Made in Fort Point - We're getting there!

MIFP's Midway street door and installation in process...we're getting there!  

Photos © Kathy Chapman 2012

Dance Spot

Get your Groove on with artist Elisa Hamilton as she converts the streets of Fort Point into a community wide dance floor.  Elisa’s public art project is supported by the Fort Point Arts Community and will be on exhibit October 8- November 10^th. The project will consist of five Dance Spots prominently located throughout the Fort Point neighborhood. Each Dance Spot will have a colorful dance diagram drawn on the sidewalk illustrating a specific dance routine that pairs with a specific song, and signage that will direct the public to the Dance Spot, where YOU can learn how to do each of the five dances via video and see the Dance Spots in action. The website will also have links to Grooveshark and iTunes so that you can listen to and/or download the songs and do the dances with music accompaniment right there on the Dance Spots!  During Fort Point Open Studios weekend Elisa will be out on the sidewalk dance floors breaking it down with you!

FPAC:  Talk about combining so many great ideas to have a “sense” – ation!  Public Art, exercise, and sound – How did you plan this project to use so many ways to connect with the public?

EH: It actually all started with walking.  I am a huge advocate of walking, and one of the things that I love most about Boston is that is truly is a walking city.  I walk anywhere from two to five miles a day, and as a serious lover of music, when I walk I’m usually listening to my favorite tunes, bouncing my head and walking to the beat.  These great big city streets have always made me want to dance!!  And I thought, how cool would it be to have a spontaneous dance party right here on the sidewalks of Fort Point?!

The idea took off from there.  The artwork that I make is grounded in the belief that in our ordinary lives we are constantly surrounded by reasons to be joyful; I wanted hone in on the raw joy that dancing together evokes in us in a literally pedestrian way.

 At first the concept included only the sidewalk art portion- the footstep diagrams- but as I discussed the notion with friends it became intensely clear that an online element was essential to the project.  The performance and interactive aspect soon followed and it became this wonderful full bodied project that both thrilled and scared me at the same time.  I knew that I needed to bring it to Fort Point.

FPAC:  With a huge craze of flash mob/dance happening all over the world, did these events influence your work? 

EH: Strangely they did not.  I love the idea of flash mobs (although I have never had the pleasure of being involved with one or experiencing one!), but this project truly manifested in its own deliciously slowball-like way.  It manifested itself directly from my everyday experiences in my day to day routine.

FPAC:  Are you planning to document the experiences?  If yes, how?

Chalk materials for Dance Spot

EH: Most definitely!!  As the budget for this project is pretty modest, basically all of the documentation I am doing is via iPhone.  As a painter, this project is literally a crash course in technology for me, but I’m totally amazed at how easy it is to take a picture or video with my phone and literally show the world- so amazing!!  This project is very social media based in the sense that it is a great way to spread the word, and posting pictures and videos pertaining to the project is a great way to do that.  I want the public to know that they are the intended guests of this great big sidewalk dance party!!

FPAC:  What locations in Fort Point are you planning to create the Dance Spots?

 

EH: There are five different Dance Spots locations.  I chose the locations in a way that is designed to draw one coming from South Station into the sensational Fort Point neighborhood.  Three of the Spots are on Summer Street- Dance Spot #1 is on the bridge over the Channel, #2 and #3 are on either side of the bridge that goes over A Street.  The other two are on A Street; #4 across the street from the stairs down from Summer Street to A Street, and the last one, #5, will be at Binford Street and A Street in front of Barlow’s restaurant.

FPAC:  OKAY… Can you let us in on one of the songs that you are pairing with a Dance Spot?  - Did you listen to songs and then create steps or vice versa? 

EH: The songs definitely came first, and I choreographed the dances afterwards.  Selecting the right songs for Dance Spot was actually really hard!!  There are some great dance songs that are awesome at a club or in your living room, but weren’t quite right for this project.  The songs had to be pretty much immediately danceable, they had to be innately fun, and I also really wanted each Spot to have its own dance concept and feel- so I tried to choose songs that would appeal to the public in different ways.

Elisa as a tiny groove dancer!

The spot I’ll let you in on is Dance Spot #5 which is “Pon de Replay” by Rihanna.  Each Spot not only has its own dance concept but also its own difficulty level; this one is the hardest.  The concept for this dance I imagine to be a sort of double-dutch-dance-off.  The spot is made for two sets of feet facing each other, as well as a surrounding “freestyle” area for spectators.  My longtime friend Megan Fitzpatrick has always been one of my favorite dance partners and she’ll be doing this dance with me in performance.

FPAC:  Lastly, Who would you love catch dancing?  The Mayor?  

EH: I would love to dance with the Mayor!  Honestly though, my greatest hope is that this project will draw friends and strangers together in a really fun, enjoyable way.  I strive to create art that is accessible, beautiful, and joyful- and I hope that Dance Spot achieves that.

Buckys on the Channel

Photo by Barry Cronin

FPAC is catching up with Carol Bugarin who is not only exhibiting some fun and exciting floating art on the channel, but also making us think a bit about design and the great inventor himself, Buckminster Fuller.  Her work is supported by Friends of Fort Point Channel and the Fort Point Arts Community, and will be exhibited on the Fort Point Channel from October 7th to November 10th.  A great chance to catch her "floating art" and other works by local Fort Point artists is during the FPAC Fall Open Studios taking place October 19-21.

Buckys on the Channel - A Buckyball is nickname for a geometric shape called a truncated icosahedron. It has 32 faces made up of hexagons and pentagons. Richard Buckminster Fuller popularized this shape in his Geodesic domes and architecture. This shape universally appears in design, art, math, science, medicine, technology and play. 

FPAC:  What drew you to Buckminster Fuller’s design of the Geodesic Domes for your floating art project?

CB:  I had a book in high school which introduced me to Buckminster Fullers Geodesic Domes.  I was fascinated by the structure and how it held together without interior supports.  I liked the repetition of pattern and how these simple individual shapes of hexagons, pentagons and triangles were used to create a more complex structure.

FPAC:  What has been the hardest hurdle so far in constructing these geo-domes?

CB:  The hardest part was using a material that has never been used before to construct the Buckyballs.  There was a lot of experimentation but I finally landed on a fairly good combination of materials.  What gives the Buckyballs its shape is “tensegrity”.  This is the push and pull on an object to create a continuous tensile force stabilizing the structure.   Each piece of pool noodle has 2 zip ties through the middle that attaches to another zip tie in an opposite pool noodle.  When the zip ties are tightened up tensegrity takes over and forms a ball.

FPAC:  Clearly, you needed a material that floated and pool noodles are quite bendable.  Do think it ironic that this kids toy is re-creating a concept by one of America's greatest engineers and inventors?

Photo by Barry Cronin

CB:  No.  I believed that Buckminster Fuller enjoyed inventing, creating and playing through out his life.  I’m just using the pool noodle like another building material.

FPAC:  When the project is completed, how many pool noodles will you have gone through?

CB:  For this project I created a combination of seven true Buckyballs and nine additional geometric shapes called icosahedrons.  An icosahedron is a combination of 5 interconnecting pentagons and is the predecessor to the truncated icosahedron / Buckyball.  I have used over 500 pool noodles.  Each of the large Buckyballs has 270 pieces.  The size of the ball determines how many pieces I can get out of one, 56 inch pool noodle.

FPAC:  Why do some of the Buckyballs look like they are made up from triangles?

CB:  This is called “stellation”  Which means dividing the pentagon and hexagon shapes in a star pattern.  This triangulation gives the structure more stability.  The pentagons and hexagons are still there you just have to look harder.

FPAC:  What do you hope the public will learn from your project?

CB:  I’m not sure that they need to learn anything.  I just hope they find it fun and enjoyable to look at.  I always like to see art in unexpected places.  That’s why I have enjoyed the floating art over the years on the Fort Point Channel.  I feel honored to be selected to create the floating art this fall.

Photo by Barry Cronin

 FPAC:  Lastly, we want to see if you "get down" with futurism - Do you, like Bucky, have a belief of Ephemeralization -  the ability of technological advancement to do "more and more with less and less until eventually you can do everything with nothing".

CB:  I don’t know about that but I do believe in what Buckminster Fuller has engraved on his headstone, “Call me Trim Tab”.  A trim tab is a small connector attached to a larger piece and with the slightest of movement can create an exponential effect on something bigger than itself.  Small changes can make big differences.

Floating art is sponsored by generous support of The Friends of Fort Point Channel, a nonprofit organization committed to making the Fort Point Channel an exciting and welcoming destination for all of Boston’s residents, workforce and visitors.  

MIFP Re-Opens October 9!

 Made in Fort Point

 The FPAC Store re-opens October 9, 2012

New location: 30 Channel Center Street, Boston, MA 02210

(617) 423-1100  http://www.fortpointarts.org/shop/

Exterior and street view photos © Kathy Chapman 2012

FPAC Member Liliana Folta Exhibits New Work at Amazing Things Arts Center - Framingham

Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham presents 

Latin American artist Liliana Folta art show.

“Army of Seeds” 

The exhibit is a selection of early and new art works that includes paintings and contemporary ceramic sculptures as well as a mixed media installation in collaboration with Mike Vickers in light effect and Gustavo Jiménez with experimental sound.

Folta was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her art works are representation of her life.

The process of the work is spontaneous - what her subconscious has been saving in her bank of memories, throughout life and the happening of the moment.

Curated by Olga Shmuylovich

Exhibit opens September 28 – October 28, 2012

Opening reception: October 4 – from 7 pm to 9 pm

160 Hollis St, Framingham, MA 01701

Hours: Tue-Sat 12-6; Sun 2-6

Fall Open Studios!

FPAC’s 34th Annual Open Studios takes place October 19-21, 2012
Friday October 19: 4:00-7:00pm

Saturday & Sunday October 20th & 21st: 12:00-6:00pm

150 artists studios will be open!
Open Studios Events are FREE to the public, 
with FREE PARKING
 in the Central Parking Lot on Binford Street off of A Streetthanks to Gillette/P&G and Central Parking for free parking.

Explore the historic waterfront warehouses that are home to painters, sculptors, ceramicists, jewelers, performance artists, fashion designers, printmakers, book artists, photographers, and more. Meet local artists and craftspeople, and get a behind the scenes look at where Boston artists create their work.  Find established artists, and discover new emerging talents. Stroll, ponder, and browse. Buy original art from the people who make it.  Visitors to Open Studios can explore 10 buildings in the Fort Point neighborhood, plus galleries and creative design shops. All buildings are in easy walking distance of each other.  In addition to the more than 150 artists studios and galleries which will be open.  Open Studios also features a series of special events including artists’ demonstrations, hands-on activities, and performances.

Check back soon to read about artist participating in Open Studios! 

MIFP moving soon!

FPAC's store at 12 Farnsworth Street is closing its doors this Friday August 31st at 6pm. We will be reopening October 1st at our new location:30 Channel Center Streetat the corner of A and Mt. Washington, just next to Barlow's Restaurant.It's just a short walk away, with plenty of metered parking on A Street, and 15 minute pickup and drop off parking on Channel Center Street.

FPAC would like to give a huge, heartfelt THANK YOU to Berkeley Investments, who gave us the space to grow and develop these past three and a half years. 

And thank you to Commonwealth Ventures, the owners of Channel Center, who are supporting us as we move forward. We are excited to help activate the retail streetscape of Channel Center and lower A Street, joining Barlow's, Mrs B's, Front, James Patrick Salon, and soon, Internal Matter.

During our three and a half years at 12 Farnsworth Street, Made in Fort Point has generated over $275,000 of income for local artists. Equally important, we have forged new relationships and collaborations among artists, and made many new connections with area businesses and residents. We can't wait to see what our new location brings.