Wherever There Is Water Night Parade

Thanks to Pete Marshall for this dreamy video.

this lovely photo by patrick barth

hey everybody.

i can't believe it's over! i hope you got to see the parade saturday night; so many people worked so hard to make what proved to be a sincerely special moment. today it seems a little crazy -all those months for such a fleeting experience - but it was honestly lovely. i read once in a book that stephen king and barbara krueger made together (?!!) that the difference between things beautiful and things gorgeous is that gorgeous things lack duration. this was a pretty gorgeous thing. everything went off without any major hitches; we left the grounds 15 minutes late, but were back ahead of schedule. the weather held, so we had dry skies (thank you universe.) and good attendance. we counted over 273 people carrying illuminated objects; plus scores of other folks sans illumination.

i want to thank you sincerely for your interest and efforts in this project. if you came to a lantern workshop, or helped tear paper, or told your friends to come to the parade, or sang with me in the sanctuary, or carried part of a polar bear, thank you. if you knitted coffee filters into a hat, or drank the coffee that moved through said filters, if you were one of the 11th hour heroes who strung lights or taped boxes or hung posters, thank you. if you worked this project into your class' curriculum or made chocolate covered snacks or suggested a potential choir director, or stitched a heart-shaped mouth or designed a shape to hold the word "wandering" - thank you, thank you. if you rounded up kids in white, or brought bamboo or made a boat or told me a story over tea, i thank you. and if you work at fleisher, well, i'm so indebted to you, you've got your own note coming. you all contributed to a fellini-esque, purely joyous moment for hundreds of participants and spectators alike.

for me, this experience at fleisher has been remarkable. i've met wonderful, generous spirits, wildly creative talents and made fast but solid friends (and, hopefully, co-conspirators). the whole process (except for some initial arm wrestling with adobe illustrator) has been glorious, and has me seriously reflecting on my long-term goals for how my work gets into the world.

thanks again. i'll post more links to documentation as it shows up; if you took photos, please add them to the flickr group below.

and please, stay in touch.


love
george

video by lindsay friedman!! (embedded below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTGRp1olNV0

photos!! (post yours here, too.)
http://www.flickr.com/groups/wherever-there-is-water/

Mid-March Parade Update

let's see... what's happened in the last two weeks?

we have a choir director! halle frickin' lujah!! ian munroe is a music composition student and a seriously great guy who can tell us we sound like crap and not make us feel bad about it. right now we've got about a dozen folks in the choir, so we're developing some simple harmonies and do-op-py sounding things for our first song. it really is a blast, except for when ian has food poisoning. every week a few more folks join in, so hopefully we'll have a good crowd by parade night. newcomers of all levels of experience are welcome. we meet in the sanctuary on tuesdays from 6:00 - 7:00.

in the parade headquarters/ works on paper gallery, sharon gunther's class has been making some self-portrait lanterns loosely based on these:

and we've started paper casting the various and sundries: the quiet storm that is petra worked on the giant moon last week and might be working on the second lion as i type this...

which reminds me: i have to shout out to an endlessly generous volunteer, frank. he tirelessly ran our campaign to get radio flyer to donate some wagons for the event (charitable donations policy procedure: don't call us; we'll call you, so we're standing by with mid-level hopes). most recently, frank has committed to be "team weimaraner," and is casting paper dog heads in his free time. thanks, frank! you are the proverbial bomb.

in the works:

i just met with a south philly breakdancing club and we'll be talking about ways to incorporate their dancing into our walking. AND!! one of the dancers is in an improvisational marching band, so we're hoping to get some horns going on!

and back in brooklyn i'm working on the 10 foot tall huberta. i'm carving her out of blue styrofoam and i gotta say, right now she's kicking my butt. my studio is completely and entirely covered with blue foam snow, i've burned out the transformer on one hot wire cutter, broken a bandsaw blade and i've still got half a huberta to go.

i think that's it for the update. coming up this week:

choir practice in the sanctuary tuesday the 23rd at 6:00.

papier mache party (with snacks!) right after at 7:30 in the gallery on christian.

(let me know if you're coming!! nightprocession(at)gmail.com)

oh yeah! FREE lantern workshops every thursday in april! we'll make

a different lantern style or illuminated sculpture every week.

register through the fleisher website.

February Update

the big news to report for february is regarding our "torchlights and toddies event." what a blast! i just got home and i'm completely exhausted, but so wired i had to write about it. around 80 (!!) people came and everyone really knocked themselves out making some crazy beautiful lanterns. we used really simple materials - parchment, tape, brown paper - to keep in the general aesthetic of the parade, but folks got wildly inventive. these are some pictures of the lanterns hanging in the windows of the gallery/studio where i've been working. even with just the last bits of daylight shining through them, they are gorgeous!

warren did a masterful job with the toddy recipe. they were perfect.

(seriously. i know my way around some toddies, and these were wonderful.)

we had some great healthy snacks, and also nikky verbitsky made a gigantic platter of decadent treats ...the chocolate covered marshmallows. ohmygod.

if you came:

thanks so much. i really hope you had fun. and i really hope you'll come to the parade on the 24th of april and carry your lantern. keep an eye on the fleisher website for specific updates. (special thanks to the fleisher staff and volunteers who came and stayed late. muchos, muchos gracias.)

if you didn't come:

maybe you 'll come to another workshop in april? there won't be whiskey, but there will be mad lantern-making action.

speaking of making: amber dorko stopper is knitting a veritable miracle of a shawl to adorn the main sculpture of the huberta character. it's 10 feet across and knitted in the spirit of woodland creatures. (nikki v. spun the yarn in from raw wool and bits of sparkly things in a marathon spinning session.)

and carolyn hesse is working on 2 elegant boat structures to be stretched with a paper skin and carried/worn in the parade. carolyn is a sculptor whose work draws from the architecture of boats. several of the stories we're translating involve boats, so it is pure kismet that carolyn signed on as a masterfully skilled volunteer.

and finally - the fleisher memorial choir is starting very, very soon. no "real" singing experience is necessary; just that you feel like singing. rehearsals are tuesdays

from 5:30 to 7:00 in march and april.

that's it for now. drop me a line if you have any questions about the project or if you want to help out. we're always looking for good energy. (and free labor ;o)

love,

george

nightprocession(at)gmail.com

January Update -

The gallery at Fleisher that has been functioning as my studio opens to the public today, so much of this month has been spent getting the space to look more like a work in progress and less like sheer entropy. This means the sculptures are all wired for AC, so they work in the gallery, but they'll all be rewired before the parade.

Have been having papier mache parties in my studio and at Fleisher. They've been lovely. We get a lot done, (sometimes drink a lot of hot toddies), and peel a lot of glue off our fingers. Thanks Alexi, Lena and Nikki.

Some exciting developments:

I have committed to the parade route!! It's 2.7 miles and moves through all different types of neighborhoods, past lots of churches, restaurants, industrial areas, boutiques, fancy houses, subsidized houses, parks, schools and community centers. Now, Warren at Fleisher is working on getting us the permits.

In the making:

The miraculous Carolyn, a sculptor and professional boat builder has volunteered to help out with the project and is focusing on building 2 lightweight boat forms that will be "wearable." She's working on the frame of the first one and it looks amazing.

The incomparable Nikki Virbitski has spun skads of skeins of raw wool and sundry bits into GORGEOUS yarn to be knitted by Amber Dorko-Stopper (in the roll of woodland creatures) into a shawl for the 10 foot tall main character of the procession, Huberta. She has also been supplying me with an endless flow of home made sweets. This crappy photo does not begin to do it justice.

So far, three Philly teachers are incorporating the parade into the curriculum - Marie's 4th graders will be making paper "gem" lanterns, Sharon's digital photo class will be making self-portrait lanterns (for the end of the parade, where Huberta is greeted by the people of Philadelphia) and Amy's high school class will be making clay objects based on their own adventures, then casting them in paper to be used as illuminated hat-lamps for the procession. Everyone is willing to work within the general aesthetic of the parade, which involves simple materials and a quiet, neutral palette.

In the wishing:

Starting to put the word out that we need a choir director and someone to arrange the music for the choir. I'm singing the first song over the phone to someone on Monday with hopes he'll be interested in helping us out. Fingers crossed.

Hoping we can get Radio Flyer to donate us a bunch of red wagons to tow the sculptures in the parade. Afterwards, Fleisher would distribute them to families in need. More fingers crossed.

Also - wishing for music music music. marching bands, beat box artists, drummers, singers, accordionists... Because there is nothing like live music walking under your window, and because it will help set the pace for the parade.

Starting to recruit parade marshals - folks who will stand in the way of traffic and warn us of potholes....

I think that covers most of what's been happening... Coming up next - Saturday, February 6th-

"Torch Lights and Toddies." We'll be making paper lanterns and drinking hot toddies in Fleisher's remarkable sanctuary. Drop me a line if you're coming.... [nightprocession(at)gmail.com]

December Update

The ongoing lantern-related research led me to some pretty wonderful approaches, thanks in large part to two amazing organizations: Great Small Works in Brooklyn and Project Nana in Baltimore. Among many other things, both make incredible art parades. Project Nana even runs a parade school, which I'm definitely signing up for this summer. And I'm completely honored to say I'll be showing the preliminary paper sculptures for the parade at Great Small Works' upcoming Spaghetti Dinner on December 29. It's an evening of pasta, international performance, music, film and this year - some illuminated woodland creatures... plus maybe a lion. It's all taking place in Judson Church in NYC and promises to be a blast, if you're in the area.

As a result of all the lantern mania, we've got !!!<>!!! lantern making workshops on the calendar - Saturday, February 6 - (adults only) Torch lights & Toddies in the sanctuary at Fleisher - hot toddys, music and **paper lantern making: the perfect night out. Then every Thursday in April at from 6 - 9, free! **paper lantern workshops in the gallery (which is also my studio) at the Center for Works on Paper building at Fleisher. (Christian St.) We'll be making a different type of lantern each week.

**But sorry, Charlie - you can't take them home until after the Parade on April 24th.

Also on the parade front - some really interesting folks are getting involved:

-Ben's Bells of Philly will be working with us - they make lovely clay chimes that we're hoping to incorporate into the procession.
-Zhang Sah Martial Artists will be marching with us in April - all age martial arts amazement. I'll be making a sculpture for them to interact with during the procession.
-Penn Du Re, a traditional Korean Poongmul percussion group will be performing with us.
-Sunrise Philadelphia and some of the members of Chinese Culture Club will be walking with us - some of the youngest members, in their white princess dresses.
-Several teachers at Fleisher are incorporating parade-related projects into their classes' curriculum.
-A few Sculpture or Performance classes at Tyler might be working with us, too. (fingers crossed.)
-Two incredible women - Nikki Verbitski and Amber Dorko-Stopper are collaborating with me on what promises to be one of the show stoppers of the procession. Nikki is hand dying and spinning raw wool into yarn, and Amber is knitting the yarn into a shawl for the 10 foot tall main character of the narrative, Huberta. Adding to the challenge is the caviat that within the story, the shawl is made for Huberta by woodland creatures. So Nikki and Amber are making decisions based on what the birds and squirrels would do...

As always, if you'd like to play some part in this ever-expanding adventure, or if you know someone I should be getting in touch with- local musicians, choir members, artists, step performers, makers of things, dreamers, electricians, good souls/soles, wire-benders, storytellers, wanderlusters - definitely drop me a line.