i wrote this with another artist a few years back when i worked with a group called the Canadians. none of us were actually Canaidan, but we had a work space which we called Canada. inspired by the Spice Girls, we each chose mildly descriptive names. i'm not going to tell you which one i am, as i'd like people to guess.

the Campers are a constantly changing group of artists who go out in the woods during the summer months and work on folk art and become a little more one with nature.

-.cola.-

Canadian Contributors:

Handy, Campy, and Sassy were the Canadians performing. Oral was appearing in LA at the time and was thus unable to contribute.

Notes:

the Canadians each brought their unique skills to the piece.
Sassy had been working with stickers for several months and her work in the 'Hello My Name Is' field is considered by many to be visionary.
Handy recently completed her now famous 'Trunk and Key' project (well known for its extensive use of duct tape) and was ready to tackle new frontiers.
Campy was fresh from a stint with in the mountains with the Campers. she learned new techniques with an artist who crafted works from common household items such as pipe cleaners and buttons.

The Max was completed through a coalition with the Campers. we felt the it was important to add fresh ideas to the show and the Campers offered experience in several different media.
Krypton is an established spoken word performer. she reaches her grass-roots audience through a regular radio engagement facilitated by a university in MN.
Bobcat is an accomplished composer. her indie work has been well received and is currently preparing for formal training.

the addition of their skills helped us to break through the constrictive boundaries of working in any single media. each contributor in the international ensemble is an auteur in her own right. by building on all of our extensive talents we were able to create our masterpiece -- The Max.

part of the piece's innovation is the use of "found" objects and an evolving canvas. the chance discovery of post-it notes and pen allowed us to have an unprecedented dialogue with our canvas -- the city. our guerrilla use of public and private space allowed us to both preserve and alter. walking through the street we enhanced the landscape with our insightful additions. because the canvas was organic we had a unique opportunity for improvisation. we were able to interact with people -- giving out post-it notes -- and immobile objects -- putting post-it notes on windows, street lamps, cars, ect. as we entered the train car, our movement study progressed from dramatic to static as players and stage exchanged functions.

we were also able to attract interest through the use of vocals. we incorporated both song and speech into our piece, which allowed people to relate to our work on multiple levels. from evocative to obscure, the music was able to draw in a broad audience.

by activating sensory reactions on multiple levels (through post-it notes, "conversation", song, and body language) we effectively executed the concepts we wished to explore. the overall reaction was positive (the train conductor asked us for an encore). we did have a bit of negative reaction from some audience members (one rather articulate man called us 'terds'), but we feel that this was due to lack of exposure to our nouveau minimalist techniques. we were a bit challenging, but we feel that with continued exposure we will be able to edify the masses. bringing art to the people is our most important goal.

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