Radiohole: Inflatable Frankenstein

My dear friend and talented costume designer, Kate Fry, took me to see Inflatable Frankenstein, by the anti theater theater company, Radiohole.  I've never seen theater like this before - messy, with no narrative, giant inflatable body parts, and messy gooey brains being flung towards you as the actors recite stories of Frankenstein and control the light and sound from the iphones they wear around their wrists. All in all, it was completely nonsensical, and I loved it. 

This image taken from the NY Times review of the show, found here. 

FORCES

I was lucky to see an Elizabeth Streb show back in December.  As I have been working on a set for an aerial acrobatics show, I find her work to be very inspiring. She explores movement on a very elemental level, and sometimes her work almost seems overly simplistic, and repetitive.  But I find it incredibly valuable to get to the root of the matter at hand, and as of yet I have not encountered anyone doing that in such a way as she.

I love the sketches she projects on the screen...

but the monologues are a bit much...

But then you forget about it when they start throwing I-beams around at you...

and flying around on pretty flying machines.

But probably my most favorite thing about Streb is their movable truss rig.  Its so simple, yet it affords so many different opportunities, simply by moving a truss along the Z axis. 

And  last but not least, we musn't forget about spatial sequencing!  Seeing a giant wall rotate forward before your eyes, to become the floor, and then a curtain slowly lowers to reveal a mini half wheel of death and the concrete wall beyond, is incredibly dramatic.

Min

As the new year kicks into gear and I settle into my new home in Bushwick, I am gathering together all of my spirit and inspiration to propel me forward into new creative adventures this year.  Here I would like to share pictures from Min, a show I saw back in the fall, created by Seanna Sharpe, circus girl extraordinaire.  I particularly loved this multifaceted climbing apparatus shown below. 

Ann Hamilton: Event of a Thread

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the opening party for Ann Hamilton's Event of a Thread at the Park Avenue Armory.  I can't even begin to describe how amazing it is.  And click here to read the New York Times review and see more photos.

Jungle Gym Circus Inspiration

A few years ago, I helped design and build this:

(You can read more about it here.)  That has led me to develop a fascination with the circus, acrobats, and their equipment they climb on, as a great way to learn about architecture, and how the forms of things inform certain choreographies.

So now I find myself working on the design of another climbing structure, this one much bigger, and for now top secret.  But I can tell you that I have found a great source of inspiration in the most obvious but overlooked place - the playground.

This particular playground, recommended to me by a friend, has all of its jungle gyms build from basic industrial materials, and I think its great. 

If you're interested in learning more about playground design, I recommend the blog Playscapes.