photo: affinity
photo: affinity

photo: Thomas Pontailler

photo: Thomas Pontailler

photo: Thomas Pontailler
photo: Extramatic
photo: Extramatic

photos: Rob Schober of Dan Frazier SchoberRob @Netscape.net  (SchoberRob @Netscape.net)  

photos: Rob Schober of Dan Frazier SchoberRob @Netscape.net  (SchoberRob @Netscape.net)  

We stopped by the opening of the MEDIATE Art Group’s highly anticipated Illuminated Forest last week at The Lab in San Francisco. We met a few photographers while we were there and they were each kind enough to send us a few photos. I really enjoyed seeing each of them express a different point of view about the installations. Especially since many of th installations were activated by the viewer making sounds.

This Black Rock Arts Foundation supported exhibition features an artist-imagined multimedia environment by Agnes Szelag, Ben Bracken, Jorge Bachman and Alan So in which viewers activate both visual and auditory sensations. The installation includes environmental pieces by Suzanne Husky, Jessica Resmond, Reenie Charriere, Vaughn Bell, Alyce Santoro, Sam Easterson and Elin Oyen Vister.

This experiential exhibit actively reminds people that what we do has impact: on our own lives, on others, and the world around us, both in the present and the future. The Forest will host experiential performances by some of the most compelling local, national and international artists and musicians.

Visit Illuminated Forest!
Gallery hours, July 9 – August 13, 2010, Wednesday – Saturday, 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm
The Lab, 2948 16th Street
San Francisco, CA

Illuminated Forest is part of Project>Soundwave’s fourth season,
entitled GREEN SOUND, that began June 6 and runs to August 13.

the lab-illuminated forest exhibit
Originally uploaded by pagedesign

This is a shot of the main area of the exhibit and it provides a feeling of the mystery of the lights and trees surrounding us.

the lab-illuminated forest exhibit
Originally uploaded by pagedesign

One of the exhibits from the Illuminated Forest Opening last night This installation created the illusion of being able to see into a mole’s burrow.

Last night was the San Francisco opening of “Illuminated Forest”, the only 2010 grant recipient that was located in San Francisco.

To read more about the installation:

http://blackrockarts.blogspot.com/2010/06/illuminated-forest.html

The Hawthorne 100 created by Tucker Teutsch and the PDX Bridge Festival Portland, Oregon is one of our 2010 Grant recipients.

The Hawthorne 100 was created to celebrate the centennial of the nation’s oldest working vertical lift bridge, this project turns the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, OR into a kinetic art installation. A solar-powered lighting display, installed for the duration of the festival, makes use of interactive elements to transform the bridge’s traffic into a catalyst for moving light. For one hour on the night of Saturday, July 31, the Hawthorne Bridge will raise to reveal a projection screen stretched across the displaced area of the lift span. The screen provides a framework to give a visual tour of Portland—who we are, where we’ve come from, and where we’re going—using gathered media from the last 100 years, text-based interactions from our audience, and captured images from the event. This display, produced in conjunction with a free concert on the Morrison Bridge, will be visible from neighboring bridges, both banks of the river, and downtown buildings. The Hawthorne Bridge Centennial Project will be a spectacle to remember! Estimated audience: 40,000+

Opening event

“Hit the lights!”
Where: Hawthorne Bridge
When: July 24 – August 7, 2010
What: “Hit the Lights” on July 24th at 10:00 p.m. is the opening for the lighting and fabric installation on the Hawthorne Bridge, possibly the largest art installation in Portland history. The lights make use of programmable and environmentally-aware lighting technology to interact with the nightly vehicle and bike traffic on the bridge. The lights accentuate 60 panels of fabric installed in the bridge trusses and lift towers, turning the structure into a wash of color and moving light and marking the rhythm of commuter traffic as it moves across the bridge. The installation will be visible for the 15 days of the festival, but there will be a ceremonial opening night event—when we “hit the lights!”

Starting this week Controlled Burn spun fire to the World Beats provided by DJ Source in downtown Reno where Duel Nature (Burning Man 2006 honorarium) by Kate Raudenbush is currently on exhibit. A crowd of about 300 people enjoyed a variety of fire spinners from 8:30 – 10 pm. As part of ARTown’s month long festivities they will perform every Tuesday in July. Bohohoops and Velocity Movement will have a Hoop Jam on Wednesdays throughout the month.
All posts about Duel Nature

Photos:
Controlled Burn – Bill Kositzky
Hoop Jam: Larry DeVincenzi

Before FIGMENT this year we told you about one of the Black Rock Arts Foundation’s 2010 grant recipients 1000 Pieces. They sent us some photos and an update and we thought you might like to hear what they had to say:

I wanted to send you over a few shots of the project at Figment. I’d say it was a huge success for our collective! It is arguably the most participatory project we’ve done to date, and it was amazing to work with the kids in the schools. I hope we can keep on creating more community building projects. It really adds a lot to the sense of fulfillment that we feel when we make our art.

I want to take this opportunity to, again, thank you and everyone at BRAF for your support. It is an honor to be working with you guys. Please pass that on, on behalf of all of Animus.

Prior Post and Video About 1000 Pieces

Friends of the Black Rock Arts Foundation put on a fundraiser last week at Engineered Artworks. We have told you that we are bringing the Raygun Gothic Rocketship to Pier 14 on the Embarcadero in San Franciso, it will be known as the Rocket Stop. Thanks to the generosity of Chad Lester (the organizer of the fundraiser), Steve Schimmel and April Buchheit for hosting this event and to the artists Nathaniel Taylor, Sean Orlando, David Shulman and Alan Rorie for letting us visit the Rocketship. We had a great time. Chad Lester, Drea Lester, Paul Buchheit, April Buchheit, Jennifer Schimmel, Steve Schimmel
David Shulman, Tomas McCabe and Sean Orlando April and Paul Buchheit Steve, April, Jennifer and Paul enjoying the rocketship Doug Edwards, his son Nathaniel and his friend Olivia Drea and Chad Lester Barry Kendall, Sean Orlando, Alan Rorie and Mirit Cohen Peter Norvig, Alan Rorie and Mirit Cohen Tomas McCabe, Sean Orlando, Steven Raspa, Nathaniel Taylor and Crimson Rose David Shulman and Alix Rosenthal
Keith and Katie Randall
Loren and Rachel Carpenter
April Buchheit looking like a Flash Gordon Girl
Sunny and Nathaniel Taylor

All posts regarding the Rocket Stop

MEDIATE Art Group’s highly anticipated Illuminated Forest opens July 9th and runs to August 7th at The Lab in San Francisco. This Black Rock Arts Foundation supported exhibition features an artist-imagined multimedia environment by Agnes Szelag, Ben Bracken, Jorge Bachman and Alan So in which viewers activate both visual and auditory sensations. The installation includes environmental pieces by Suzanne Husky, Jessica Resmond, Reenie Charriere, Vaughn Bell, Alyce Santoro, Sam Easterson and Elin Oyen Vister. This experiential exhibit actively reminds people that what we do has impact: on our own lives, on others, and the world around us, both in the present and the future. The Forest will host experiential performances by some of the most compelling local, national and international artists and musicians.

Visit Illuminated Forest!
Opening Reception, July 9, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Gallery hours, July 9 – August 13, 2010, Wednesday – Saturday, 1:00
pm – 6:00 pm
The Lab, 2948 16th Street
San Francisco, CA

Illuminated Forest is part of Project>Soundwave’s fourth season,
entitled GREEN SOUND, that began June 6 and runs to August 13.

Artist Kate Raudenbush, basking in the reflection of her art

Braving the cold to bring fire to us!
We have some more fabulous photos from the Duel Nature Opening Celebration to share with you. Enjoy!

To see more photos

Prior posts about Duel Nature

photos: Mark Hammon Hammon Photography

The Black Rock Arts Foundation is thrilled to announce our collaboration with artists Sean Orlando, Nathaniel Taylor, David Shulman, and their talented crew on the installation of their iconic, large-scale sculpture, The Raygun Gothic Rocketship at Pier 14 on San Francisco’s waterfront from August 2010 until September 2011.

The 40-foot-tall art piece, The Raygun Gothic Rocketship, offers rococo-futuristic, highly-stylized vision of space travel circa 1930’s-1940’s science fiction and is the latest in a series of temporary public art exhibitions sponsored by BRAF with the aim of enlivening and activating public spaces. The installation first landed at Burning Man 2009, and has subsequently appeared at NASA Ames for Yuri’s Night, and at Maker Faire. The piece is comprised of a single rocketship, poised as if to board passengers for a typical run to a nearby stellar destination. When installed in San Francisco, the sculpture will be accompanied by a descriptive exhibit, a “rocket stop”, which tells the story of the rocketship, provides route, schedule and other information. The installation will be illuminated for nighttime viewing. We need your support!!!

Although this ambitious project has won overwhelming city and public support and enthusiasm, we need your help to make it happen! Help BRAF and the Raygun Gothic Rocketship crew make science fiction an everyday reality to hundreds of thousands of residents and visitors to the San Francisco Embarcadero. Donate now, and receive a thank you gift!

DONATE

poster: Jody Medich

We are celebrating the election of the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Black Rock Arts Foundation , Alix Rosenthal, to the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee.

We are very excited for you Alix, and proud to know you!

We told you last week that FIGMENT – Boston was coming and this week we are here to tell you that FIGMENT NEW YORK is coming BIG this weekend.

When the founders of FIGMENT began the event in 2007, their inspiration was to marry Burning Man‐style do-ocracy, volunteerism, and the 10 principles with the prolific New York arts scene, and to build a new community for the participatory arts. In 2009, the vast majority of the FIGMENT artists, and a growing number of FIGMENT volunteers, have never been to Burning Man, and there is a groundswell of enthusiasm for an increasing number of season long projects on the island.

This year, FIGMENT includes a 2010 Black Rock Arts Foundation grant recipient 1000 Pieces, so check out the video and then go see the art!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYkW6mN35l0]