Action and Art

In its 19th year, Living Arts' New Genre Festival does not disappoint as it continues to push the envelope in contemporary multimedia art forms.

Thanks to financial support from foundations such as The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the National Performance Network, the Mid-America Arts Alliance and the National Endowment for the Arts (among others), Living Arts of Tulsa is able to introduce stellar exhibits and performances by internationally acclaimed artists. By bringing in artists from around the globe, New Genre "gives Tulsa residents a good feel for what's going on across the U.S with other art forms," said Steve Liggett, artistic director of Living Arts.

Sight to See

Many of the exhibits encourage observer participation and there are a few that you won't want to miss experiencing.

In Eye 4 Eye, multiple artists utilize a variety of mediums to share their individual perspectives on Capital Punishment.

Nicole McMahan's piece "Your Last Words" not only imparts the last words of some of those who have lost their lives to capital punishment, but also invites the observer to add his or her own last words to the exhibit with a permanent marker. It is a simple yet provocative motivational approach, McMahan explained.

"I think the idea of having the opportunity to say your last words just before dying is quite profound and significant. And given the circumstances of execution, it's a rare insight into the mind of a criminal and how they choose to frame their words and thoughts at that given moment. It was very thought-provoking, to say the least, and, at times, disturbing," McMahan said. "Some chose to apologize, which is what I would expect. Others seemed to act as if it was just another day by imparting humor. Some sent love to their families. The most disturbing responses were those full of anger or rage, leaving out any trace of humanity or regard for their actions... I think most received it as powerful and moving -- just because it is about last words before dying; then moved again when they read what these individuals actually said, considering their plight and history."

The group exhibition closes on Feb. 24.

Working Together

Four New York based musicians -- Val Opielski on guitar, Margaret Schedel on MIDI cello, Grady Gerbact playing percussion and Heather Wagner on drums -- and Four Tulsa based Dancers (each a head of a different contemporary dance company -- Rachel Bruce Johnson of Bell House Arts, Megan McKown-Miller of Soluna Performing Arts Group, Jennifer Alden of Portico and Ari Christopher of TuMM -- will improvise to a live performed video score by Charles Woodman for the Spontaneous Cinema production Feb. 24-25.

"The artists won't meet one another until the day before the performance. The experimental nature of many art forms produces effects that are unquantifiable," Liggett said.

Completely unchoreographed and completely in the moment, Spontaneous Cinema will be performed at the Doenges Theatre of the Tulsa PAC, 110 E. 2nd St. Tickets are $15.

Erica Mott combines performance and installation in Revised and Revisited at Liggett Studio, 308 S. Kenosha Ave., Feb. 24-25 at 8pm.

"Mott incorporates ambiguity, innuendo and poetic movements" to explore the idea of "cultural erasure," Liggett said. She utilizes the opportunity to explore memory and ancestry through ritual, audience involvement and the inscription of physical space. Tickets are $15.

Participation Please

Week three of the festival begins with Still Life: Graphite on Paper by Benjamin Entner. He invites the public to assist with building this exhibit to be comprised of inflating the construction insulation material, Tyvek.

Part the Waters.

"As I work on a project, I try to anticipate and plan for the viewer's experience. I want to make viewers aware of themselves as they relate to my art. I accomplish this by creating a presence of an object or installation that interrupts or intervenes in the passive viewing of a piece and invites an active experience with it," Entner said.

An opening reception will be held March 2 from 5-7pm at Living ArtSpace, 307 E. Brady.

Internationally acclaimed performance artist Kathy Rose takes the audience on a visual journey of the surreal and other worldly with a video performance of Cathedral of Emptiness and Vocabulary of the Veils on March 2 at 10pm and March 3 at 8pm.

"With the gold masked figure and dripping empty-eyed face in 'Queen of the Fluids', the eerily floating head in Interiorsity and the puppet constructs in videos such as 'She' and 'The Inn of Floating Imagery', I am constantly creating a pictorial female art persona, often with inspiration from the supernatural figures portrayed in Japanese theater and art," Rose said.

Cathedral takes center stage at Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. 4th St.

In the performance Paplitations by Norman-based artist Lindsey Allgood, movement, rhythm and beat are used to illustrate the universal and visceral human experience.

"I'm most interested in the feminine experience, like, in the constantly fluctuating body I have as a woman. This has been called 'central core imagery,' to get all academic," Allgood said. "My interest in this relates to Palpitations in that I'm dissecting and exploring sentience -- emotions, spirituality, sexuality, etc. from the bodily and psychic interior. I touch on birth, all forms of love, our organs, rebirth. I use the heart as a running metaphor throughout every scene that correlates with live music my fabulous musician will play on piano, djembe, little bells and possibly a violin if I can fix the strings. "

Palpitations will be performed at Nightingale theater, 1416 E. 4th St., March 2 at 8pm and March 3 at 10pm. Tickets are $15.

New Genre offers fresh perspectives and unexpected mediums as it encourages observers to explore the boundaries of their current reality.

Send all comments and feedback regarding Arts to natchley@urbantulsa.com.

Visit nicci6.com or facebook.com/SeekingNicci6 for more topics from Nicci Atchley.

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Visit nicci6.com or facebook.com/SeekingNicci6 for more topics from Nicci Atchley.