Overton Park and Rust Hall will become a playground for creativity on Saturday, as the Memphis College of Art’s Cinema 7 ensemble hosts an “art bike” parade and the (interactive) installation exhibit, ENTER=ACTIVE. Cinema 7 is a collective of MCA students comprised of an experimental video production class, taught by Associate Professor Jill Wissmiller.
In the past, the class was more studio-centric, but this semester, Wissmiller says that discussion of the concept of play led the tight-knit group to attempt to re-envision the conventions of a screen – originally with an exhibition at Power House for this year’s Live from Memphis Music Video Showcase, called Triggered. Using the interactive software, Isadora, the students created different programs as artistic games in which an outside user could control and compose both audio and video.
Setting the stage for adults to play like kids and thinking about art in a novel way became the focus of a larger project and the basis of ENTER=ACTIVE, on display from 8 to 10 p.m. at Rust Hall.
Kaitlyn Chandler created a piece for the sidewalk in front of Rust that acts as a full-body music-maker, wherein a projector and camera communicate to trigger sounds when someone dances on the colored grid below. Amanda Willoughby made a racing game for the facade of the building, where players will use standard video game controllers to navigate mazes, also mapped to color grids over Rust’s iconic screens. Working with the concept of digital painting, Stephen Harris’ piece will take viewers into the separate layers of a painting with a 3-D image projected onto a traditional canvas surface.
The bike parade is set to start at 3 p.m., with bikes decorated by MCA students as well as members of the community. Envisioned by Cinema 7 member, Aimee Easter, the parade is intended to promote awareness, encourage bicycle travel, and provide an unusual opportunity for creative expression. People are welcome to decorate bikes on-site and anyone can participate, with absolutely no registration required. Check-in for art bikes will take place in front of Rust Hall at 2 p.m. and live music will be going on all day.
