Siren Arts Summer Series Continues On Second Ave Beach
Philly-based Artist Jane Carver Will Presents We, The Creature Performance Art Piece
Siren Arts’ Into The Mystic summer art series continues 7:15 pm tonight [July 18] on the Second Avenue beach in Asbury Park.
Curated by Victoria Reis, executive and artistic director of Transformer – a 17-year-old DC-based visual arts’ non-profit, Siren Arts is the local expansion of their mission to connect and promote emerging urban visual artists. Reis, an Ocean Township native who runs Transformer from her Neptune home, offers a weeklong ‘micro-residency’ to artists from DC, Philadelphia, Newark, and New York.
The artists are provided housing at The Asbury and funding for their ‘micro-residency’ at the beach. The funding support is made possible by The Andy Warhol and CrossCurrents foundations, the series is supported locally by Monmouth Arts, the Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County, Salt Hotels [and The Asbury] and Danny Clinch Transparent Gallery.
With Into the Mystic, artists reflect on just how the sea moves us physically, spiritually, and emotionally, Reis said.
This time around, Philadelphia-based artist Jane Carver will be presenting We, The Creature, a performance art installation based on the summer series theme.
“It has been a delight to be here,” said Carver, who was a part of Reis 2014 Promised Land show in Asbury Park. “It’s really beautiful and nice to get out of the city.
“I thought a lot about my first time visiting Asbury Park and my participation in Promised Land, which was a piece on the two shipwrecks that occurred offshore. It had me thinking about big objects, then I went right to sea monsters and how there are no common sightings and how mystical creatures elicit fear and dread but also an understanding of something that is otherwise unknown,” she said.
“That brought me to ancient stories about Andromeda, the most prominent myth about one being left on the shore as an offering for a sea monster to save a village,” she said. “Then I started thinking about the village being willing to deliver a young person or a child to this terrifying force and I wanted to make my work about that. We, The creature became an opportunity to examine what we are really afraid of, what are we trying to appease, and really what is our responsibility as a community.”
We, The Creature will be supported by Adaeze Cynthia Nwoko and Hannah Wolff, founders of the Hestia Theatre Company, an original theatre company, based in Philadelphia, that focuses through the lens of the marginalized, Reis said. Hestia is the Goddess of the Hearth and Home, but more importantly, she is the personification of intimacy and inclusion.
“It’s been really exciting to spend time with Jane this week and see how she has been evolving the piece she will be presenting,” Reis said. “It’s also very gratifying for me to hear that having this time outside of the city and urban life has given her a chance to really relax and focus on her artwork.”
In the end, Carver said she’s written an impressionist piece for a solo voice and accordion. The piece delves into the monster’s point of view and compassion.
“In terms of concepts, one is perceptions – the idea of the monster’s eye is really important. I was interested in being seen by the monster,” she said. “The other is compassion – the emerging shifts in our perception about sea creatures is that we are able to see the damage we are able to do to the creature’s habitat.
“Compassion is necessary if we ourselves want to survive in terms of creating a habitat that is conducive to life,” Carver said. “Where do our compassions lie in a process like that — climate change, migrations, and what it means to provide homes for people, and to be open so that everyone is able to have a home and be safe.”
The free 7:15 pm Thursday performance art exhibits are approximately 40 minutes in length, Reis said. Participants are encouraged to bring beach towels, blankets and/or chairs. In the event of rain, performances will move to The Asbury lobby, located at 210 Fifth Avenue. Rain location shifts will be called at 5 pm on the performance day.
For up to date information follow Siren Arts via Instagram @sirenartsap. For more about the weekly exhibits, visit transformerdc.org.
[Photos courtesy of Siren Arts from their 6 pm Tuesday Meet the Artist cocktail hours being held weekly at Danny Clinch Transparent Gallery]
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