ArtsKC Inspiration Grant: Letter of Inquiry Bite: Multi-Media Installation and Collaborative Performance Designed and Produced By: Stacy Busch
Total Projected Cost: The total projected cost of the production Bite is $5,700. Other Artists Involved: KC VITAs Chamber Choir- Six soloists from the choir will act as both vocal performers and performance artists. Dancer 1- Performance artist Dancer 2- Performance artist Jackson Thomas- Founder and choral conductor of KC VITAs Chamber Choir chose the six soloists and will run all music rehearsals with the vocalists. Cody Kauhl- Audio technician and video documentation Amber Cathcart- Installation assistant. She assists me in all planning and building of the installation. Activity Dates: Bite will be performed on Thursday, September 15th at 7:30pm. There will be dress rehearsals September 12th-14th. Location of Project: Jackson County, MO Project Description and Use of Grant Funds: Bite is a concert event that functions as a cross between a maze-like installation and a new music concert that takes the audience through a journey of self-abandonment and discovery. It is a bizarrely sympathetic yet estranged experience of awakening. The concept is to create a space in which activity can entirely surround the audience. By placing the audience “inside� the activity, there is nothing to directly watch onstage. In this way, each audience member becomes
a protagonist as opposed to viewing a character outside of themselves. It is an attempt to move people more fully inside of their own bodies and minds. This idea to move people inside of themselves, allowing them to better experience and appreciate the present moment, particularly expresses my personal struggle with drug and alcohol addiction, bipolar disorder, and sexual orientation. It is the impetus for creating something that moves from isolation to inclusion. The space is manipulated using ten, 12-foot-tall wooden beams that extend upwards from the floor. Swats for the audience are placed individually, facing different directions and randomly distributed among the beams. The placement of the beams elicits a feeling of questioning and uncertainty in the space. There are six spotlights pointed upward within Plexiglas boxes that are discreetly interspersed throughout the space. Vocalists and dancers move onto boxes which trigger a spotlight. These movements are choreographed and designed to reinforce the emotional journey portrayed musically. The wooden beams and walls utilize 3D projection. The projected video uses only variations of color and nothing representational. These changes in color correlate to the changing of mood, character, and emotion as well as appearing to further alter the space. The sound and music are created by a group of vocal soloists who will be playing percussion instruments, along with fixed electronics. Percussion instruments include a kick drum, tom toms, and a snare drum. These soloists will move through and around the space in darkness, appearing sporadically through cued lighting. So the surround sound is created, in some ways, more by the live performers than by the placement of speakers. The concert is one continuous event; it is not broken into movements, separate pieces or intermission. I will use the $2,200 from the Inspiration Grant to pay for the lighting and installation equipment as well as the fee for the installation assistant, Amber Cathcart.
Advancement of Professional Development: In this project, I am continuing along the artistic path of my previous work, though I am adding considerably more technical and logistical aspects that further enhance the overarching conceptual goal. For example, my last two projects have been through the grant funded, experimental concert series ArtSounds. Concerts on this series must be at the KCAI Epperson House. After completing two projects here, I feel that I have exhausted the spatial possibilities and also wish to reach a more diverse audience. Designing and showing Bite pushes my artistic abilities just as extensively as it increases my managerial skill sets. I am developing a better understanding of marketing tactics, operational duties, and location acquisition. My artistic ability is stretched beyond what I have previously accomplished since I am gaining fluency in techniques like projection mapping and more fully-realized concepts attained via installation. Bite provides valuable training for future work with installation and multi-media and also launches my career forward through what it accomplishes artistically. The people that I have met while designing this project are invaluable resources and will continue to be important artistic contacts throughout my career. The project will expand all facets of my career and enlarge the breadth of my creativity. Local Community Impact: Bite incorporates a historical monument of the city while creating a new artistic statement within it. It extends a hand to community members that do not consider themselves within the artistic scene because the concept is emotionally relatable and not overtly intellectual. It gives voice to important issues like addiction awareness and social equality without heavy handed directness. It is distinct among other artistic events and utilizes an array of creative mediums and artists. In this way, Bite fosters greater artistic inspiration, connectivity and collaboration.