about in natural, almost-mystic environments. It seemed as though she had gone in to each clip and spliced out certain frames, creating a jerky, and mesmerizing, repetition of movements . This small room was somewhat of a Bermuda triangle, with at least ten festival-goers staring rapt and utterly intrigued, at any given moment throughout the evening. What was drawing even more people, however, was the create-your-own-art corner, a little spot on the 3rd floor that was designated a location for those desiring to create something of their ownto be displayed throughout the remainder of the festival. People crouched on the floor and cut and coiled material with scissors and thread. I even saw one woman create an offhand and yet entirely amazing parachute, before pinning it to the display-area and wandering off to find a new stimulus sure to spur inspiration.
Prancing trumpet players dressed in saccharine Lolita attire, and a mime-like contortionist taking requests for quarters engaged everyone around them; spotted the uncomfortable or perhaps unsure and shook them out of it, if only for a moment before moving on to someone more receptive. The space itself seemed transformed into the workroom of an active art school, multi-media strewn on the warehouse walls and candy shoved into the canals of toilets serving as seats for video-art viewing. The three levels of activities were sure to hold something for everyone’. Why, if one floor was too much, or not enough, simply wander the building. Even the stairwells seemed a spilling over of lunacy, with sad-eyed clowns and mask-wearing wanderers patrolling these “off-zones” (even the idea of an off-zone at the Transmodern Fest seems sacrilegious). It was this level of constant stimulation that was the highlight of the festival for me. I arrived in frustrated spirits after a 45-minute debacle of parking spot scarcity, and ten minutes later felt flushed with excitement and energy.
This year, the festival drew talent from cities across the country and encompassed multiple venues. The attendance of electro mania-man Dan Deacon (and his broad fan base ) may point further to the positive reception the Festival has seen as one of the most important art endeavors taking place now.
But what makes the Transmodern Festival and its contents so provocative to the unknowing art amateur and hardener art-peruser alike? Much like in the early days of cinema in the Soviet Union, Transmodern, like Avant-Garde, challenges its viewers. Though the festival targets a niche audience, rather than hoping to reach the people at large, the effect is similar – to cause those viewing an exhibit to reorder and reconsider previously solidified concepts and possibilities. Indeed the Transmodern Festival is nostalgic, and referential to past movements in the arts, taking what worked and refitting it for today’s social climate. It without a doubt seems to align itself with Burlesque performance traditions of the early 20th century in its pursuance of dramatic costume and artistic exploration of sexuality. The skimpy skirted women (maybe some men too) in attendance at the H&H building called to mind the empowered notions of sexuality that occurred between the First and Second World Wars and its ability to impact, and maybe mold, the viewers. And with its artwork of scrambled letters on a wall, insect-like movie-art, and toilets like piñatas filled with candy, was an almost Dada-ist period testament to the absurd, and the idea of art as a response to downturn and hard times.
Despite the often light-hearted approach of the Transmodern Festival, the playful cat-and-mouse chase that the partakers participated in to rally spectators, the intent the festival maintaines is its desire to spotlight diversity in the arts. With countless female, minority, and GLBT headliners, the Transmodern Festival is doing something separate from commenting on art, but rather, pointing out the relevance and possible change art can incite in a city with an already serious creative appetite.
6th Annual Transmodern Festival
at the H&H Building,
405 W. Franklin Street
Friday, April 3, 2009
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