Hinges Mirrors & Eclipses
July - August, 2018
Averill Park, NY, United States
Today, in these early days of the 21st century, the most common observation is transformation itself: cultural, technological, social, political, ecological and economical. With every surface potentially: lens and mirror, every moment potential hinge and eclipse, every person potential actor and audience, the geographies we are navigating contain multiple forms of experience that at once: collapse and expand the spaces between us. We are in the midst of re-alignments and re-articulations of every aspect of our lives and there are people and institutions across all disciplines and across the globe that are increasingly confronted by the need for new models of asking the extraordinarily complex questions of our time.
Hinges, Mirrors & Eclipses was grounded in the idea that the spatial, poetic and material imaginations provide a unique means of registering and creating transformation, of engaging the world and making a contribution. Working from the principle that our capacity to act in the world is rooted in our capacity to recognize and comprehend transformation, the workshop covered a large arc of content, asking questions of our world, our disciplines and our humanity.
Though art, architecture, poetry, film, theater, music, science, technology, finance, politics, industry, biology and literature, we began with a close examination of the nature of transformation. Our initial discussions focused on turning points: from the innovations of the elevator, train and telegraph, to the invention of modern corporations, banking and electricity; from the Copernican turn, to Darwin and the transformations of Yoruba polytheism; from the birth of the Greek theatre to the emergence of photography and film. The conversations explored many forms of knowledge, agency, action and transformation.
From these initial conversations we began to create actions and interactions: physical and performative works, words and gestures, improvisations and inventions. These evolved and emerged as a field of inquiry and agency, a shared body of individual and collective works asking the questions: Hinges Mirrors & Eclipses.
Festival
This year brought with it our 3rd annual Festival, where we once again celebrated and shared the works created over the course of our 2018 Summer Workshop, Hinges, Mirrors & Eclipses. With 45 participants, representing an incredible range of fields and nationalities, it was the largest workshop in the history of Arts Letters & Numbers, resulting in a truly memorable festival.
The site of Hinges Mirrors & Eclipses was the wooded hillside between the Mill and the House, and on August 3rd-4th our guests were invited to explore this previously uninhabited terrain on our grounds. On an angle with trees, wood stumps, and undergrowth, visitors were free to wander and experience performances, installations, mini-workshops, concerts, works, meals and actions, which included:
Creative music intensive Concert - Culinary Creations - Espresso yourself - Vulnerability - On going space Travel - Water Mirror - Elements - Poems Without Words - Babyhead - Open Mic - Tales From Fujian - American Carnage - Cosmos - Mirrors & Eclipses - Tone Room - Polyaman, Sine wave rhythm - FRSTRTN - Untitled Film+Audio - Burn - Taking Notes from Nature - Guitar Music - Electric Pom Pom - Communal Poem Improv - Spiral Movements + words - Music Bottles - Next Dimension - Horizon - Delay - Walking Across the Axis - Cello Concerto - Voices of the Mill group Performances
We want to thank everyone who came and supported these magical days. Each summer it is truly our pleasure to have the wider community share in what we do: the collaborations, thoughts and works created by all the visiting artists and participants, all of which continues to bring new energy and ideas to Arts Letters & Numbers.
Aaron More. Adrianos Efthymiadis. Alex Hae Min Chang. Ann Morris. Anne Lanzilotti. Anthony Staiti. Bahar Avanoğlu. Bill Morrison. Claudia Cortinez. Crystal Waters. David Gersten. Diane DeBlois. Ebenezer Eferobor. Ed Keller. Evan Burgess. Frida Foberg. Ginger Teppner. Gizem Atalık. Homa Shojaie. Hyunbae Chang. İpek Avanoğlu. Jennifer Park. Jenny 如 Hsiao. Jesse Maw. Joel Brynielsson. Jonathan Brewer. Jonathan Russ. Josephine Saabye. Karen Kiene. Kasper Hübertz. Keren Mendjul. Kristyna Milde. Krysta Dennis. Kyrin Chen. Laurie Olinder. Loren Howard. Manuel Perez. Marek Milde. Martha Cargo. Merethe Bahn Trolle. Michael Harrison. Natalie Stepaniak. Natasha Holmes. Nick Meehan. Nico Athene. Nina C. Young. Noah Silver. Panthea Lee. Payton MacDonald. Pedro Wainer. Rich Kuperberg. Robert Dalton Harris. Saam Shojaie. Sam Torres. Sandip Bhattacharjee. Sarv Gersten. Sepehr Shojaie. Siyu 思予 Chen. Sophia Vastek. Steve Fry. Susmita Chakraborty. Troels Steenholdt Heiredal. Ursula Bustillos Daza. Vaughn Lewis. Victoria Wolff. William Fillmore. Zubin Singh
