rises zora: an exploration of the urban labyrinth
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rises Zora Exhibition Catalog, by Charlotte Street Curator-In-Residence Jamilee Polson Lacy, Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City, MissouriTRANSCRIPT
A C H A R L O T T E S T R E E T F O U N D A T I O N P R O J E C T
K A N S A S C I T Y, M I S S O U R I • W W W. C H A R L O T T E S T R E E T . O R G
rises ZoraAN EXPLORATION OF THE URBAN LABYRINTHAT LA ESQUINA & BEYOND • MAY 10 - JUNE 15, 2013ORGANIZED BY CHARLOTTE STREET CURATOR-IN-RESIDENCE JAMILEE POLSON LACY
A C H A R L O T T E S T R E E T F O U N D A T I O N P R O J E C T
K A N S A S C I T Y, M I S S O U R I • W W W. C H A R L O T T E S T R E E T . O R G
rises ZoraAN EXPLORATION OF THE URBAN LABYRINTHAT LA ESQUINA & BEYOND • MAY 10 - JUNE 15, 2013ORGANIZED BY CHARLOTTE STREET CURATOR-IN-RESIDENCE JAMILEE POLSON LACY
A C H A R L O T T E S T R E E T F O U N D A T I O N P R O J E C T
K A N S A S C I T Y, M I S S O U R I • W W W. C H A R L O T T E S T R E E T . O R G
rises ZoraAN EXPLORATION OF THE URBAN LABYRINTHAT LA ESQUINA & BEYOND • MAY 10 - JUNE 15, 2013ORGANIZED BY CHARLOTTE STREET CURATOR-IN-RESIDENCE JAMILEE POLSON LACY
FEATURING KANSAS CITY ARTISTS / THINKERS:
Barry Anderson
Arboretum
Todd M. Christiansen
Chris Daharsh
David Dowell / Jim Woodfill
Jeff Eaton
Lindsay Fernandez
Gotch & Hansen
Erika Lynne Hanson
Caitlin Horsmon
Laura Isaac / Maritza Ruiz-Kim
Lindsey Griffith / Charlie Mylie
Ghyman Johnson / Megan Mantia / Leone Reeves
Ken Johnson
Ezhno Martin / Jeanette Powers
Mnemosyne Duo
m.o.i.
Jessica Palko
Gerry Trilling
May Tveit
This digital catalog was published to accompany the multi-venue visual and performance art exhibition
rises Zora: An Exploration of the Urban Labyrinth, a project produced as part of the curatorial residency
program at Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City, Missouri.
Curated by Inaugural Charlotte Street Curator-In-Residence Jamilee Polson Lacy
EXHIBITION FUNDER
Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation
©2013 Charlotte Street Foundation
1000 West 25th Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
www.charlottestreet.org
TABLE OF CONTENTS
12
Foreword and Acknowledgments
Jamilee Polson Lacy
14
RISES ZORA : A Cultural History Through the Urban Labyrinth
(as Kansas City Artists Move Through Another and Another)
Charlotte Street Inaugural Curator-In-Residence Jamilee Polson Lacy
24
RISES ZORA plates
48
Movies in the Parking Lot: Notes from Academy Records
Academy Records
54
RISES ZORA poems: “The Puzzle,” “Maze Builders,” and “Into the City”
Jeanette Powers
60
RISES ZORA program itinerary
64
RISES ZORA artist biographies
68
RISES ZORA credits
Foreword and Acknowledgments
Since 1997, when the fledgling Charlotte Street Foundation made its first artist grant, a central aspect of the organization’s mission has been to bring the work of Kansas City’s artists—longstanding and rising—to public attention. Now a cornerstone of the Kansas City cultural community, Charlotte Street has, in addition to making countless cash grants to local artists, revitalized and reserved urban space to present major exhibitions and presentations of important contemporary artists destined to become cultural fixtures in Kansas City and beyond. In 2012-2013, on the occasion of its new curatorial residency program, Charlotte Street empowered me, the Inaugural Charlotte Street Curator-In-Resi dence, to collaborate with artists through full-on engagements with exhibition and other public spaces, streets, parks, rooftops, parking lots, and more in Kansas City. In total, I have curated four exhibition programs: Have I been here before?; Composite Structures (co-curated with Los Angeles-based curator Lee Foley); Focus: OK<->KC (organized in conjunction with Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition); and finally, rises Zora: An Exploration of the Urban Labyrinth, an exhibition and event series with accompanying publication that seeks to provide time and space that is both documentary and generative for Kansas City artists and that explores new juxtapositions, contradictions, and connections through multiple approaches to art and place making. Upon the culmination of these projects and my curatorial residency tenure, Charlotte Street has actually created yet another avenue that shows off the brilliant productivity of Kansas City artists: me! Moving forward, it is my privilege to take with me wherever I go Charlotte Street’s mission to cultivate and promote Kansas City’s artists and arts ecosystem. I will continue to think of and include Kansas City artists in my curatorial endeavors, writings, and other creative projects; I will continue to recommend them to other curators, galleries, and museums; I will continue to stretch their reach to cities near and far.
That this exhibition and publication have received such tremendous support is testament to the significance of Kansas City’s artists and urban culture. Charlotte Street and myself are indebted first and foremost to the artists, thinkers and city cultural workers who have magnificently committed themselves and their resources to making an ambitious, multi-venue project like rises Zora not only possible but successful. I also want to convey special thanks to the many rises Zora participants who created new, thoughtful, and challenging works just for the exhibition. For their immense generosity, we are additionally grateful to the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation for providing lead support for the exhibition and publication; to them we offer our deepest gratitude. For their kindness and assistance with rises Zora’s numerous public programs, warm thanks are due as well to Academy Records; Bill Haw and Bill Haw Jr.; Christopher Leitch and the Kansas City Museum; Crosby Kemper, Henry Fortunato and the Kansas City Public Library; Joni Cross and Copaken-Brooks; Lisa Cordes and Prairie Logic; Meghan Buum and City Market; Plug Projects; and Unified Government of Kansas City, Kansas. Lastly, I thank Charlotte Street’s board for treating me to the opportunity to work with them and to become a steward of its organization. To Charlotte Street’s staff—David Hughes, Jr.; Kate Hackman; Jamie Braun; Jen Vogrin; and Pat Alexander—I personally extend my appreciation for the dedication and verve with which you have supported rises Zora and my curatorial and professional goals. It has been an exciting, challenging, and deeply satisfying year in Kansas City; thank you so much for inviting me into Charlotte Street’s wonderful community.
Jamilee Polson Lacy
Charlotte Street Inaugural Curator-In-Residence
12
Tothepresentday,thefigureofthelabyrinth
hasappearedaroundtheglobeasimage,ideaand
physicalreality,withanextensiverangeof
interpretationsandapplicationsincraftandfinearts,
architectureanddesign,danceandperformingarts,the
humanitiesandsciences,andotherareasofhuman
creativityandthought.Thelabyrinthprovidesa
philosophicalframeworkinthatitexpressesastateof
mindthatisconstantandessentialtohumanexistence:
theposingofquestionswhenfacedwithlife’schoices,
andthechallengeofmakingdecisionsthatcyclically
determinethecourseofrealityandfurthercontributeto
ourunderstandingoftherelationshipbetween
humankindandnature.
ThePortugueseartistandwriterLimadeFreitas
putitwell,sayingthat“Whatmakesthelabyrinth,inits
wealthofanalogicalassociations,sorelevanttoday
isthatitisanemblemoftheexistentialdilemmasofthe
modernurbanman.”Inthespiritofthisemblem,rises
Zora,amulti-venuevisualandperformingartsproject,
wasaninvitationtoKansasCityartistsfromCharlotte
StreetFoundationtoexplore,ingreaterdepth,the
elementsthatmakeupurbanreality,oraswearecalling
it,theurbanlabyrinth.Sporadicallystagingpublic
eventsacrosstheKansasCitymetroarea,artists
activatedandconnectedthecity’sdynamicspaces
intheireffortstounderstand,emphasize,andtravel
throughthelabyrinthsofthecity.Accordingly,this
projectfeaturedadiverseselectionofmentaland
physicalengagementswiththeso-calledurban
labyrinth—installations,performances,walks,screenings,
andotherexperiences—,allgatheredandpresentedin
awaythatlinkedtogethercommunitiesofactive
participants,spectators,andevenpassivebystanders,
compellingthemtoseewhatexcitingpossibilitiesexistin
thiscitybeyondtheroutine.
Let’sreturntotheurbanlabyrinththatisKansas
Cityinjustamoment.First,whatexactlyisthelabyrinth,
andinthiscase,theurbanlabyrinth?Whatmakesthe
labyrinth/urbanlabyrinthsovaluableasacultural
construct?
Asitsdefinitioncurrentlystands,theword
labyrinthhascometomeanseveralthingsatonce.In
everydayspeechitoperatesmetaphoricallyasan
intricate,difficult,andoverallconfusingspaceor
situation.Asarepresentationoranallegory,labyrinthis
usedloosely,becomingsynonymouswithspiral,meander,
concentriccircles,andmostoften,maze,whichis
definedasatortuousstructureconsistingoftwo
openings—anentranceandanexit—andmultiple
pathways,someofwhichleadtoforks,blindalleys,and
deadends.Thislackofdefinition,whichisacommon
characteristicinthetransmissionofanymythology,has
meantthatthelabyrinthhasbecomeforartofallkindsa
universalthemethathasendured,metamorphosed,and
generatednewthoughtforcenturies.Forthepurpose
ofthisessay,labyrinthreferstoallofitsconnotations
interchangeably,whichseemsappropriategiventhatan
RISESZORA:ACulturalHistorythroughtheUrbanLabyrinth(asKansasCityArtists
MoveThroughAnotherandAnother)
CharlotteStreetInauguralCurator-In-ResidenceJamileePolsonLacy
14
actuallabyrinth,likeallthatthewordpotentially
represents,presentsamyriadofpossibilities.
Thelabyrinthalsoassumesanumberofforms
andconceptualities,withtheoneofancientCreteon
recordastheearliestinstanceofeither.Presentingitself
atonceasanarrativestructure,visualmotif,andliteral
form,thefirstdocumentedlabyrinthhousedtheKnossos
MinotaurandwasoneofAthenianDaedalus’many
ingeniousarchitecturaldesigns.WhenheroTheseus
goesinsidethelabyrinthtokillthebloodthirsty
Minotaur,hefollowsathreadleftbyhisbeloved
Ariadne,whonotcoincidentallyhasbeenofferedup
toKnossosasasacrificialsnack.Theseussolvesthe
labyrinth,savesAriadne,andthusknowstrueloveand
thefuturethatitholds.Followingthistale,thelabyrinth
showsuparoundtheworld(thoughnotveryoftenin
NorthAmerica),asametaphorforrisk,humandiscovery,
thought,memory,andexperience—thesumofwhichis
knowledge—becauseofitsback-and-forth,pendulous
swingbetweenpast,present,andfuture.
Wesee,too,thatknowledgeandunderstanding
shapethearchitectureofanyandeverycityinItalo
Calvino’sInvisible Cities,afictionalcollectionofcities
asdescribedtoKublaKhanbyMarcoPolo.Pageafter
page,CalvinodetailsPolo’saccountsoftravelsthrough
aseriesofcitiesacrosstheworldthatcannotbepinned
downbytheemperorKhan’sgreatatlases.Witheach
city,thankstotheliterarymethodsusedbyCalvinoto
designthisnovel’sproseandstructureaswellasits
conurbations,PolofurtherexpandsKhan’s
understandingoftheworld’sineffablecapacityto
mysteriouslycreatebreathtakinglandscapesand
innovativecultures.Zora,onesuchbreathtakingand
innovativefar-offplace,Poloexplains,isacitythatno
one,havingseenit,caneverforget:
Beyond six rivers and three mountain ranges rises
Zora… Zora has the quality of remaining in your memory
point by point… Zora’s secret lies in the way your gaze
runs over patterns following one after another... The man
who knows by heart how Zora is made, if he is unable
to sleep at night, can imagine he is walking along the
streets and he remembers the order by which the
copper clock follows the barber’s striped awning, then
the fountain with the nine jets, the astronomer’s glass
tower, the melon vendor’s kiosk, the stature of the hermit
and the lion, the Turkish bath, the café at the corner, the
alley that leads to the harbor. This city, which cannot be
expunged from the mind, is like an armature, a
honeycomb in whose cells each of us can place the
things he wants to remember… Between each idea and
each point of the itinerary an affinity or a contrast can
be established, serving an immediate aid to memory. So
the world’s most learned men are those who have
memorized Zora. (15-16)
Zora,itsstreetsadornedinallthatcomeswith
citylife,embodiestheurbanlabyrinthasadynamic
conceptionofspaceandimpressions,ratherthanaset
ofstaticperspectives.Moreover,ampleknowledgeis
accumulatedwhenpassingthroughthismesmerizingcity.
Butaboveall,Zoraillustratestheurbanlabyrinthasa
structureformentalorganizationandcreativemethod,
wanderingsanderrors,passesandimpasses,luminous
breakawaysandtragicseclusion.Thisurbanlabyrinth
demonstratesthatwhatisrealandimaginedmakesno
differencetothegeneralizedmobilityofthepast,
present,andfuture.Atthenovel’send,thereader
realizesthatPolohasmerelydescribedVenice,his
hometown,overandoveragain,butneverasthesame
citybecausenoonecity,VenicenorKansasCity,ever
repeatsitself.Everytimewewalkthroughthedoorour
cityisanew;ithasregeneratedinsomewayoranother,
readytochallengeourmemoryandsurpriseour
senses.UsingZora,anurbanlabyrinth“whichcannotbe
expungedfromthemind”analogouslywithKansasCity,
acitytooconsistingof“patternsfollowingoneafter
another,”therises ZoraprojecttakesupPolo’s
agenda,demonstratingthatKansasCity,likeVeniceor
anymetropolis,isneverthesamecitytwice.KansasCity
istheurbanlabyrinth.
Atmost,thisvisualandperformancearts
venture,alongwiththeartistsandurbaniteswho
contributedtoit,emphasizedtheinfinitepossibilitiesof
KansasCity,afineurbanlabyrinthiftherehaseverbeen
one.Why,youmightask,isametropolis-sprawling
projectlikerises ZoraappropriateforaMidwestern
localelikeKansasCityinsteadofatwisting,turning,
nearly-impossible-not-to-get-lost-incitylikePolo’s
Venice?Theanswertothatquestionisassimpleasit
iscomplex:thegrid.Forages,thegridhasbeenused
throughouttheworldasanurbandevelopmentand
organizationalpattern.HippodamusofMiletusfirstused
itatPiraeus,Greece,inthe5thcenturyBC.Fastforward
some2,000years,WilliamPennutilizedthegridin1682
asthephysicalfoundationforPhiladelphia,andThomas
15
Jeffersonsubsequentlyemployedittosystematizethe
purchaseoftheLouisianaTerritory.Theseurban
applicationsweredeemedsuccessful,so,likemostcities
organizedaspartofAmerica’s18thand19thcentury
westwardexpansion,KansasCity,atthebehestofits
merchantfounders,adoptedtheGreatAmericanGrid
system,alsoknownastheJeffersoniangrid,inaneffort
toorderstreetssetatopaterrainofhills,valleys,rivers,
swamplands,andbluebluffs.
Asanorganizationalprinciple,thegridworks
fine.Itiseasytonavigate,anditmakesbuying,selling,
andclaimingpropertymucheasiertasks.However,
countlessurbanactivists,theoristsandhumanists—Walter
Benjamin,UmbertoEco,JaneJacobs,Pierre
Rosenstiehl,andtheLettrist/SituationistInternational,
tonameafew—havediscussedthegridashumanity’s
unsuccessfulattemptstoorderthelabyrinth,controlits
unwieldiness,and,tovaryingdegrees,derailthe
possibilitiesitpermitsforexperimentalurbanactivity.
MakingaboldmoveagainstKansasCity’s
monotonousgrid,GeorgeE.Kesslerinconjunctionwith
theCityBeautifulmovement,layeredovertherigid
urbanplananamorphoussystemofparksand
boulevardsthatKansasCitiansknowtoday,
re-introducingorganicprinciplesthatwieldmuchmore
naturallandscapeswithinthecity’slimits.In
combinationwiththelast100-plusyearsofadded
railroadsandhighways,aswellascontinuoussocialand
architecturalconstructionanddestructionofdifferent
neighborhoods,theKansasCitywenowinteractwith
iscomposedofmultipleaspectsoflabyrinthianand
urbantheory.Themultifarioussettingthatnowmakes
uptheurbanlabyrinththatisKansasCityhaslong
facilitatedexperimentalactivity,itsartistsandthinkers
takingadvantageofitsmanyquirksandquandaries.The
rises Zorainstallationsandprograms—FIELDWORKS,
GARDENPARTIES,MOVIESINTHEPARKINGLOT,and
WALKINGTHEURBANLABYRINTH—providedartists
andthinkerswithavarietyofavenuestoproduceand
presentpublicallyengagedpresentationsthatconjured
andconsideredthewideimplicationsoflabyrinthian
narratives,forms,andexperiencesspecifictolocal
urbanity.Cumulatively,thesecreativeprojectsworked
withtheurbanlandscapetoartisticallyreflectthe
philosophicalandmysticalimplicationsofKansasCity,
anurbanlabyrinthwhichbydesigndeterminessingular
andmultiplecoursesofrealityinitsattempttoconnect
eachpartofthecitytoeveryotheroneofitsparts.
Forthedurationofrises Zora,laEsquina’s
entrywayoperatedasacommunicationheadquarters
(pl.12)whereenthusiastscoulddelveintoan
informationalhub,archive,andresearchcenter.
Becausetheprojectincorporatedseveral
presentationsandprogramsatmultiplelocations,this
communicationheadquartersservedasacentrally
locatedcollectionofallthingsrises Zora,including
eventlistings,documentation,literature,mapsandmore.
Itwasmaintainedasakindofcentralnervoussystem
orbrain(twoothertypesoflabyrinths)forthewhole
project,andbecameaplacewheretheephemeral
andresidualeffectsofrises Zora’sengagementswith
theurbanlabyrinthcouldbecohesivelycollatedand
re-presentedforintellectualconsumption.Inadditionto
housingartfulrises Zora advertisements,branding,and
archives,thecommunicationsheadquartersfeatured
labirinto urbano(2013)(pl.12and13),alimitededi-
tionofXeroxphotocollagesbyJessicaPalko.Designed
fortheoccasionofthisproject,Palko’scollagesempha-
sizedtheoverlapsofurbanlabyrinthsondifferentsides
oftheworldthroughthecompositionofwhimsicaladja-
cenciesbetweenKansasCityandthefantasticalVenice
recollectedbyPoloinInvisible Cities.Aperfect
jumpingoffpointfortherises Zoraproject,labirinto
urbanoshowedthatZorahasrisenrighthereon
Midwestground.
The rises ZorainstallationswithinCharlotte
Street’slaEsquinagalleryspacesetupaseries
metaphoricalscenariosillustratingrises Zora’scuratorial
ponderingsonurbanity.Inthemaingalleryspace,Gerry
TrillingandChrisDaharshpresentedbodiesofworkin
tandemtoinvestigatespatialandconceptualthemes
oftheurbanlabyrinth.Thoughthisgallerypresentation
wasdesignedtoexpandonvariouscomponentsofthe
urbanity,thereismuchtodiscussinregardstothe
individualqualitiesofeachartist’swork.
Trillingreferstohertextilecollagesanddigital
printsas“constructedpaintings,”whichseems
appropriategiventhatthecolorpalettes,geometric
designs,andmaterialsusedareinextricablylinkedto
multiplehistoricaltrajectoriesoffineartandcraft,
includingOpart,abstractpainting,andtraditional
women’sworklikequilting,needlepoint,andweaving.But
itisquiteobviousthattheartist’scollagesvisually
referencemaps.Fromadistanceeachpiecelookslike
anaerialviewofsomekindofarchitectural
development,andupclose,theworksprovideoneor
16
morepathsfortheeyetowanderdown.Interestingly,this
kindofvisualunderstandingoflabyrinthsas
architecturalgroundplanshasalonghistory,which
includesa17thcenturyengravingbyFischervonErlach
showingtheCretanlabyrinthinperspectiveasaprison
basedonaCarthaginianmedalandanotherTheseus
storybyLuciusMestriusPlutarch.Thatthroughouttime
ourmapshaveoperatedasAriadne’sthread,aguide
tohelpussafelymovethroughtimeandspace,literally
illustratesthattheurbanlabyrinthmustberecordedto
memoryifwearetoattempttounderstandit,especially
beforeitchangesagain.Trilling’scollages,thoughnot
necessarilydepictingrealspace,toywithournatural
desiretofollowastringoramap,tohaveaguidethat
givesanunderstandingofaplacesothatwemayknow
itsshape.
Startingwithatemplateorsystemderivedfrom
griddedcompositionsofvaryingcomplexities,Trilling
arrangesandlayerssmall,cutsquaresofpatterned
fabricsandpaperscollectedfromhertravelsthrough
urbanlabyrinthsaroundtheworldtocreateintricate,
illusionistictextilecompositionslikeSQ111 Color Line
(2011)(pl.6),reminiscentoftopographicalurban
plans.Eventually,thepatternedtextilesinpieceslike
Jitterbug: Taking Over The City(pl.7)andJitterbug:
Hidden Minority(both2010)visuallyoverpowerthe
imageoftheguidinggrid,creatingananalogy:the
labyrinthcannotbecontrolled;itsgenerationisrandom,
infinite,unstoppable,andall-consuming.
Trilling’s JSP 113 Stacked (2013)(pl.5,right),
afourbyeightfeetcollageconsistingofanorderly,
barely-thereblackandwhitegrid,containsthreemajor
insertions/deviationsthatdisruptwhatwouldbean
otherwiseflatpictureofsimplelatticework:
1. anequallywell-orderedgridofoff-whitetiles
thathasbeenskeweddiagonallyandlayered
ontopoftheprimarygrid;
2. thecorrugatedsurfaceoftheoff-whitetiles;
3. andthehandwrittennumberspenciledinaround
thepiece’sframe.
ThoughTrillinghassetupalogical,systematicprocess
foroureyestofollow,shecontinuouslydisturbsour
expectationsforthiscompositionwiththerealitiesof
opticality,imperfectsurfaces,andsignsofthehuman
hand.LikeJSP 113 Stacked,anumberofherworksfind
variouswaystointentionallycreateperceptualdoubt
andophthalmicuncertainty,neitherofwhichnecessarily
yieldtheclarityandorderwehavecometo
anticipatefromthetraditionalgridsandrepetitive
patternsofAmericancraftworksorthecleanshapesand
linesofgeometricabstraction.Asaresult,Trilling’sentire
bodyofworkpresentedwithinrises Zora,despiteits
ultimatelytwo-dimensionallimitsandfairlymodestscale,
provokedourtrustinorganizationalsystemsmeantto
createperfectorder.Insteadofrestingassuredinthe
works’uniformity,wefindourselveslookingforthe
spontaneousqualitiesofthelabyrinth,where
inevitableflawsoftheartist’shandsignifyhumanity
andwhererandomnessmakesroomforchance.Inthis
collectionofTrilling’scollagesandprintstheviewerwas
confrontedwithunpredictability—astockcharacteristic
oflifeintheurbanlabyrinth—,whichalwayspredicates
reality’smostinterestingoutcomes.
Conversely,Daharshprovidedamoreobvious
lookintothelabyrinth’scomplications,impediments,and
conundrums.Composedwithmaterialsofadistinctly
urbannature,Daharsh’ssculpturalinstallationscame
togethertomakeupproblematicspacesofvisualpuns
andriddles.Carefullyconstructedtointeractwithand
evenbecomepartoflaEsquina’sindustrial-styledesign
andfloorplan,eachsculptureandinstallation
encouragedviewerstotrytodecipherwhichpartwas
artandwhichwasthegallery’sstructure,andtherefore
demandedaudiencesthoughtfullyconsidermaterials,
layoutand,oddlyenough,language.Andthoughhis
artworksrelyonthefinickylexiconandrigidvisualmotifs
ofMinimalistworkbythelikesofDonaldJuddandAgnes
Martin,Daharsh’soverallpracticespringsforthwith
urgencyinspiredbythesensibilitiesofurbanspaceand
landartprovocateurslikeGordonMatta-Clarkand
RobertSmithson.Daharsh,liketheseandmanyother
artistsbeforehim,isaself-professedscavengerinand
ofthecity.Heaccumulates(orinmanycases,flawlessly
replicates)remnantsofKansasCity’sin-fluxurbansites
tothenmanipulate,juxtapose,andformulateakind
ofobject-basedpoetrythatservesashomagetothe
beautyoftheurbanlabyrinth’smanychallenges.For
rises Zora,theartiststagedworksasiftheywereprops
makingupanobstaclecourse,theresultingfloorplanof
whichwasnotunlikethatofafielddaygame,
playground,ormini-golfcourseinthatitrequired
patronstomovecarefully,strategicallyeven,toview
eachartwork.WorkslikeStumbling Block(2011/2013)
(pl.9)andLow Wall to Step Over(2013)(pl.1,front
rightonthefloor)notonlyhadtobelookedat,they
17
alsoforcedviewerstoconvertimagesandobjectsinto
languageconveyingsimpletruths,like“pebblesinyour
shoeareannoying…stepsaretricky…wallsblockthe
shortestroutetoyourpreferreddestination.”The
circumstancesofthesepiecescreatedabackand
forth,asometimesrhythmic,sometimessporadiccanter
reminiscentofthepoeticversefoundinJohnKeats’s
“OdeonaGrecianUrn.”Whileekphrasticexperiences
andepicenterswerekeptatasubstantialdistancein
theexhibition,Daharsh’ssculpturalcontributionsleft
tracesofanumberofarthistorical,literary,and
temporallabyrinths.Evidencedineveryartworkwasthe
factthathe,auserandnavigatoroftheurban
labyrinththatisKansasCity,hastakenanumberof
routesinsearchofapathwayofhisveryown.Tosumup
thistwo-personpresentation:Daharsh’sleavingoftraces
islikeconstructingthelabyrinth,whereasfollowingthe
tracesinTrilling’scollagesislikesolvingthatlabyrinth.
InHarukiMurakami’sacclaimednovel,Kafka on
the Shore,thecharactercalledOshimaputsintohisown
wordsaversionoftheKafka-esqueworldheis
attemptingtotracewhenhesays“theprincipleofthe
labyrinthisinsideyou.Andthatcorrelatestothe
labyrinthoutside.Thingsoutsideyouareprojectionsof
whatisinside,andwhatisinsideyouisaprojectionof
whatisoutside.”Thisinnerprojectionoftheouter
labyrinthwasappliedtoaprimaryobjectivefromthe
late19thcenturyandthroughoutthe20thcentury:the
humanbrain.Accordingly,FriedrichNietzsche
proclaimed,“Ifwewantedtoattemptanarchitecture
modeledonthepatternofoursoul…thelabyrinth
wouldbeourarchetype.”Andsome30yearsearlier,
NathanielHawthornewrotethattheonlythingthatwas
moreintricateandcomplexthantheCretanlabyrinth
wasthebrainofitscreator,Daedalus.Aningeniousman
whohasbeenmythologizedasapersonwhocould
solveanypracticalproblemswithhistechnicalskilland
designartistry,Daedalus’brainsignifiesthehoned
intellect,methodicalskillandingenuityrequiredofand
appliedforthegoodofallbyhisdescendants—
architects,cityplanners,andthelike.Afterall,the
peoplewhofilltheserolesincontemporarysociety
constantlyconstruct,confrontandtrytosolvetheurban
labyrinth,whichisamajordesignchallengethattests
thetheoryofnodesinmathematicsandbothcreates
andusesknowledgeatoptheslipperycommonground
betweenscience,artandrevelation.
Continuouslybuildingonthatslipperyground,
architectDavidDowellofKansasCity-based
architecturefirmeldorado,incandartistJamesWoodfill
markedaten-yearanniversaryofartistic/architectural
collaborationwiththeircontributiontotherises Zora.
Theirjointpracticefitperfectlyintotheconceptual
premiseoftheprojectsinceforoveradecadethetwo
haveconsistentlycollaboratedwithoneanotherand
withthecityscapeofKansasCity.Together,they
developpublicartworksandarchitectural
compositionsthatblurthelinesbetweenadornment,
urbanplanning,andcivicintervention.Indeed,projects
likePedestrian Strands,animageandlightinstallation
fixedontofourhighwaybridgesrepairthevisual
experienceofacross-citywalk,andPULSE,alight
andsound-basedworkthatspansthestairwellsof
downtown’sWolfParkingFacility,arebothprojectsthat
reconceptualize,repurpose,andreactivatethecity’s
urbanplaninwaysthatmoreappropriatelyreflect
contemporaryurbanactivity.DowellandWoodfillinvest
inthepossibilitiesofthecitysothattheymay
incorporateintotheircooperativeproductionanimble
abilityto,intheend,helpothersmoreenjoyablymove
throughtheurbanlabyrinth’sexpresswaysanddead
ends,itssubtlebendsandsuddenturns,anditsinside
andoutsideforms.
Fashioningwhattheycalla“Temporary
Renovation”(2013)(pl.10)forlaEsquina’sneglected
backroomjustoutsidethegalleryrestrooms,theduo
devisedasite-specificinstallationthatfocusedonthe
nooksandcranniesinherentintheurbanlabyrinth’s
buildings.Thisimprovisedyetmeticulouslyconstructed
artworkdrawsmeaningfromitsmaterials,whichimitate
andsubsequentlyhonorthosethatmakeupthespace—
fluorescentlights,builder’smetalhardwareand
fasteners,andafewbucketsforcolor’ssake.Itisan
entirelynon-functionaltemporaryrenovationthat
emphasizestheentirelyfunctionalnatureofthishidden
interiorspaceandstoredobjects.
“TemporaryRenovation”recognizesthetension
betweentwosetsofbinaries:first,isatensionbetween
themysteriouscomplexityoftheurbanlabyrinthasa
wholeandtheuniquepotentialitiesinherentinitsmany
parts.Second,isthatfoundbetweenthecontrastingyet
equallycreativerolesoftheartist—whoexperimentswith
andoftenrelishesinthequirksandinconsistenciesfound
withintheurbanlabyrinth—andthearchitect—who
utilizescreativitytosolveproblemsandeffectively
eliminatethosequirks.With“TemporaryRenovation”
18
DowellandWoodfillplayedwithperceptions—boththe
viewer’sandtheirown—ofwhatconstitutesanoverall
workingconceptandwhatfiguresasasiteofpotential
artistryorasaproblemneedingresolution.Brilliantly,
however,“TemporaryRenovation”stagedadialectical
synthesisofsuchbinariesinthatitobligedarchitect
DowellandartistWoodfilltore-evaluatethe
classificationsofproblemsandpotentialitiesintheirown
fieldsandtotrust,evenembrace,theunfamiliartools
oftheircollaboratingpartner’srespectivediscipline.In
turn,acollaborative,site-specificworklike“Temporary
Renovation”causestheartistandarchitectrolesto
becomeinterchangeable.
Suchdualitiesalsopersistinhistoriesand
philosophiesofboththelabyrinthandmodernurbanism.
GARDENPARTIES,oneofrises Zora’sperformance
programs,attemptedtoreconcileanotherbinary
opposition:natureversusartifice.Urbanparksandcity
gardensmakeforgoodcompromisesbecausesuch
placesbringnatureintotheultimatebuiltenvironment—
thecity—andtheyprovidepeacefulandsafespace
forimaginativeplay,respite,andprivacywithinand
fromthechaoticurbanlabyrinth.But,themeldingofthe
builtenvironmentandnaturetocreatesanctuaryisnot
new.Fromthe15thcenturyonward,anunprecedent-
edcreativeleaptooktheunicursal,two-dimensional
labyrinthinerepresentations,whichcouldbefollowedby
theeye,tothemulticursalhedgemazesthatonehadto
walkthroughstepbystepwithouthavingan
overallsenseofthewhole.Inthistypologyoflabyrinths
aninevitabledialogueoccurredbetweenarchitecture
andplantlife,totheextentthatthegrowthoftreesused
aswallshadtoberegulatedpatientlyandconstantly
inordertoachievetherigorousgeometrydesired.Thus
thelabyrinthbecameanorderedchaos,acontrolled
complexitythattiedinwithnaturesubjectedtothe
culturethatgovernsthewaywater,stoneandplantsare
arranged.Theseearlymodernsynthesesofnatureand
artificeviathelabyrinthfirstcroppedupinRenaissance,
ManneristandBaroquegardens,andthenlaterinthe
morevisuallyabstracteddesignoftrails,pathways,and
shrubberyorforestryfoundinparkslikeKansasCity’s
LooseandSwope.
ThefirstoftheGARDENPARTIES(pl.14-15)was
heldintherooftopgardenoftheKansasCityPublic
Library’sCentralBranchindowntownKansasCity,
Missouri.Itfeaturedtwoperformancegroupspresenting
variouspoeticworksthatconsiderednotonlythe
aforementionedbinary,butalsotheintersectionof
urbancultureandthelanguageusedtoconveythe
experienceofthatculture.Inanimprovisationalmusic
performance,Arboretum,aduetconsistingof
RhiannonBirdsallandJoeWheeler,performeda
selectionoffolk-soundingtunesforwhichphrases
sampledfromaseriesofmindmapsandwordlistswere
turnedintosonglyricsonthespot.Songsincluded
topicsandstoriesoflovechasedandlostina
sprawlingmetropolis,ofyouthfulconversation,of
non-sensicaljourneysthroughurbantheory,andmore.
Thesemi-improvisationalperformancegaveoffa
stream-of-consciousnesseffect,yetwasremarkably
prolific,poignant,andhumorous.
Exploringsimilarthemes,poetryduoJeanette
PowersandEzhnoMartinpresentedamicro-play1
exploringthevariousculturalobstaclesoneconfrontsin
theurbanlabyrinth.Thepoets,dressedin
complementaryredandblackgarbthatheldno
particularmeaningbutseemedfittingwiththe
overalltheatricalityoftheirdemeanor,moved
constantly,choreographingtheaudience’sdizzinessas
theypacedandchasedoneanotherinbigcircles
withinthecheckeredsquareoftilesontherooftop’s
patio.Deliveringaseamlessbackandforthexchangeof
poeticverse,thismale/femaleduo’slyricalprose
centeredaroundthreeconflicts:theinteractionof
variouscultures,themeldingofdifferentsexualities,and
theblurringoflowandhighbrowartisticproduction,all
inevitableproductsoftheurbanlabyrinth.
Understandingthattheurbanlabyrinth’sdifficulties
sometimeswreakshavoconthosetravelingthrough,
PowersandMartindemonstratedthatthemazeofcity
lifeforcesindividualstoeitherfindaplaceinthemelee
ortosurrendertoalifelosttothetreacherousreality
ofthelabyrinth.Atworst,thisforcedchoiceorthelack
thereofspiralsintopervasivetensionsandtragedies
inherentinthetheoryofthelabyrinthaswellasurban
culture.Atbest,thechoicemakesforinteresting
communities,fascinatingintrigue,andstrangepitstops
aswepassthroughthisthingcalledlife.
Thefactthatthelabyrinthisconsideredtobe
architectureconnectedtothenaturalworld,whichis
wellillustratedinthehumanhistoryofhedgemazes,
gardens,parksandthenaturalversusartificialequation,
alsohasaclearprecedentinClaudiusAelianus.Inhis
1 See rises ZorapoemsbyJeanettePowers
onp.54
19
workOn the Nature of Animals,thehistorianandcultural
criticreproacheshistorianswhocelebratethelabyrinths
ofCreteandotherancientcultureswhiletheyignore
the“paths,twistsandturnsandcirculartrailsofantsin
theground.”Anthillsandburrows,liketheurban
labyrinth,areacombinationofartificial(becausethey
donotoccurnaturallywithouttheants)andnatural
labyrinthinestructures,which,inthiscase,arecreated
bytheanimalsthatbuildthem,liveinthem,andmove
throughthem.Aelianus’sargumentprovidesfurther
evidencethatwemustnotforgetthattheessenceof
theurbanlabyrinth,andthenature,builtenvironments,
andcommunitieswithinit,ismovement.Despitethegreat
numberoflabyrinthsthatimposetheirstaticpresence
aroundtheworld,movementisnecessaryinorderto
enter,interactwith,andexiteachofthem;therefore,the
urbanlabyrinth,likeanetworkofanthillsandburrows,
iscomposedbythenumerousroutesofitsmakersand
users.
risesZora’sWALKINGTHEURBANLABYRINTH,
aseriesofon-footwalks/tours/adventuresledbylocal
artistsandthinkers,usedmovementasanartisticmedium
tocreativelyexplorethemythologicalandoccult
aspectsoflabyrinthsingeneralaswellasthe
unexaminedcollectivehistoriesandpersonaljourneys
containedwithintheurbanlabyrinth.For“Excavatingthe
EastBottoms”(pl.19)inNortheastKansasCity,local
resident,historian,andcommunityorganizerKenJohnson
guidedlocalsonaphysicallychallenginghikethat
touredthestoriedarea,NortheastKansasCity’s
originalbutnowovergrowndowntown.Experiencingthe
sometimestreacherousandoftenrandompathsand
occurrencesthatmakeuptheurbanlabyrinth,hikers
facedsteephillsleadingto19thcenturyandearly20th
centuryarchitecturalruins,dodgedsuspectlitterand
debrisleftbehindbycontemporarysub-cultures,and
finally,wentthroughaferociousrainstormtocatchsight
ofbreathtakingviewsofsunnyskiesfromthecrestsof
theEastBottoms’nowforestedhills.
Toinvestigatetheoppositeendofthe
locationalspectrumconceptualartpairLindseyGriffith
andCharlieMyliecoordinated“QuietintheCastle,”
(pl.18)anadventurethroughthewinding,cavernous
spacesofCrownCenter,KansasCity’sinfamous85-
acrecomplexmega-mallownedandoperatedby
HallmarkCards,Inc.Thisgiantretailandentertainment
complexhaslongstoodinKansasCityasaneconomic
center,touristattraction,andmulti-facetedbeaconof
capitalistspectacle.Itscomplicatedmulti-levelfloor
planboastscountlesshallways,corridors,stairwells,
nooks,andcrannies,nottomentionanumberofvaried
spacesforahotel,afoodcourt,multiplestand-alone
restaurantsandfranchises,retailstores,specialtyshops,
servicesalons,andmore,allofwhichdontheirown
brand’scolorpalettes,createaclashingbrandof
sensoryoverload.Intheireffortstobothpaytributeto
theplace’saestheticqualitiesandtocompetewithits
endlessdemandsforattention,GriffithandMylie
requiredparticipants,whowerenotallowedtoutter
awordlesttheybecastoutofthegroup,todressin
monochromaticallycoloredoutfits,effectively
spectacularizingthe“QuietintheCastle”groupitself
anditsactivitiesfortheviewingpleasure,ormaybe
horror,ofeveryCrownCenterpatron.Combining
differentaspectsofgroupplayandpublicpresentation,
includingparades,charades,scavengerhunts,and
gameslikeSimonSaysandRedLightGreenLight,Griffith
andMylieorchestratedastrangeadventurethrough
thiscapitalistlabyrinth,whichishousedintheheart—just
northofdowntownKansasCity—oftheurban
labyrinth.Astheywalkedsinglefilethroughthrongsof
shoppersandtheirchildren,thegroupwasclapping,
holdinghands,skipping,orevenjumpinginwater
fountainsastheirshamelessleaderscommanded.
Eventually,theCenter’scrowdbecameaccustomed
tothegroup’sshenanigansandwithoutmuchthought
shruggedthewholethingoffasjustanotherpeculiartrip
throughtheurbanlabyrinth.
PerhapsthemostepicoftheWALKINGTHE
URBANLABYRINTHexpeditions,“ExaltedForever”(pl.
20)wasablindfoldedtour-cum-cultishritualorganized
byMeganMantia,LeoneReeves,andthefictionalyet
able-bodiedcharacterofGhymanJohnson.Roughly
thirtyparticipantsRSVP’dfordirectionstoasecret
place,andthenshowedupatalocationthathadbeen
disclosedwithinapersonalizedinvitationsentthrough
thepostalservice.Someparticipantshadtheirfaces
paintedlikedogsandcats;othersdidnot.Theyallwore
blackhoodedcapescustom-madeforthemby
“ExaltedForever”organizers.Afterafewminutes
waitingandgettingtoknowtheirfellowwalkers,awhite
vanpulledup,screechingtoasuddenhalt.Anequal
numberofhoodedfiguresjumpedoutandquickly
pairedthemselvesoffwiththeparticipants,
communicatingthattheyweretheir“see-ers.”They
blindfoldedeachparticipant,andexplainedthatthey
20
wouldbetheireyes.Withquietlycalm,matteroffact
voices,thesesee-ersinformedtheirdesignated
participantthattheywouldguideandensurethesafety
andcomfortacrossthecitytoyetanotherundisclosed
location.
Theguidedtourproceededacrossparks
andboulevards,inandoutofsupermarkets,bars,
andrestaurants,throughtheurbanlabyrinth’swinding
landscapeoftextures,sounds,smells,andmore—someof
whichwerereportedtohavebeenperceivedasquite
chaoticanddisturbing,whileotherssurprised,delight-
ed,andmystifiedtheparticipantswhosenon-visual
sensesintensifieddramaticallysanssight.Naturally,this
paradeofblindfolded,hoodedpeoplebeingledby
thehandsofotherhoodedindividualsspeakingineerily
softandsoothingtonesprompteddifferentcomments
andresponsesfromonlookers;however,forthepersons
involved,confusionquicklyfadedawaytobereplaced
byclose,symbioticrelationshipsbetweensee-ersand
participants.Interestingly,duetotheabsolutetrust
requiredonthepartofparticipants,strongbondsthat
willlikelylastforeverwereformedbetweentwopeople
whohadlikelynevermet.
Recountingherexperienceasablindfolded
participant,KansasCitianandartistLynnBenson
explainsthat:
Blind folded, it became all about concentrating and
letting go at the same time. The sounds and terrain and
smells and conversations and, for me, analogies to
parenting, friendship, religion, community, alternate
worlds, et cetera, rose to the fore. Barking dogs, traffic,
the sound of lots of shuffling feet at once, [a] Les
Miserable singer! I kept thinking about the phrase
“sentinels in the night” as I proceeded on from that
point… I held my see-er’s hand and enjoyed the trip.
Whenthepairsreachedabackyard
decoratedwithtwinklinglights,drippingcandles,anda
bonfire,see-ersunmaskedtheirparticipantsand
initiatedthem.Initiatedthemintowhat,noonecould
say,buttheyknew,andnotjustbecauseMantia,Reeves,
andJohnsontoldthemso,thattheirsharedexperience
wasanadventureinspiredbyandattributedtothe
possibilitiesnurturedbytheurbanlabyrinth.They
feastedandtheydanced.Andtheywere“exalted
forever”astravelersthroughtheurbanlabyrinth.
Thebulkoftherises Zorapublicevents
focusedonthewayswhichKansasCityartistsand
culturalworkersengagewiththeurbanlabyrinth.Indeed,
artisticpresentationsmadeaspartofFIELDWORKS,a
programmaticplatformthatallowedartiststoactivate
theurbanlabyrinththroughaseriesofsite-specific
investigationsandproductions,highlightedthequirks,
theintricacies,andthecharmingrandomnessofthe
constantlyshiftingcity.JeffEaton’s“NON.IMG”(pl.22)
performanceofassemblageandmetapoetrycentered
arounddescriptivewordsculledfrombothstock
photographsandtheparticularitiesoftheperformance
setting—AndrewK.Dripp’spark,whichismerelyabridge
overI-35onKansasCity’sWestside.Inspiredbythe
wanderings,errors,passesandimpassessituatedwithin
KansasCity,MnemosyneDuo’s“RelevantSound”
(pl.26)transformedtheunderbellyofaCrossroad’s
DistrictI-35overpassintoasoniccathedralof
instrumentalsandrecycledurbansoundsgeneratedwith
thehelpofpeoplepassingunderthebridgeonfoot
orbycar.Similarlyrelyingonurbansettingsforcontent,
performanceduoGotch&Hansontookaneight-hour
journeythroughtheurbanlabyrinth.Aspartofthis
journeyandperformedartworktitled“revelationis
lockedinmotion,”(pl.23)thetwosomecarefully
consideredtheinputandrecommendationsoftheir
multipleaudiencesinordertochoreographavariety
ofartisticresponsestospecificsitesandsituations;they
documentedeveryaspectoftheirmovements;and
measuredtheendurancedemandedbythemultiple
methodsoftransportationneededtotraversethecity.
EachFIELDWORKSeventorprogramcastKansasCity
artistsandaudiencesintheinterdependentandinter-
changeablerolesofAriadne(theguide)andTheseus
(theconqueror),demonstratingthatwhileartistsoften
leadaudiencesonaquestformeaning,theyusuallyde-
pendonaudiencestodetermineexactlywhatisworth
makingmeaningful.
Returningtothefieldofvisualartistic
representation,themovingimagehasmadeahefty
contributiontotheiconographyoftheurbanlabyrinth,
notjustduetothealternatingviewsmadepossiblein
theeditingprocess,orthejourneysalongcitystreets
usingthesubjectivecamera,but,inparticular,by
identifyingwiththenarratorsandcharactersthatlead
viewerstoexperiencethefullgamutofthoughts,
emotions,andsensationsthattheexperienceofthe
urbanlabyrinthinvolves:disorientation,anguish,fear,
desire,courage,search,persistence,prudence,despair,
ingenuity,voyeurism…thelistgoesonandon.rises
21
Zora’sMOVIESINTHEPARKINGLOT,(pl.21)afilmseries
curatedbyChicago-basedAcademyRecords,didtwo
things:first,bysettinguphugeinflatablemoviescreens
aroundtheKansasCitymetropolitanareainvarious
parkinglots,whichKansasCityproperaveragesmoreof
persquaremilethananyotherurbanareaintheUnited
States,theprogramhighlightedthisuniqueaspectof
thelocalurbanlabyrinth,allowingArttotransformsites
intocentersofculturalactivityandrenewal(afterthe
carshadbeendrivenhomefortheday).Secondly,the
selectedfilmsandvideosconnectedthemesofthelocal
urbanlabyrinththatisKansasCitywiththerestofthe
worldbyextendingthedialogueandcomparingand
contrastingKansasCitywithotherurbanlabyrinthsnear
andfar.Ineffect,MOVIESINTHEPARKINGLOTenabled
anotherkindoflabyrinth—thenetwork.Inanetwork,
eachpointcanbeconnectedtoanyotherpoint,which
makesitpossibletotravelaround,presumablythrough
aninfinitenumberoflabyrinths.Initsconjunctiveessays,
AcademyRecordsshowsviaMOVIESINTHEPARKING
LOTthatfilm,likeliterature,music,visualartingeneral,or
theInternet,utilizesthetransportingaspectsofaccu-
mulatedandnewlyacquiredknowledgetoillustratethe
vastnessofthenetworkthatexistsbetweentheworld’s
urbanlabyrinths.
Andthat’sjustit—theessenceoftheurban
labyrinthisthesurprisinglyendlessabundanceof
knowledgetobeacquiredwithinit.Inordertotruly
learnfromtheurbanlabyrinththatisKansasCity,or
anycityforthatmatter,wehavetogetoutthereand
move;wehavetorelentlesslyexplore,document,and
applycreativity,imaginingourselvesascontemporary
Daeduluses,Theseuses,Ariadnis,andMarcoPolos.rises
Zoraartistshavedonethis,andtheywillcontinuetodo
sobecausetheyknowthatthelabyrinth,especiallythe
urbanlabyrinth,hasnoend.Atitsexitistheopportunity
tomovethroughanotherandthenanotherandsoon.
Thepossibilitiesareendless.
-Jamilee Polson Lacy
Jamilee Polson LacyCharlotte Street Inaugural Curator-In-Residence
JamileePolsonLacyisacuratorandwriterbasedin
Chicago.LacyistheInauguralCurator-In-Residencefor
CharlotteStreetFoundationinKansasCity,whereshe
organizesexhibitions,educationalprogrammingand
publicationsforCharlotteStreet’sgallery,laEsquina.In
Chicago,Lacyadditionallyoperatesasthefounding
directorofTwelveGalleriesProject,atransitory,
collaborativeexhibitionexperiment.Shehasengaged
insoloandcollaborativeprojectswithmanycreatives
andinstitutions,includingA+DGalleryatColumbia
CollegeChicago,TheBlackVisualArchive,Chicago
Artists’Coalition&HatchProjects,SchooloftheArt
InstituteofChicago,HydeParkArtCenter,Museumof
ContemporaryArtChicago,WesternExhibitionsand
QuiteStrong,amongothers.Inadditiontonumerous
catalogueessays,interviewsandarticles,Lacyhas
publishedColor:FullyEngaged,abookofinterviews
andessays,andwrittenfor Flash Art’s Umelec Magazine,
Art 21 and Bad at Sports.Lacyholdstwo
undergraduatedegreesinstudioartsandarthistory
fromtheSchooloftheArtInstituteofChicagoanda
MastersofComparativeLiteratureandArtsfromNorth-
westernUniversity.
22
RISES ZORA plates
1. rises Zora, 2013, installation view at Charlotte Street’s la Esquina, Kansas City, Missouri
2. rises Zora, 2013, installation view at Charlotte Street’s la Esquina, Kansas City, Missouri
3. rises Zora, 2013, installation view at Charlotte Street’s la Esquina, Kansas City, Missouri
27
4. rises Zora, 2013, installation view at Charlotte Street’s la Esquina, Kansas City, Missouri
5. rises Zora, 2013, installation view at Charlotte Street’s la Esquina, Kansas City, Missouri
7. Gerry TrillingJitterbug: Taking Over the City, 2010
6. Gerry TrillingSQ111 Color Line, 2011
8. Chris DaharshUntitled (Pedestal Piece) (detail), 2013
9. Chris DaharshStumbling Block, 2011/2013
30
10. David Dowell and James Woodfill“Temporary Renovation,” 2013, installed for rises Zora in the tool room of Charlotte Street’s la Esquina, Kansas City, Missouri
11. rises Zora Communication Headquarters, 2013, installation view at Charlotte Street’s la Esquina, Kansas City, Missouri
32
12. rises Zora Communication Headquarters featuring Jessica Palko’s labirinto urbano, 2013, installation view at Charlotte Street’s la Esquina, Kansas City, Missouri
13. Jessica Palkolabirinto urbano detail, 2013
33
15. Musical Duo Arboretum at Garden Party #1, 2013, Kansas City Public Library Rooftop Garden
14. Poets Ezhno Martin and Jeanette Powers at Garden Party #1, 2013, Kansas City Public Library Rooftop Garden
16. Performance group Hyperkewl enacted “The Relics Project” at Garden Party #2, 2013, Loose Park, Kansas City, Missouri
17. “The Relics Project” (detail) at Garden Party #2, 2013, Loose Park, Kansas City, Missouri
34
18. Lindsey Griffith and Charlie Mylie led “Quiet in the Castle” for the Walking the Urban Labyrinth series, 2013, Crown Center, Kansas City, Missouri
35
19. Ken Johnson led “Excavating the East Bottoms” for the Walking the Urban Labyrinth series, 2013, Northeast Kansas City, Missouri
36
20. Megan Mantia, Leone Reeves, and Ghyman Johnson led “Exalted Forever” for the Walking the Urban Labyrinth series, 2013, Kansas City, Missouri
21. Movies in the Parking Lot #1 curated by Academy Records of Chicago, 2013, Downtown Kansas City, Missouri
39
22. Jeff Eaton performs “NON.IMG” for the Fieldworks program, 2013, Andrew K. Dripps Park, Kansas City, Missouri
23. Gotch & Hansen perform a small part of “revelation is locked in motion” for the Fieldworks program, 2013, Kansas City, Missouri
41
24 and 25. Documentation from Laura Isaac and Maritza Ruiz-Kim’s “You are not here. Parts I an II” for the Fieldworks program, 2013, Kansas City, Missouri
42
26. Mnemosyne Duo performed “Relevant Sound” for the Fieldworks program, 2013, undeneath I-35 at Southwest Boulevard and 25th Street, Kansas City, Missouri
43
27. m.o.i. performed “Unlearn: Ask an artist about science” for the Fieldworks program, 2013, Crossroads District, Kansas City, Missouri
44
28. Erika Lynn Hanson set up “Manner of Looking at, or Regarding Something” for the Fieldworks program, 2013, Stockyards District, Kansas City, Missouri
Movies in the Parking Lot
Curated by Chicago’s ACADEMY RECORDS
Kansas City is made up of a network of roads,
boulevards, highways and other pathways for
automobiles. Parking lots, too, are aplenty in here, and
they tend to exist in a singular fashion: They are places
to store cars. However, they could operate more like
parks and gardens, as pit stops along the way through
the urban labyrinth, as sites that facilitate community
interaction and creativity. The Movies in the Parking
Lot program moved towards repurposing parking lots
throughout Kansas City by showcasing, on a grand
scale, urban labyrinth-themed works by video artists and
filmmakers—some contemporary, some past, some local,
some international. Just like a movie in the park program,
this series brought people together to take advantage
of and consider the many possibilities of their city’s
unique urban plan.
Notes from Academy Records
Program 1
May 22, 2013
Copaken-Brooks Parking Lot in Downtown Kansas City
Man of Action
Transfilm Productions, 1955
As a call, a herald of what one person can do when
facing the colossus of urban planning and governmental
oversight, this short animated film shows where and how
the needs of the many should outweigh those of the few.
In Transfilm Productions Man of Action , we see how one
person can lead a community of conscientious citizens
to work together to provide for that greater good,
thusly circumnavigating the many arms of policy. Creat-
ed by HUAC blacklisted animators Maurice Rapf and
David Hilberman, who both previously worked on Disney
classics Snow White, Bambi, and the anything-but-PC
Song of the South, this animation provides us here in the
“comfy environs” of 2013 the much needed perspective
on how to slow down our communities and make a more
sustainable existence to benefit the majority. Transfilm
contracted out the job to Rapf and Hilberman (whose
name was named in McCarthy’s hearings by none other
than Walt Disney), but due to political forces they were
forced to complete this paen to American ingenuity in
England, with the help of Digby Turpin and Frank Cordell.
Niterover
Barry Anderson, 2012
Although there is layered depth to these images
composed by Kansas City-based artist Barry
Anderson, Niterover is collaged stasis—we find ourselves
48
in place yet moving laterally through a long tracking
shot of horizon that keeps us, the audience, distant from
the menacing growth of fragmentation. Missing is the
linear perspective needed for the impact of time to
signal fully the outcomes of natural landscape and
sprawl. We only have the overlap of these existing
images to convey the weight of use, non-use, and
possible re-use necessary to further the social contract
drafted by the urban environment.
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth
Chad Freidrichs, 2011
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, Program 1’s feature film, provides
real life context to the issues dramatized in the two
preceding selections. Examining the impact of public
housing and urban planning on a discrete
community (unlike the anywhere cities and scapes
in Man of Action and Nightrover), Pruitt-igoe asks a
question of its viewers: as both community members and
citizens of a greater group, can we effectively maneuver
through political challenges and economic growth and
still have the stamina to learn from history and embrace
the urban labyrinth?
All the great explorers
Are now in granite laid
Under white sheets for the great unveiling
At the big parade
- For the Turnstiles, Neil Young
Program 2
June 3, 2013
Livestock Exchange Parking Lot in Stockyards District
If Program 1 was about citizens getting lost in growth
and sprawl, then Program 2 presents the reverse with
what awaits us in the labyrinth—the minotaur. As
development spreads outward from the center,
citizens become unwitting accomplices and confidants
of corruption and neglect, bearing witness to the effect
of said growth on the communal psyche. Through our
gaze, the functionality of brick and mortar monoliths
and paved avenues become monuments to tools long
since left behind in the rise of technology and economic
globalization. The danger zone here is not the
construction site, abandoned lot, or weakened
structures of industry long lost. Rather, it is what awaits at
the center—the machinations of man himself.
Le Bled (Buildings in a Field)
Jem Cohen with Luc Sante, 2009
With Jem Cohen’s Le Bled (Buildings in a Field), we listen
as Luc Sante pulls us through this abstract city left
undone. In Tangiers, miles away but not dissimilar to the
American Midwest, we see the synthesis of the
isolated countryside with a city, once optimistically in
flux, now oppressed by the stasis of a number of mitigat-
ing circumstances.
Practice Process: Classical
Caitlin Horsmon, 2013
Kansas City filmmaker Caitlin Horsmon presents a new
work, Practice Process: Classical. This is an exposition
on the harsh and geometric landscape of the Stockyard
District, a part of town still in use by the cattle industry
and now creeping toward revitalization and/or
gentrification as artists and creative entrepreneurs move
in. Turn of the century buildings designed for warehous-
ing and transit are rehabbed into shops, lofts, and stu-
dios in hopes to bring about a newly energized econ-
omy. As reconciled landscapes emerge here, relics of
past identities serve as constant reminders of what once
was. Indeed, as Practice Process: Classical suggests, X
marks the spot, or any spot for that matter.
Hands Over the City
Francesco Rosi, 1963
Our feature in Program 2 is the 1963 Francesco Rosi film,
Hands Over the City. Starring Rod Steiger in a career
highlight role as Edoardo Nottala, an advantageous
suburban developer in postwar Italy, this film becomes
an allegory wherein labyrinths of political largesse,
49
individual gain, and civic dreams collide into a
nightmarish network of immorality. With Steiger playing
‘the Man’ as minotaur, the newly alienating landscape of
a modernizing Naples casts the citizens as a sacrificial
Ariadne lost inside the machinations of civic politics’
labyrinth. At the film’s end, we can only hope that a
string, or something like it, will guide a hero, or something
like one, through this tangled network to save the
proletariat from the brutality of ‘the Man’ and his farce.
Motion pictures on my TV screen
A home away from home, livin’ in between
But I hear some people have got their dream
I’ve got mine
- Motion Pictures, Neil Young
Program 3
June 7, 2013
Charlotte Street Foundation Headquarters Parking Lot in
Crossroads District
The City
American Documentary Films, 1939
Originally created for exclusive presentation at the
1939 New York World’s Fair, The City features a litany of
proto-American modernes coming together to make a
plea for the suburbs. With commentary supplied by Lewis
Mumford, The New Yorker’s architectural critic, the film
takes an odd stance: First, it romanticizes the not-so-
distant past of pre-industrial revolution hometowns; then,
it moves on to stress the problems of crowded
depression-era cities. By the film’s end, we are brought
full tilt into a clarion call for suburban epiphany thanks
to the wonders of the culprits—technology and
industrialization. Mumford, who later became known for
his growing pessimism of technology (see his Technics
and Civilization), sees through the suburbs’ sheen of
perfection in this almost allegorical tale of treading
lightly towards the “new and improved” industrial state.
Interestingly, the suburbs would become Mumford’s
barometer for a place that signified industry’s failure
to produce lasting quality products in favor of built-in
fragility and superficial fashion changes.
Untitled
Lindsey Fernandez, 2013
If ever there were a soundtrack fitting for a house, David
Bowie’s Low would surely emanate from inside this home.
The cold and delineated images that Fernandez
constructs in Untitled’s sharp black and white scenes
pair well with Todd M. Christiansen’s Eight Danger Zones.
Fernandez brings us into the tactile through her
constructed sets of a domestic interior that is being
surveilled if not burgled. As such we the audience are
not merely voyeurs, we are instead held in captivity as
we monitor Modernist interior and exterior states from
both beyond and behind bars.
Eight Danger Zones
Todd M. Christiansen, 2012
In Eight Danger Zones, we venture into a possible
approximation of what William Burroughs might’ve called
‘the Zone’, an ever-shifting space of hierarchy and
authority. Though bleating surveillance blasts and
makeshift digital structures, we continuously journey
through the past as either inmates or homeowners in this
short loop of a peeping Tom’s architectural/urban gaze.
A Propos de Nice
Jean Vigo, 1930
Whether taking an objective lens or a subjective stance,
remember that while in transit through the various
neighborhoods offered up by Program 3, we can always
take a particular vantage point to see both sides at
once. With A Propos de Nice, a short travelogue of the
city in all of its French Riviera-ness, we can see Nice
hasn’t changed much in the last 80 years—there is old
Nice and older Nice. Somehow though, it all ends up
feeling like Miami—the city is one big beach party. Like
any good Mediterranean town, there is not much time
spent indoors here, so the hierarchy of who uses the
town versus who makes the town run is apparent. Enough
so that it gives us a sense of not only the superficial
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fashion changes brought on by those of us who can
afford respite, but the fragility and impermanence of
those that make it all possible.
The Weak Bullet
Tony Oursler, 1983
Returning to construction and suburbs, Tony Oursler’s
The Weak Bullet gives us a scrawled public service
announcement, or at least an invitation, to look upon
the horrors and awkwardness that hides behind your
neighbor’s walls. The constructed sets and awkward
illustrations only reinforce The City’s plan for the future
and the inevitable outcome of Eight Danger Zones.
Surveillance might just be a simple re-telling, but there is
certainly no Mr. Rogers placidly waiting for us to arrive
back home to this neighborhood. Watch where you
point that thing as you travel along the interiors and
exteriors of this early Oursler piece.
The Indian Boundary Line
Thomas Comerford, 2010
For the feature selection, we have The Indian Boundary
Line by Chicago’s Thomas Comerford. Seated directly
on the fulcrum point of what’s coming and going,
Comerford leads us through a historical shifting of where
one thing is and where the other thing might have once
belonged. The Indian Boundary Line ties up all the
selections of Program 3 through the filter of history, the
effects of industrialization on a neighborhood, and the
ultimate out-moding and displacement that comes with
all of it. We often hear a critique of gentrification, but it
might actually be a built-in not foreseen 80 years ago
as those first trucks left the docks with new goods to
benefit the masses. In this masterful flick, time rather than
industry shifts the power balance required for a
neighborhood to provide an identity to its dwellers
through a space of desire, development, and so-called
progress.
I saw the movie and I read the book
But when it happened to me
I sure was glad I had what it took
To get away
- Sedan Delivery, Neil Young
Program 4
June 12, 2013
City Market Parking in River Market District
At its conclusion, the Movies in the Parking Lot program
has explored various constructions of time. Time
provides hindsight if not context to what the past
presented and what the future may portend. If we isolate
the shifting tide to just one day, alienation emerges
within the landscapes in which we are so harshly placed.
Here in the Midwest, the unreachable horizon is broken
by trees, hills, and parks (both industrial and natural).
The labyrinth of any given day can seem like a week or
indeterminably more, and it is in those moments of
forward looking/past searching realization that we find
ourselves.
A Room with the Walls Blasted to Shreds and Falling
Jennifer Reeder, 2001
In Jennifer Reeder’s 2001 video, we follow a travelogue
of an average day in Ohio. The protagonists are many,
yet they all operate sequentially. From dawn to dusk,
the heaviness of time is played out by long avenues,
expansive fields, and mundane tasks that are so common
place in a Midwest small city or suburb. Though we can’t
be sure how long it will take to actually cross the parking
lot, we can find out that it sometimes takes a whole lot
longer than mowing the yard. Each of life’s moments go
on nearly forever here, and you get the sense that it’s
still oppressively the same today.
Product Placement Black Friday
May Tveit, 2013
In a continuation of an ongoing series, Kanas City artist
May Tveit gives us a bit of product placement. As we
trudge alongside her to get these goods back to the
promised land, we are annointed to the cult of Black
Friday, the biggest shopping day. Take notice of the
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edits here—in opposition to Reeder’s piece, Product
Placement Black Friday’s shots compress time for the
viewer while simultaneously amplifying the durational
and physical task undertaken by the central figure of
Tveit herself.
Last Year at Marienbad
Alain Resnais, 1961
The feature film of Program 4 and the keystone film of
Movies in the Parking Lot series is Alain Resnais’ Last
Year at Marienbad. Staying pretty true to the originally
penned novel of the same title by Alain Robbe Grillet,
the methodical style of the screenplay’s words
miraculously convey Resnais’ acute sense of space
and time. Marienbad’s fractured story line moves us
away from our prior two selections’ ideas of sequence in
that we are placed heavily in a disjointed love triangle
that may be taking place now, then, or never. As in the
legend of the Cretan Labyrinth, which Theseus travels
in order to halt the sacrifice of Ariadne to the Knossos
Minotaur, there is only one correct path though there
are many to choose from. With the intense overlays of
outcomes and results and the general uneasiness that
comes with starting the venture, sometimes progress
made seems futile. If the labyrinth produces anything, it
surely must be time. Marienbad gives us with a
protagonist who will stop at nothing to break the veil
of time for love, while Tveit’s video contrastingly gives
us more a sense of continuity as the reels of time roll on.
Ultimately, our feature film, and the rises Zora Movies in
the Parking Lot program in general, forces us to cross
the threshold into the urban labyrinth, where we begin a
journey that guarantees we will get stuck in the middle
somewhere between here and there.
If somebody is haunting your mind
Look in my eyes, let me hide you
From yourself and all your old friends
Every good thing, comes to an end
Drive back, drive back, drive back
- Drive Back, Neil Young
ACADEMY RECORDS is an aegis for live performance,
recorded events, and printed ephemera. Producing
works and scenarios that take on lives both immediate
and enduring, Academy Records projects are often
collaborative and inclusive, and many include different
kinds of creators, including aural, visual, and
performing artists, designers, writers and filmmakers. In the
past, works have consisted of independently produced
7-inch records, live broadcast radio plays, 16mm films,
performances and large-scale sculptural installations,
curated screenings and multi-media events. Each having
contained within them a printed element, every
Academy Records’ project is concept, time, or site-
specific, and usually of a DIY nature to encompass
various networks and participants offered up by smaller
economies. Therefore, Academy Records’ productions
purposefully utilize simple means, readily available
resources, and experimental ideas spawned from local
culture.
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RISES ZORA poems
- Selected works by Jeanette Powers
THE PUZZLE
I don’t know if you know this but the labyrinth made famous byaguywhocouldn’tflyoutofit without coming unglued was built by a king for one and only one purpose: toconfineandconfuse a half-ling man-bull who apparently only dined on teenage children whom the king naturally got from his neighbors.
So that mythological maze was built and maintained as an elaborate prison for a man-eating he-beast.
But mazes are built for more practical purposes, too:
Egyptians took slaves by the millions and made those massive monuments which I don’t know if you know are no more than elaborate grave markers tomakefinding their dead kings and queens
quite treacherous.
Hedge mazes are made for fun dilly-dally, silly little rich lady Sunday parasol laughter on the afternoon air,
same with the dime-store mazeswith a silver ball encased in plasticor printed on newspaper grade puzzle books your grandfather gave you afteramorningfishing or at the farmer’s market and the two of you traced the hidden path with a red crayon.
These mazes— so much entrapment and escapism.
You go in one side and out the other start at the outskirts and stop at the center sometimes you end where you begin
are we the same, after, as when we went in?
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I don’t know if I know.
But we are enchanted.Each labyrinth lives on inside of us.
Not because it is where Theseus killed the Minotaur orwhereIcarusflewfree and then drowned away or where King Ramses sheltered his body and his curses and his hoard of treasure.They are more than a symbol of our excess or our leisure more than the memory of a man who raised you, whiskers and warm hands.
They are the stories we tell,they are a puzzle we could solve.
MAZE BUILDERS
We are here because of an idea— the idea took form and theme a puzzle a labyrinth it seemed, which
we were presented withor born intoandmustfindoutway into or out of.
who put it here?Who laid the stonework?Who designed this?
this, which is less maze and more citywith cul-de-sacsand other nice waysof saying dead endsand ways to get lostor feel lostand overwhelmed
and it’s literal and it’s a metaphorand it’s where we live and what we createbecause the great secret is
that we are the maze builderscontinuing the constructionof constricting corridorsof consciousness and cause
we are building buildingsand agendasto keep outand keep in
to punish and pleasure
laboring over the labyrinthsof soul and mind and cityand the gutter and the ivory towerare connected whetherwe like it that way or not
and to stay on one side orthe other is to say I’m happy with never seeing past this limited visionof the corner I’ve come to know so well
We are the maze buildersadding wings to the Remington Mansionbuilding more walls on top of what we were born into
We are the maze builderswe are the city foundersthe writers of law and lorethe architects of confusionin the name of clarityor protection
creating a convolutionbecause at the heart of every mazeis a solutionandstillweareneversatisfiedwe get to the center
andfindourwayoutagainthen hunt the next mind gamebecause it’s too terrifyingto admit under the wide horizon of truthwhere her gaze guarantees there is no guarantee
but that we built the puzzle, the trapwe navigate our way to where we turn back
and it seems to me that the reason to build all these wallsis so that we might draw a nice solid line which shows us
INTO THE CITY
You enter the cityand don’t even know what you don’t know
you’re like that guy from the turnip truck who just fell off and chews on a blade of grass after it’s lost its whistle
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all happy go plucky at the corner of 10th and Broadway.
If you go North, you’ll hit the riverwith its underside of bridges and burning abandoned tables and chairs for warmth and light to see your hands and her face by.
And if you go West, thehumofsalsaandfishand the men in their moustaches keep the women in the kitchen speak when spoken to and the children all speak two languages.
And East, east past Troost, where if the windows aren’t barredthey are boarded up, abandoned, condemned and the youth are the only ones whose voice you hear but their words are a threat and the best advice is to turn back.
You realize, you’ve lost your whistle, too. so you retreat into the city
the nightlife, the jazz dive, the symphony, theflamers,thecrossdressers, the alienated artists all drinking their way to something to say and taking the bar home to the afterparty.
The turnip truck seems a long way from home, nowand you’ve woken up again on a stranger’s couch.
So you head South, into the tidy outposts of order:those well-heeled and wool coated out-to-lunchnine-to-fivers where the tables and chairs are forever set for guests who never arrive, because they were never invited.
You enter into the city all brand new and unaffectedandthenarethrustfacefirst into every extreme you didn’t know you didn’t know existed and you won’t leave unscarred.
--
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RISES ZORA program itinerary
RISES ZORA COMMENCED AT LA ESQUINA
WITH A SERIES OF INSTALLATIONS
May 10 - June 15, 2013
A two-person exhibition featuring
Chris Daharsh & Gerry Trilling
A temporary renovation by
David Dowell & James Woodfill
The rises Zora communication headquarters featuring
labirinto urbano by Jessica Palko and an informational hub containing research, literature, maps and more.
RISES ZORA WALKING THE URBAN LABYRINTH
Exalted Forever
Ghyman Johnson, Megan Mantia and Leone Reeves
Thursday, May 23 at 7:30pm in a Secret Place
(location disclosed to participants only)
“Exalted Forever” was a blind tour of the Valentine
neighborhood, where the urban labyrinth’s magic and
mystery united to demonstrate the rewards of group
adventures.
Quiet in the Castle
Charlie Mylie and Lindsey Griffith
Sunday, June 9 at 2pm at Crown Center
Griffith and Mylie coordinated a silent adventure
through the winding, cavernous spaces of Kansas City’s
infamous mega-mall. Participants were dressed
monochromatically as they walked single file along
corridors and through shops, restaurants and more.
Excavating the East Bottoms
Ken Johnson
Saturday, June 15 from 1 - 4pm at Kansas City Museum
In Northeast Kansas City, local resident and historian
Ken Johnson led a hike through the historical East
Bottoms, Northeast Kansas City’s original but now
overgrown downtown.
RISES ZORA FIELD WORKS
NON.IMG
Jeff Eaton
May 14 at 9pm at Andrew Dripps Park Walking Bridge
(Belleview and 16th Streets)
Jeff Eaton’s “NON.IMG” performance of assemblage
and meta poetry centered around words culled from
lived urban experience as well as descriptive passages
derived from images which documented that lived urban
experience at a remove.
You are not here. Parts I and II
by Laura Isaac and Maritza Ruiz Kim
May 24th and 25th
(an on-foot journey relayed to audiences over
Twitter, Facebook, and www.risesZora.virb.com) 60
For “You are not here. Parts I and II,” Laura Isaac of
Kansas City and Maritza Ruiz Kim of San Francisco
virtually guided one another on walking tours of their
home cities, all the while documenting the trials and
tribulations of guided experience through various online
and social media platforms.
Manner of Looking at, or Regarding Something
by Erika Lynne Hanson
May 29 from 7 - 8:30pm in the Stockyards District near
Genessee and 16th Streets
For this installation in the Stockyards District, Erika Lynne
Hanson set up a series of props conveying numerous
metaphorical scenarios typical of any labyrinthian
narrative.
Unlearn: Ask an artist about science
m.o.i. aka Minister of Information
May 29 from 7 - 8:30pm in the Stockyards District near
Genessee and 16th Streets
June 7 from 6 - 8pm in Downtown Kansas City near
McGee and 10th Streets
For “Unlearn: Ask an artist about science,” m.o.i. aka the
minister of information displayed graphics which
conveyed a series of conceptual geographies
exploring the transitional labyrinths of language, image
and understanding.
Relevant Sound
by Mnemosyne Duo
June 7 from 6 - 8pm on the Westside under the
I-35 overpass at Southwest Boulevard and 25th Street
Directly referencing the wanderings and errors, passes
and impasses of the urban labyrinth, Mnemosyne Duo
transformed the underbelly of this overpass into a sonic
cathedral made up of instrumentals and recycled urban
sounds.
revelation is locked in motion
Gotch & Hanson
June 9 from 11am - 7pm,
(an all-day performance broadcast to audiences via
Twitter, Facebook and www.risesZora.virb.com)
Together, unconventional sound and movement duet
Gotch & Hanson took an eight-hour journey through the
urban labyrinth, documenting and measuring the
endurance demanded by the multiple methods of
transportation available in one’s own city.
RISES ZORA GARDEN PARTIES
Garden Party #1
Thursday, May 16 at 6pm
at Kansas City Public Library Central Branch
rooftop garden, 14 West 10th Street, top floor
Arboretum
With lyrics composed from travel phrases and word
maps, this male-female folk band’s songs conjured up
visions of a fantastical city ever-ready for experimental
activity.
Jeanette Powers + Ezhno Martin
With back and forth exchange of individual poetic
verse, Powers + Martin presented a micro-play exploring
the various cultural obstacles one confronts in the urban
labyrinth.
Garden Party #2
Saturday, June 8 at noon at Loose Park near the Battle
of Westport Cannon
Hyperkewl
Amidst the trees and history of Loose Park, artist
collective Hyperkewl set up “The Relics Project,” a
costumed performance event investigating the residual
effects of urban navigation.
RISES ZORA MOVIES IN THE PARKING LOT
Movies in the Parking Lot #1
Wednesday, May 22 at 8:30pm
in Downtown Kansas City
at Copaken Brooks parking structure
on Baltimore Avenue and Petticoat Lane
Featured Kansas City video artist Barry Anderson’s
Nightrover. Additionally showed The Pruitt-Igoe Myth by
Chad Freidrichs and Man of Action by Transfilm.
Movies in the Parking Lot #2
Wednesday, May 29 at 8:30pm in the Stockyards District
at the Livestock Exchange parking lot
on Genessee and 16th Streets
Featured Kansas City video artist Caitlin Horsmon’s
Practice Process: Classical. Additionally showed Hands
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Over the City by Francesco Rosi and Le Bled
(Buildings in a Field) by Jem Cohen with Luc Sante.
Movies in the Parking Lot #3
Wednesday, June 12 at 8:30pm in the Crossroads
District at Charlotte Street’s headquarters’ parking
on
25th Street and Southwest Boulevard
Featured Kansas City video artists Todd M.
Christiansen’s Eight Danger Zones and Lindsay
Fernandez’s Untitled. Additionally showed Indian
Boundary Line by Thomas Comerford as well as The
Weak Bullet by Tony Oursler, A Propos de Nice by
Jean Vigo and The City by American Documentary
Films.
Movies in the Parking Lot #4
Wednesday, June 12 at 8:30pm in the City Market
parking lot at 20 East 5th Street
Featured Kansas City video artist May Tveit’s
Product Placement. Additionally showed Last Year
at Marienbad by Alain Resnais and A Room with
the Walls Blasted to Shreds and Falling by Jennifer
Reeder.
RISES ZORA contributor biographies
Barry Anderson
Barry Anderson is an artist living and working in Kansas
City, Kansas. His work has been show in Chicago, Los
Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, St. Louis, and internation-
ally in Arab Emirates, Canada, Cuba, England, Finland,
and Thailand, among other places. Anderson holds a
BFA in photography from the University of Texas at Austin
and a MFA in photography and digital media from the
University of Indiana - Bloomington. He now teaches as
an associate professor of fine art at the University of
Missouri - Kansas City.
Arboretum
Arboretum is an experimental acoustic musical duo con-
sisting of Rhiannon Birdsall and Joe Wheeler, who both
live and work in Kansas City, Missouri.
Todd M. Christiansen
Todd M. Christiansen is an animation and video artist
living and working in Kansas City, Missouri.
Chris Daharsh
Chris Daharsh is an artist living and working in Kansas
City, Missouri. His work has been shown at City Ice Arts
Project, H&R Block Artspace at KCAI, Paragraph +
Project Space, and Spraybooth Gallery, all in Kansas
City, Missouri, and at Carnegie Arts Center in
Leavenworth, Kansas. Daharsh holds a BFA in painting
and art history from the Kansas City Art Institute.
David Dowell / JamesWoodfill
David Dowell is an architect and educator living and
working in Kansas City, Missouri. Dowell joined el
dorado, inc as a partner in 1998. His projects have
been recognized in Architect Magazine,
Architect’s Newspaper, Architecture Record, Art in
America, Detail China, Dwell, Interior Design
Magazine, Kansas City Star, Metropolis, and Space
Korea, among other publications. In 2008, he received
an Award for Distinction from Washington University’s
Sam Fox School in St. Louis. Dowell currently sits on the
University of Kansas Architecture Department Advisory
Board. Dowell co-founded a graduate design/build
studio at Kansas State University with el dorado partner
Doug Stockman, and has also taught at the University
of Kansas and Lawrence Institute of Technology, both in
Lawrence, Kansas; Washington University in St. Louis,
Missouri; and the Technical University in Dresden,
Germany.
James Woodfill is an artist and educator living and
working in Kansas City, Missouri. Woodfill’s work has been
reviewed in Art In America, Art Papers, New Art
Examiner, I.D. Magazine and Sculpture Magazine, among
other publications. He has received a Charlotte Street
64
Foundation award and was awarded a multi-year
studio grant from Review Studios in Kansas City, Missouri.
Woodfill holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute
and now teaches there as an assistant professor in the
painting department.
Jeff Eaton
Jeff Eaton is an artist and curator living in Overland Park,
Kansas. Eaton’s work has been shown at the
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri;
SIGNAL and Terminal Projects in Brooklyn, New York;
Mass MoCA in Boston, Massachusetts; and
Smith-Stewart and Bortolami Gallery in New York City,
New York, among other venues. In 2010, he was a
curatorial fellow at the Neuberger Museum of Art. Eaton
holds a BFA in photography and art History from the
Kansas City Art Institute and a MA/MFA in studio art and
art history from SUNY Purchase College.
Lindsay Fernandez
Lindsay Fernandez is an animation and video artist living
and working in Kansas City, Missouri.
Gotch & Hansen
Gotch & Hansen is an unconventional movement and
sound duo consisting of Jane Gotch and Shawn Hansen,
who both live and work in Kansas City, Missouri.
Erika Lynne Hanson
Erika Lynne Hanson is an artist living and working
Pheonix, Arizona. Her work has been shown at Dean’s
Gallery, UMKC, H&R Block Artspace, Town Pavilion,
Spray Booth Gallery, Paragraph + Project Space, City
Arts, Dolphin Gallery, The Fahrenheit Gallery, The Vault
Gallery, Destination Gallery, and Plug Projects, all in
Kansas City, Missouri; Tompkins Projects in Brooklyn, New
York; Monument2 in Chicago, Illinois; Columbus
Museum of Art in Columbus, Ohio; Soo Visual Arts Center
in Minneapolis, Minnesota; North/South Gallery and
Oliver Art Center in Oakland, California; and Bruce
Galleries, Candystore Collective, Fishspace, and Make
Hang Gallery, all in San Francisco, California. She has
also received a Charlotte Street Foundation award in
Kansas City, Missouri. Hanson holds a BFA in fiber from
Kansas CIty Art Institute and a MFA in fine art from
California College of Arts. She now teaches as an
assistant professor of fiber and social practice at
Arizona State University.
Caitlin Horsmon
Caitlin Horsmon is an artist, curator, and scholar living
and working in Kansas City, Missouri. Her films and videos
have been shown at film festivals and in galleries around
the world and are distributed by The Collectif Jeune
Cinéma in Paris.
Laura Isaac / Maritza Ruiz-Kim
Laura Isaac is an artist living and working in Kansas City,
Missouri. Her work has been shown throughout the US,
including in Miami, Florida; Grand Rapids, Michigan;
New York City, New York; and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
She holds a BA and a MA in studio art from the
University of Missouri – Kansas City.
Maritza Ruiz-Kim is an artist living and working in San
Francisco, California. Her work has been shown at
Compound Gallery in Oakland, California and Sandra
Lee Gallery in San Francisco, California, among other
venues in Brooklyn and New York City, New York;
Santa Fe, New Mexico; Miami, Florida; and
Provincetown, Massachusetts. Ruiz-Kim holds a BFA in
new media genres from the San Francisco Art Institute.
Lindsey Griffith / Charlie Mylie
Lindsey Griffith is a conceptual artist living and working
in Kansas City, Missouri.
Charlie Mylie is a conceptual artist living and working in
Kansas City, Missouri.
Ghyman Johnson / Megan Mantia / Leone Reeves
Ghyman Johnson is a conceptual artist living and working
in Kansas City, Missouri.
Megan Mantia is a conceptual artist and photographer
living and working in Kansas City, Missouri.
Leone Reeves is a conceptual artist living and working
in Kansas City, Missouri.
65
Ken Johnson
Ken Johnson is a local historian and community organizer
living and working in Kansas City, Missouri.
Ezhno Martin / Jeanette Powers
Ezhno Martin is a poet and performer living and working
in Kansas City, Missouri.
Jeanette Powers is a poet and visual artist living and
working in Kansas City, Missouri. Her first book of poetry,
Absolute Futility, was published by Write The Future Press
in 2012.
Mnemosyne Duo
Mnemosyne Duo is an experimental music and sound
duo consisting of Russell Thorpe and Brad Van Wick,
who both live and work in Kansas City, Kansas and
Missouri.
m.o.i.
m.o.i., aka the Minister of Information, is an artist and
environmental scientist living and working in Kansas City,
Missouri.
Jessica Palko
Jessica Palko is an artist, arts administrator, and historian
living and working in Lawrence, Kansas.
Gerry Trilling
Gerry Trilling is an artist living and working in Kansas
City, Kansas. Her work has been shown at Byron Cohen
Gallery, H&R Block Artspace at KCAI, Jan Weiner Gallery,
la Esquina, and Massman Gallery at Rockhurst College,
all in Kansas City, Missouri; Carnegie Arts Center in
Leavenworth, Kansas; and Craft Alliance Gallery in St.
Louis, Missouri, among other venues. Trilling holds a BFA
in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute.
May Tveit
May Tveit is an artist and educator living and working in
Kansas City, Missouri. Tveit’s work has been reviewed in
Art in America, Art Papers, National Public Radio,
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The Kansas City Star, and Review Magazine. Her work
has been shown at Review Studios Exhibition Space,
Belger Art Center, Gallery Village, H&R Block Artspace,
and Avenue of the Arts, all in Kansas City, Missouri, and
at the Spencer Museum of Art in Lawrence, Kansas,
among other venues. She has received a Charlotte
Street Foundation award and was awarded a multi-year
studio grant from Review Studios in Kansas City, Missouri.
Tveit holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design
and a MID from Italy’s Domus Academy. She now teaches
as an associate professor in the design department at
the University of Kansas.
RISES ZORA credits
About Charlotte Street
Over 16 years, Charlotte Street has challenged,
nurtured, and empowered thousands of artists,
distributed almost $900,000 in awards and grants to
artists and their projects, and connected individual
artists to each other and to the greater Kansas City
community. Charlotte Street—with its community of
artists—strives to be a primary catalyst in making Kansas
City a vibrant, creative metropolis, alive with
collaboration, passion, ideas, and surprise.
For more information about Charlotte Street, its awards,
programs and initiatives, visit www.charlottestreet.org.
rises Zora was presented as part of
Charlotte Street’s Curatorial Residency Program
Through its new Curatorial Residency Program,
Charlotte Street Foundation is creating opportunities for
outstanding emerging curators from around the
country to immerse themselves in the arts ecosystem of
the Kansas City region. The program provides multi-
faceted support for an annually selected
curator-in-residence to develop and present original
contemporary arts programming responsive to and
inclusive of the work of Kansas City-area artists.
Teaching partnerships with the Department of Art at
University of Missouri-Kansas City and Kansas City Art
Institute further connect the curator-in-residence with
area art students.
rises Zora Sponsor
Lead support for rises Zora and corresponding
publications has been generousely provided by the
Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation.
Documentation Credits
Cover images by Jamilee Polson Lacy; reproduction
rights belong to Charlotte Street Foundation and
Jamilee Polson Lacy
First title pages image courtesy of artists Mnemosyne
Duo; reproduction rights belong to artists, Charlotte
Street Foundation, and Jamilee Polson Lacy
Second, third, and fourth title page images by Jamilee
Polson Lacy; reproduction rights belong to Charlotte
Street Foundation and Jamilee Polson Lacy
Plates 1 -12 photographic documentation by E.G.
Schempf; reproduction rights belong to Charlotte Street
Foundation and Jamilee Polson Lacy
Plate 13 image courtesy of artist Jessica Palko;
reproduction rights belong to the artist
Plates 14 -17 photographic documentation by Jamilee
Polson Lacy; reproduction rights belong to Charlotte
Street Foundation and Jamilee Polson Lacy
Plate 18 photographic documentation by Stephen
Lacy; reproduction rights belong to Charlotte Street
68
Foundation and Jamilee Polson Lacy
Plate 19 courtesy of artist Megan Mantia;
reproduction rights belong to artist, Charlotte Street
Foundation, and Jamilee Polson Lacy
Plate 20 photographic documentation by Leon Jones;
reproduction rights belong to Charlotte Street
Foundation, Kansas City Museum, Leon Jones and
Jamilee Polson Lacy
Plate 21 photographic documentation by Stephen
Lacy; reproduction rights belong to Academy Records,
Charlotte Street Foundation, and Jamilee Polson Lacy
Plate 22 photographic documentation by Jamilee
Polson Lacy; reproduction rights belong to
Charlotte Street Foundation and Jamilee Polson Lacy
Plate 23 courtesy of artists Gotch & Hansen;
reproduction rights belong to artists, Charlotte Street
Foundation, and Jamilee Polson Lacy
Plates 24 -25 courtesy of artists Laura Isaac and
Maritza Ruiz-Kim; reproduction rights belong to artists,
Charlotte Street Foundation and Jamilee Polson Lacy
Plate 26 courtesy of artists Mnemosyne Duo;
reproduction rights belong to artists, Charlotte Street
Foundation, and Jamilee Polson Lacy
Plate 27 photographic documentation by Jamilee
Polson Lacy; reproduction rights belong to Charlotte
Street Foundation and Jamilee Polson Lacy
Plate 28 courtesy of artist Erika Lynne Hanson;
reproduction rights belong to artist, Charlotte Street
Foundation, and Jamilee Polson Lacy
Nightrover video still on page 39 courtesy of artist
Barry Anderson; reproduction rights belong to the artist
Practice Process: Classical film still on page 40 courtesy
of artist Caitlin Horsmon; reproduction rights belong to
the artist
Untitled video still on page 41 courtesy of artist Lindsey
Fernandez; reproduction rights belong to the artist
Product Placement Black Friday video still on page 42
courtesy of artist May Tveit; reproduction rights belong
to the artist
69