By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The Rim of the World Road Concert that visited the mountain this last weekend was an interactive and immersive experience of performance art from numerous points of view and artistic perspectives spread throughout the mountain communities.
The art popups were performed using parks along the Rim, Heaps Peak Arboretum, the Twin Peaks Community Center, several businesses and even homes in the mountain communities. This free demonstration of artistic expression was enjoyed by hundreds over the two-day art installations. Some of the locations had the artist present and others were just installed and to be self-explored.
Members of Rim of the World Poets shared Poems from a Mountaintop at Heaps Peak Arboretum. (Photo by Mary-Justine Lanyon)
Some examples of the art installations were Manuel Macias’ “Enchanted Fairy Garden” where he opened his back yard creations of miniatures, gnomes and fairies. Another was a knitting demo with the artist and her knitting wrapped around the tree at a turnout along Highway 18.
On Saturday Jay Lynn Gomez did her plein air painting, “Greetings from Lake Gregory.” Some art installations were interactive including the Velcro “color forms” pieces that the visitor placed on a flat mannikin in front of Paper and Clay bookstore, where the viewer could put different arms, hair, heads clothing on the picture. Inside the store were miniature dioramas of numerous books such as The Martian and others as demonstrated by the store owner.
At Twin Peaks Community Center were several installations. One was anti-littering with a walking stick with all the litter from a hike in the forest attached, crying out for hikers to be considerate of the environment.
Heaps Peak Arboretum was host to several installations, including the Mountain Top Poets who read locally written poems all afternoon on Saturday and Sunday. Karin and Tori guided folks as they created cyanotypes – laying dried flowers, leaves and feathers on glass, then topping them with light-sensitive paper and exposing them to sunlight for three minutes. After washing the paper in water and then hydrogen peroxide, they hung the creations up to dry.
Tori and Karin watch as Sarah lays out the items she has chosen for her cyanotype. (Photo by Mary-Justine Lanyon)
Some performance artists were there only one day or the other of the weekend. Most of the performance art and some of the art installations lasted only a few hours.
This was all the brainchild of Stephen van Dyck who had coordinated road concerts eight times previously in the Hollywood and Los Angeles area. He had been working on this performance for over a year and started choosing and investigating this area over a year and a half ago, after the news stories about Snowmaggedon attracted his attention. He has been visiting the area since, getting information and attracting local artists to be involved.
There were over 70 artists who participated; comments from those who viewed the events were positive about the creativity and the concept. A final of the locations was published on www.theroadconcert.com just days before the event.
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