Public art in many striking permutations takes over the Castleberry Hill loft-warehouse district on the southern edge of downtown Atlanta on Friday during Flux 2011. Thirty-four projects by 219 artists include projections, dance, theater, music, multimedia, sound and light installations, parades, puppetry and iron pours. Tie on your walking shoes and check out creations including ...
The Collective Project, "The Hunt": Combining ensemble theater with audience interaction, 10 performers will roam Walker Street dressed in different interpretations of "the hunt": a businessman late for a meeting, an artist seeking his muse, a preacher looking for God. Each has lost his way and will engage with audience members and other Flux projects as they seek to find "it." Periodically the performers will converge on one of three stages for quick, 10-minute scenes.
Monica Cook, "Volley": A sound-activated, interactive animation (stop motion, claymation) that will explore human-animal interaction, anthropomorphism and other issues. The animation will be activated by the sound of the audience's applause, but when something onscreen appears slightly questionable, viewers must decide to continue or stop applauding. Co-sponsored by Atlanta Celebrates Photography.
Jeff Demetriou and Fake Love, "Homesick": A site specific, multimedia installation playing on the walls of a four-story building shell that chronicles the birth and destruction of the environment as told from the standpoint of nature. The project includes a seven-minute 3D projection (40-feet-tall-by-65-feet wide) and a soundtrack that sounds like it's coming from deep space.
Jane Garver, "Voice Box": A series of 20 glowing boxes that play recordings of people from across Atlanta singing. Each participant chose his/her own song; together they create a sound map of the city.
gloATL, "Livers": A new "migratory" work, starting at the Peters Street Bridge at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., that's described as a "contemporary physical experience on a theme of endurance." "Livers" references a species' primitive traits and innate migration patterns in order to arrive at a home or destination.
Katy Malone and Claire Paul, "Resonate": Explores what the artists term "vibrations of the past." Castleberry Hill was once a Cherokee settlement site, and based upon the tribe's burial rituals, this sculptural installation will expose the layers beneath the neighborhood as if the past was resonating from the core. The dugout form in the earth will glow with a low light, accompanied by music recorded on a traditional Cherokee river cane flute.
Deanna Sirlin, "The Days of Awe": For this project, which draws its title from the 10 days between the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Sirlin has invited residents to participate by allowing a colored film to be hung in their windows. The lights in their homes will add a golden glow throughout the neighborhood befitting this time of reflection.
Patrick Toups and Dan Timms, "Dashuhua": Fireworks are created by throwing molten iron against a wall, a Chinese tradition dating to 13th century Hebei Province. Beginning at midnight in the parking lot behind Elliott Street Pub, the iron fireworks exploding on a 30-foot-square wall will celebrate the end of the evening's festivities.
Event preview
Flux 2011
8 p.m.-midnight Friday. Castleberry Hill neighborhood, just southwest of downtown Atlanta. Free. While paid parking is available, Flux encourages visitors to take MARTA to the Georgia Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center station (on the East-West line), less than a half-mile walk to the entrance. A map is available at www.fluxprojects.org.
