Author: dlectricity

Make a wire-car and cruise with them for DLECTRICITY on September 22-23, 2017! The Wire-car Auto Workers Association (WAWAD) is running workshops every Sunday till September 3, 2017 at the Zimbabwe Cultural Centre of Detroit. They will show you how to make your dream car out of wire, style it up and cruise with them.

Please bring any pliers you have, work gloves, safety glasses and the basic wire:
1. 100 ft. Plastic-Coated Galvanized Wire ($8.98 at HomeDepot)
2. a spool of 16-20 gauge wire.
3. workclothes.
4. Images or drawings of your dream car! (A sketch book with a pen or pencil is a good idea)

They will provide strong 9 gauge wire for the, axels, shaft and bottom outline of your car, as well as rubber for the wheels. Make your body and they will help you build the wheels for you,

Upcoming Workshops:
Aug 13, Aug 20, Aug 27, and September 3 | Each day from 2:00-5:00 p.m.

The Zimbabwe Cultural Centre of Detroit is located at:
3341 Cody St
Hamtramck, MI 48212

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The Wire-Car Auto Workers Association of Detroit (WAWAD) is an organization that hosts workshops to teach people how to make toy cars out of wire, a tradition that founder Chido Johnson learned while growing up in Africa. Woodward Avenue is where the first cars ever cruised, so after moving to Detroit, Johnson felt inspired to bring the wire-car, inspired by the presence of American cars in Africa, back to the very road where the whole industry began.

After becoming a 2009 Kresge Artist Fellow in the visual arts, Johnson began holding workshops to teach people how to craft their own wire-cars, sharing the tradition with a wider audience. Since then, WAWAD has held many workshops and cruises in communities in and around metro Detroit. Most recently, they cruised as part of Detroit’s Marche du Nain Rouge in March of this year.

WAWAD aims to bridge the gap between cultures and bring people together to make a connection. We are so excited to host a wire-car cruise during Dlectricity, set to take place outside the Detroit Institute of Arts Farnsworth entrance.

If you can’t make it to one of their workshops, check out the information on the WAWAD website for guidance on how to craft a wire-car on your own here.

Thanks again to the Detroit Institute of Arts for hosting this project and WAWAD for hosting these workshops—we can’t wait to see everyone cruise!

Martin Creed’s piece “Work No. 790: EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT” (2007) will return to the façade of MOCAD for Dlectricity 2017!

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of MOCAD’s founding. The first time the piece was shown, as part of one of MOCAD’s earliest exhibitions in 2007, it reminded people to stay positive despite the negative perceptions of the city. Now, brought back as part of Dlectricity, the sign celebrates Detroit’s thriving art community and looks forward to the future with hope.

Martin Creed is a globally renowned artist based in London who won the Turner Prize in 2001. “EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT” has been shown in locations around the world and will remain on the façade of MOCAD after the end of Dlectricity.

If you happen to be in Europe, there are plenty of opportunities to see Creed’s work in action this summer. Be sure to catch him at the Edinburgh International Festival putting on live performances August 4-28, or check out Creed’s permanent installation on the Scotsman Steps in Edinburgh, a restoration and public art piece.

Between now and May 2018, see his sculpture “Work No. 2814” on display in a tree at the corner of Bishopsgate and Wormwood Street in London as part of London Sculpture in the City 2017.

He will also be performing as part of CHART Art Fair, opening September 1 in Copenhagen.

Support for this facade installation is generously provided by the Applebaum Family Compass Fund, the A. Alfred Taubman Foundation, Spectrum Neon, and Gavin Brown’s enterprise.

Check out this interview with Creed about his residency at the Edinburgh International Festival here and here.

Check out MOCAD’s press release about the return of Creed’s piece here.

Check out Creed in his own words here.

D MET Design returns for a third Dlectricity!

“{The Amazing!} House of Fog: il Cinema Nebbiosio,” brings the fun-house to the 21st century using light and technology. Inspired by amusement park attractions from a time when electric light and motion pictures were things of wonder, “{The Amazing!} House of Fog” is intended for people of all ages to enjoy the beauty and miracle of technology.

Led by husband and wife team Joel Schmidt and Liz Skrisson, D MET has won awards for their home, commercial office and retail interior design. Schmidt also works as a lecturer in Architecture at the University of Michigan, and Skrisson is LEED accredited in Building Design and Construction.

You can see their award-winning design and architecture work on display around the city. Check it out at 4130 Cass Avenue (exterior architecture and interior architecture of La Feria Spanish Tapas), Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co. (architecture, interior design, furniture design), and Canine to Five Doggy Daycare (façade renovation).

You may remember their projects “Mike Teavee: ‘Am I coming in Clear?’” from Dlectricity 2014 and “Frontier Town: A Tent Camp for Children in the Urban Wild” from 2012.

D MET’s project will be located in the family-friendly “Electric Park” zone on the lawn of the Detroit Institute of Arts at Woodward and Kirby. Thank you so much to the DIA for hosting this project! Other projects in “Electric Park” include Carrie Morris’ “The Shadow Puppet Circus Sideshow” and Arts & Scraps’ “Light as a Shadow.”

Check out an interview with Joel and Liz from Dlectricity 2014 here!

Klip Collective is a Philadelphia-based experiential art collective that works to combine live-action narrative with visual projection. They create interactive, experiential and virtual reality experiences.

Some of their recent art commissions include trailers for the Sundance Film Festival and a residency at BOK, a technical-school-turned-creative-hub in Philadelphia. Klip also created a 3D mapping installation at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA spreading over the landscape and leading viewers on an immersive journey. Check it out here, and pictured at left! Check out another Klip 3D mapping project from 2015 at Philadelphia City Hall here.

This year, the collective has been featured in Entrepreneur and The Philadelphia Inquirer for their work in virtual reality with Honeygrow, a restaurant using a Klip-designed program to train new employees.

Combining technology and art in an elegant way, Klip Collective is a natural fit for Dlectricity. Their project “The Librarian” will bring a parable for the Information Age, an interactive story projected onto the façade of the Detroit Public Library about a chaotic shift for a librarian that unfolds for observers through x-ray viewers.

Be sure to stop by and check out the relief wall they created on view at the House Industries exhibit at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, through September 4! By scanning pages from the exhibition catalogue (they also designed the bracing pattern on the cover), they were able to projection map the content onto the wall. If you can’t make it there, check it out on the project on Instagram as well, @klipcollective.

Thanks so much to the Detroit Public Library for hosting this project!

Jasmine Murrell is coming to Dlectricity 2017, and she is definitely someone to keep your eye on right now. A native Detroiter, Murrell participated in a group show at Detroit Artists Market in January of this year. In February, she was named one of Time’s “12 African American Photographers to Follow Right Now.” In March, she participated in New York’s all-woman “Whitney Houston Biennial,” a salon-style show that is an alternative to the Whitney Biennial and contemporary art survey shows that overwhelmingly represent male artists. Murrell currently has work on view in the Bronx Museum’s “Bronx Calling: The Fourth AIM Biennial.”

“Ancient Future,” one of the works Murrell is bringing to Dlectricity 2017, is inspired by the indestructible spirit of the black body despite trauma, subjugation and historical erasure. Shedding a light on ancient hair forms through contemporary light-activated headdresses, the pieces will be used during scheduled performances and then viewers will have the chance to try the headdresses on themselves.

“Immortal Uterus,” Murrell’s other work, takes its name and inspiration from the story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American sharecropper whose cervical cancer cells were stolen and used for research that led to the first polio vaccine and countless other medical breakthroughs. Her cells created a multibillion dollar industry and saved millions of lives, yet she and her family received no compensation or recognition.

A vast sculpture made of yards of nameless VHS film, “Immortal Uterus” is intended to replicate both the anonymity and scale of the contributions Lacks made to modern medicine. The anonymous, massive black womb envelops viewers up entry as if passing into another world. A sound is emitted inside the installation, created to constantly multiply and crescendo to infinity, just like Lacks’ cells.

Murrell’s work will be on display at the N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art. Thanks so much to the N’Namdi Center for hosting this awesome project!

Check out a questionnaire with Jasmine Murrell here

 

The Dlectricity Light Bike Parade is back on September 23 @ dark/around 8pm!

A parade of riders, a mobile art installation, a 4-mile ride through Midtown Detroit FREE to the public, and a show of light bike artistry for everyone to enjoy—the Light Bike Parade is one of the highlights of Dlectricity and your opportunity to be part of art in motion.

The parade starts on the campus of Wayne State University, winding its way through Midtown where the public will line the streets and enjoy the light show.

Start planning your bike light decorations now—our judges will select the best decorations in these categories, with PRIZES for the winners:

• Most Creative Adult Bike Light Display
• Most Artistic Bike Light Display
• Most Creative Youth Bike Display (under 12)
• Most Unique Bicycle Helmet Decoration
• Best Team Themed Bike Light Exhibit (between 4-6 bikes)
• Most Original Family Bike Light Exhibit (Adult/Kids)

Come with your bike already illuminated, or grab a limited light kit the day of the ride (available to those who pre-register and on a first-come, first-served basis).

In 2014 we had over 1,500+ bikes participate in the parade—we expect similar numbers this year.

Please register officially online at EventBrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2017-dlectricity-light-bike-parade-rolling-light-exhibit-registration-34550527558

On-site registration begins at 6:00pm. The staging area is Wayne State University’s Gullen Mall. The route is not yet finalized, but the parade will begin when it gets dark, around 8:00pm.

The Dlectricity Light Bike Parade is sponsored by Shinola Detroit and Wheelhouse Detroit.

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Interested in volunteering for the Light Bike Parade?

We have a number of positions to cover, including:

• Bike Parade Set Up/Clean Up: Assist with set up for bike parade registration and clean up of bike parade start location once ride commences.
• Registration/Check-In: Registration check-in and light kit distribution.
• Info Booth/ Participant Support: Interact with riders as they prepare and wait for the ride to commence. Provide answers to any questions, help with decorations, and get riders lined up once decorated.
• Ride Monitors: Ride with parade to keep speeds down, as well as check and assist with any safety issues.
• Route Street Monitors: Support riders crossing at key intersection and assist riders in maintaining a flow within the group.
• Parade Clean-Up: Follow parade route and assist with pick-up of debris left along the route.

To sign up or for more information, please email or call:

[email protected] | (313) 420-6000

Carrie Morris is a Detroit-based director and performance artist. Combining puppetry, multimedia and experimental theater, her work has been seen in a variety of places such as the New York International Fringe Festival, the Athens Museum of Art, Seattle’s Annex Theater and as a guest artist with the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra. Morris served as Program Manager of Puppetry and Performing Arts at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA)from 2011-2015.

Morris currently serves as artistic director of Carrie Morris Arts Production (CMAP), a venue for puppet and performance works in Detroit (www.carriemorris.com). CMAP is situated in Banglatown, on the border of Detroit and Hamtramck. The space hosts other Michigan artists as well as shows from around the Midwest, and Morris curates a free outdoor summer show series.

For her part as a director, Morris creates experiences through theater and puppetry that contextualize the space we inhabit and the wider world. Morris works hard to refute the idea that puppetry is just for children and focuses on producing stories that resonate. She was the recipient of a Fulbright grant in performance art for her work in multimedia shadow puppetry in Solo, Indonesia.

A detailed profile on Morris: http://springboardexchange.org/carriemorris/

For Dlectricity 2017, Morris’ project “The Shadow Puppet Circus Sideshow” will use light and overhead projectors to project hand-cut silhouettes with Detroit-inspired sideshow characters onto carnival cutout displays. The interactive project is part of the family-friendly “Electric Park” zone of Dlectricity 2017, to be located on the grounds of the DIA at Woodward and Kirby.

Tonight, CMAP is hosting Detroit PuppetSLAM, a collection of new puppet works and works-in-progress by artists and puppeteers, [JULY 28] at 8pm at 2221 Carpenter St, Detroit. Detroit PuppetSLAM will close out the CMAP 2017 Outdoor Summer Series. Carrie Morris and CMAP create a part of the Detroit art scene unlike anything else—so don’t miss the chance to see them in action! For more info about the Detroit PupperSLAM, check out:

http://www.broadwayworld.com/detroit/article/2017-Outdoor-Summer-Series-Welcomes-The-Detroit-PuppetSLAM-20170720

Thanks to VTC Insurance Group for their support of Morris’ The Shadow Puppet Circus Sideshow!

Cooper Holoweski returns to his Detroit roots for a second Dlectricity!

In 2014, Cooper screened his project “Katabasis,” a 40-minute video landscape accompanied by audio that explores themes of death and rebirth. Since then, he has been the recipient of a Lower East Side Printshop Keyholder Residency and a Clocktower Gallery Media Art Residency (both in 2015).

Holoweski released a series of prints, “Recent Antiquities,” in 2016. Printed and published by Holoweski at the Lower East Side Printshop, he won the May/June 2017 Prix de Print in Art in Print.

Holoweski will be presenting “As Above, So Below” this year at Dlectricity, a two-channel video installation that draws on the concept of macrocosm and microcosm. Using materials such as aluminum foil, coffee grounds and Styrofoam, Holoweski compares the commonplace and the divine.

Concurrent with Dlectricity, Holoweski’s work will be shown in a solo exhibition at the College for Creative Studies’ Center Galleries. Cooper Holoweski: Basement Cosmos is a multimedia installation using everyday objects to explore the relationship between human beings and space.

“This dynamic exhibition of Cooper Holoweski’s new video work at CCS will compliment his DLECTRICITY project and give viewers an even deeper immersion into his explorations of the universe and humankind,” said Michelle Perron, director of Center Galleries and Dlectricity Curatorial Committee member. Basement Cosmos opens at the Center Galleries September 16 and runs through October 21—be sure to check it out! (301 Frederick Douglass, Detroit, MI 48202)

Holoweski’s work will be on view on the Detroit Institute of Arts John R façade at Kirby—thanks again to the DIA for hosting this project!

Check out a Space Gallery interview with Holoweski about his work here!

Check out his website here!

Detroit-based duo Cuppetelli + Mendoza return to Dlectricity 2017! Annica Cuppetelli and Cristobal Mendoza began working together in the fall of 2010. For Dlectricity 2012, they created a site-specific interactive installation, “Notional Field,” that reacted to a viewer’s motion through light projected onto strings. Since then, Cuppetelli + Mendoza received a 2013 ARCADI grant towards the production of new work in Paris, France, as well as working as 2015 Kresge Arts in Detroit Visual Arts Fellows.

This year, Cuppetelli + Mendoza are collaborating with Detroit-based musician Shigeto to bring time-based sculpture “in::Sequence” to Dlectricity 2017. The work is a participative installation that uses cyclic video projected onto a sculpture made of tulle and a synchronized soundtrack that allows viewers to assume a contemplative state.

“in::Sequence” was also presented at the Red Bull House of Art in May as part of Movement 2017. Check out photos of the project here!

“in:Sequence” will be installed on the grounds of Wayne State University, at the corner of Woodward and Warren. Thank you so much to Wayne State for hosting this awesome project!

Welcome back Cuppetelli + Mendoza!

We are so excited to welcome Laura Heit to Dlectricity 2017! Laura is bringing her project “Hypothetical Stars” to the DIA at Woodward and Farnsworth.

Originally commissioned by Richard Herskowitz for the 2015 Houston Cinema Arts Festival, the piece uses actual 16mm footage taken during the Apollo 12 mission, tabletop dioramas and animated projections to craft a hypothetical universe. The Apollo 12 mission was after the moon landing and the first mission to bring a color TV camera. The piece is also supported in part by an Oregon Arts Commission Career Opportunity Grant.

“This piece asks us to consider a new view of that which we cannot see with the naked eye, where images sent back from the outer reaches are not seen as scientific truth but as deeply connected to our collective curiosity,” per Heit’s project description. Thank you so much to the DIA for hosting this amazing project!

In 2016, Heit had a 2-part show of her films and animation work at Boise Art Museum. This year, she had a solo show at the Center for Contemporary Art & Culture at PNCA in Portland.

Check out an interview with Heit from 2016 here

Check out more of her film and animation work here

Check out a video of her “Hypothetical Stars” project here