On January 29, MASS MoCA was crawling with 2,639 patrons on FREE DAY!

After Free Day we had the Bhangra Funk Dance Party with Red Baraat. We talked to the band and they were beyond pleased with our energetic audience.

Thanks to everyone who made this possible!

Also! Don’t forget to check out the photo booth pictures of the day. They can be viewed at these links…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23502344@N02/sets/72157625947695150/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23502344@N02/sets/72157625822183177/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23502344@N02/sets/72157625822097629/

Click on thumbnails to view the full-size image!

Thank you to the lovely, Danelle Cheney, for the photos!!

As a part of the new exhibit, An Exchange with Sol LeWitt, two artists are challenging the staff of Cabinet Magazine and MASS MoCA to complete simple daily tasks that will heighten our awareness of ourselves and the world around us and encourage us to do something different!

Photo by: Danelle Cheney

An Exchange with Sol LeWitt, which opened on January 22nd, asked artists to submit a piece of work that Sol LeWitt would have enjoyed. Sol made exchanges with his friends and other artists throughout his life to form special relationships between two minds.

As a part of this exhibition, Stephanie Diamond and Adia Millett of You Are Here send us an e-mail with a daily task that is meant to work fluidly with your work day.

But beware…The tasks aren’t as easy as you would think.

The first task asked us to NOT communicate for an hour. No texting. No facebook. No talking. Nothing.

LUCKILY I missed the e-mail for the first day and didn’t have to do that!

However, the next day I received an e-mail that said..

Your task for January 26th is:
Give something away to one of your co-workers, something that you never thought of giving away. Be aware of how it makes you feel.

I must be honest and tell you that I don’t have much to give away, but it was fun to consider what I DID have and give it to someone who most definitely deserved it.

But who could that be?…

Conveniently, January 26th is one our of graphic designer’s birthday! But our poor designer accidentally ate onions at lunch and it made her sick! So when I went to execute my task, she was nowhere to be found…I left the presents on her desk anyway.

Then this morning on January 27th, I came to work, poured myself some coffee, started blogging, and checked my e-mail…

Your task for January 27th is:

4) No caffeine Day

Oops! Too late!

The challenge that I send to YOU is: Challenge your friends or co-workers! Only good things can come from this!

Have a great day everyone and stay tuned for more tasks from Stephanie Diamond and Adia Millett of You Are Here!

Ladies and Gents, get excited for Frank London’s A Night in the Old Market Place showing on January 22 at 8pm!

(Manu Narayan as The Badkhn)

We were lucky enough to take a peak at the rehearsal yesterday and hear a couple of the eerily beautiful songs from the show.

Walking into the Hunter Theater, we saw a giant projector screen with animations that were taking place behind the actors; catching your attention and making you feel unsettled in the best way.

The band is visible to the audience! Instruments such as the grand piano, an accordion, a tuba, and of course, trumpet by Frank London, will pour out Klezmer-jazz music spelled out in minor key.

Set in a market place in an old rural village, three men are blaming themselves for the death of the young bride, Sheyndele, who hurled herself into a well 20 years ago. In efforts to redeem themselves, the men ask a gargoyle to bring back the young bride from her watery grave.

(Oh! It’s our PA Intern, Charles Jabour, filling in for the Narrator! )

The musical is currently a work-in-progress and is based off of the 1907 Yiddish play, Bei Nakht Altn Mark. The adaptation features music by Frank London (who has worked with artists such as Natalie Merchant, Ben Folds Five, and Iggy Pop) and book and lyrics by Glen Berger (who recently co-wrote the book for the musical version of Spiderman! Yea!)

(Steven Hrycelak-center)

The narrative story features dark comedy and ghoul-ish lighting that will send your imagination into a supernatural spell. Talks of corpses, cemeteries, gargoyles, and wonders give the actors the opportunity to play and tell a story. (The actors are playful. During a “hold” we could hear them singing silly tunes such as “On the Road Again” and “Crazy” by Patsy Cline.)

So be sure to join us on January 22 at the old market place! Visit MASS MoCA’s website for ticket info!

Photo Credits to Danelle Cheney!

Performers

SINGERS:

Charlotte Cohn

Gargoyle

Broadway – La Boheme (Musetta) dir. Baz Luhrmann, Ovation Award Winner; Coram Boy. Off Broadway – Cheri; Ambivalence; One Hundred Gates. Regional – A.C.T.: Happy End (Hallelujah Lil), Bay Area Critics’ Circle Award nominee; Centerstage: The Boys From Syracuse (Adriana); The Murder of Isaac (Talia). The Prince Music Theater: A Night in the Old Marketplace (Gargoyle); North Shore: Nine (Stephanie Necrophorus). Walker Art Center: Uncivil Wars- Moving with Brecht and Eisler (Nana/Isabella) Film/TV – Dandelion Man; Little Kings; The Danish Play; God in the Machine; Guiding Light. Recordings – La Boheme original cast recording; Happy End A.C.T. cast recording.

www.charlottecohn.com

Photo Credit: Hoebermann Studios

Manu Narayan

The Badkhn

Manu Narayan is a New York based artist who crosses all mediums of the performing arts.In his career, Manu has performed in straight plays, musicals, on TV, Film, and in concert. Last Summer, Manu co-starred in Mike Myers’ Paramount Pictures comedy The Love Guru. In the film he appears as Mike Myer’s sidekick “Rajneesh” – the Love Guru’s assistant/ “Moral Compass”. Manu has just wrapped, Wall Street 2 (Oliver Stone), The Last Airbender (M. Night Shyamalan) and the independent film It’s All Been Arranged (Shailja Gupta) and can be seen starring in Quarterlife Crisis (with Russel Peters and Lisa Ray), Hiding Divya (with Madhur Jaffrey) and Two Men in Shoulder Stand. On TV, he has guest starred in the pilot episodes of Cashmere Mafia, Lipstick Jungle, Spike Lee’s Mayor of N.Y, and Geena Davis’ Exit 19. Other credits include: Nurse Jackie, As the World Turns, All My Children, Law and Order SVU, The Sopranos.

On stage, Manu is most widely known for originating the “hero” Akaash in the hit Andrew Lloyd Webber/ A.R. Rahman musical Bombay Dreams on Broadway; the Drama League recognized him for his work. Off Broadway, he was in the revival of Eric Bogosian’s subUrbia, and in Getting Home, both at Second Stage Theater. He also was Whizzer in NAATCO’s Falsettoland at the Vineyard and originated Siddhartha in SIDD: the musical at the Dodger Stages. Manu was in the world premiere of Pulitzer prize winning playwright Suzan-Lori Park’s Fucking A with Mos Def and S. Epatha Merkerson at the New York Shakespeare Festival/ Public Theater and has starred with Cyndi Lauper, Fisher Stevens, and Garth Hudson (from “The Band”) in New York Stage and Film’s workshop production of Largo.

As a concert artist, Manu has been asked to sing and has performed for many distinguished dignitaries including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Phillip, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, George W. Bush and Senator Hillary Clinton. With Radovan Jovicevic (founding member of the hit European band Zana), their band Darunam (www.darunam.com) brings together the melodies and rhythms from three homelands: America, India, and Serbia creating a Neo-world-pop sound. Their new album of Electronic Lounge/ World music with Canadian Clarinetist Milan Milosevic is “The Last Angel on Earth” and performed live in Vancouver for national broadcast on the CBC.

Manu grew up in Delmont, Pa a little town outside of Pittsburgh and in Chennai, India. He showed an affinity for music, dance, and drama at a very young age. Manu is an award winning classical saxophonist both in the western style – he has performed the Glazunov Saxophone Concerto with orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Pittsburgh- and in the Indian Karnatic style – he won the All India Radio music competition in Mangalore, India. He is the Karnatic saxophone student of Sri Kadri Gopalnath and is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. From 2001 to 2005 Manu was a founder and co-Artistic Director of Rasa Theater, Inc. Rasa Theater was established to help develop theater artists of the South Asian Diaspora.

Photo credit: Vlad Voloshin

Steven Hrycelak

It is always such a pleasure to meet with Sean Foley and discuss the progression of his new installation, Ruse, at MASS MoCA.

Ball State University professor, Hannah Barnes, arrived at MASS MoCA to assist with Sean’s giant project which will cover our 100-foot long hallway!

Sean Foley & Hannah Barnes

Sean said he’s always wanted to do an installation like this, but he needed the space to do it! (And that’s exactly what MASS MoCA is here for!)

Sean, and his assistants were hard at work when we stopped by. They were taping up stencils when Sean suggested that we take the time out to interview his studio assistant, Katie Bullock.

Katie is a third year painting and drawing student at Ohio State University.

Katie Bullock

Katie is a very genuine and hard-working young woman. She told us she has always loved to draw and be active.

She never considered a career in art until high school, when her teacher suggested that she participate in a summer art school in 2007. She decided to major in painting and drawing at Ohio State University. She still felt very unsure of her position and choices, but after taking one class with Sean- she knew this is what she wanted to do.

“It’s been incredible,” said Katie about her experience at MASS MoCA. “I’ve learned so much by working with Sean.”

We asked her what is the most valuable lesson she has learned since she came to Massachusetts. Katie said this experience has made her dreams seem possible. “If you’re passionate about it, you can do it,” she said. (She also mentioned that she REALLY enjoyed the delicious food from The Hub!)

But the real reason Katie is here is to assist Sean with the installation of the “monster painting”. Sean described the painting as camouflage/amorphous/invisible man art. The 3D mural will resemble camouflage chaos but when viewers stand in the “perfect spot” they will see the hidden face or “invisible man”. It’s-gonna-be-craaazy!!!!

Today the artists were taping on the stencils cut out by lasers and will be working long into the night with loud music.

Hopefully Katie, and other dedicated students, will inspire you to continue to educate yourself everyday. Read a play! Draw a picture! Wikepedia the word- Szczecin!

We’re going to keep you updated on Ruse, which is scheduled to open on January 23!

(Danelle Cheney rocks at taking photos. Thank you!!)

amdesignworks

Bromirski

sprucehillphoto

Chris Garrity

dmkphotography

Jack Amick

OOPS! How did this get in here?? Hmmm…Maybe we want you to come see A Night in the Old Market Place on Jan 22 at 8pm!

It was getting dark in North Adams when we found Sean Foley, Katie Bullock, and MASS MoCA curator, Denise Markonish in Hunter Hallway – working on a new installation. We asked them if they were tired and Sean shook his head no…then shook his head yes…then shook his head no…and yes.

We began talking logistics about Sean’s new installation, Ruse, at MASS MoCA. Sean seemed a little exhausted when he was talking about work so we decided to ask him, “What advice do you have for a young person who aspires to pursue the arts but lives in an area where art & culture is not easily accessible or accepted?” After that, Sean immediately lit up and showed us why he is a perfect candidate to be an art teacher at Ohio State University.

Sean Foley

Here is some of advice directly from a successful 21st century artist who grew up in Indiana…

1) “Do what you like. You have to care so deeply that you’re not embarrassed when people tell you, you shouldn’t do that.”

2) “Let it be the thing that motivates you.”

3) “You have to constantly develop your intellectual curiosity.”

4) “Make your world,” he said. “Look at art.” He said artists must articulate the experience they have with the piece THEN read about it to develop the secret language and understanding between artists. He explained this language is silent and then compared it to “sniffing like cats.”

Curator, Denise Markonish, and Sean Foley

He spoke very highly of his studio assistant, Katie Bullock, and said she is constantly developing her ideas and ways of thinking.

Katie Bullock

Sean also mentioned the Indie band from Dayton, Ohio; Guided by Voices. They had humble beginnings, recording in a garage for fun. The band started gaining recognition and listeners were amazed by their uniquely developed sound. “You get time in the Midwest to do things wrong and develop your position…Sometimes you think you’re doing it wrong but it could be right. But if it’s right, chances are, it’s been done before,” he said.

We wrapped up the interview by asking him why he chose art for the direction in his life. He explained that he always knew it was what he was going to do, even when he was a kid and fellow classmates teased him for it. “It’s how I make sense of things…I paint to see stuff I’m curious about. It’s the language I speak.”

I hope this particular post inspires young students to develop a relationship with someone they admire. Find a mentor. Stop by your favorite professor’s office. It’s the best way to develop your skills and link them human connections.

Thanks again to Miss Danelle Cheney for the photos!

Make it a good day =]