Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: For the past week, a handful of dancers/creators/artists from The Space Upstairs in Point Breeze have been coloring Downtown sidewalks and streets with vibrant chalk art and dance. They’re calling it “Thought Pockets,” a pop-up outdoor series running through Friday that features improvised dance and abstract drawings.
4 comments:
This is one of the reasons I love pittsburgh. The art of the city is shown in so many spontaneous ways. I think this is one of those ideas that just causes happiness, and I think that world could use many many more of them. Around our campus chalk is used often to promote an event, and sometime to have positive motivation. I have always thought of it as art, some of my favorites I have pictures of on my phone, and it does really look like art when shown side by side. I would love to see one of the dances and the chalk drawing, to see the interaction being the dancer and the visual artist. I think their is something so simple, and beautiful in the idea of chalk art because it is such a simple kids toy that can become something so much more, and still washes away without any trace by water and rain. I hope that one piece is done around campus and that I can see it, because even just seeing the chalk around would be interesting, seeing the performance would be incredible.
This seems to be an incredible mix of street and performance art that really captures the imagination. i love art that brings itself to an audience like a drummer on the subway, because it shows people art even if it wasn't in there schedule. how many people go to art openings or dance shows or even museums. quite a few, but it seems that in today's fast paced life people have less and less time to care about art. Thats why i think this kind of work is so important because even if it made one person smile or think it was worth it. Art like this is so important. It also is a telltale sign that Pittsburgh is a city that really supports the arts.
The concept as explained in the article makes a wonderful point on how art can be so pleasantly viewed as a simple opportunity to slow down and appreciate one's surroundings. From what I observe, most people who claim not to be "into art" dislike above all else the experience of going to a gallery, standing in a vast white-walled room and attempting to make something of the purely visual while everyone else seems to just "get it." By placing a simple and straight forward concept in the path of the general public's everyday routine, "Thought Pockets" removes the pretension and importance of the viewing experience and allows its unsuspecting audience to encounter the exhibit without feeling inadequate. This type of display makes art something for everyone, with everyone, about everyone, rather than closing its steel-framed glass doors on all but an elite few. More so, the use of chalk and movement in an everyday space removes the mystery of how the piece is made and allows the audience to take part in the process. "Thought Pockets" is a simple but expansive idea, and I hope to see more performance art like this in Pittsburgh in the future.
This article reminds of a YouTube video where a man was holding a cello, and a girl put a coin in the hat that was in front of him. Then he started playing Beethoven’s Ode To Joy, and then slowly a bunch of people playing different instruments started to join him and then an entire chorus. It was simply beautiful, and made me want to cry. That connection between performance and audience was so close, as you felt as if they were surrounding by music and beauty. I LOVE interactive performances like that and this one, which I must say I am very curious to see for myself. I could only imagine how peculiar the sight of a person dancing and some person drawing with chalk in accordance to the music must have been; I wonder how it looked. In Los Angeles, the places I saw interesting performances like this were on 3rd street Promenade in Santa Monica, and downtown LA/Hollywood. And my favorite ones where always the one that either acknowledge the audience, included them, or were part of them. For example, the tree man. A person who dressed like a mossy tree and stood on stilts that went around and interacted with people/scared them half to death. It was always so fun and interesting to watch. I guess I’ll just have to make trips to Penn Ave.
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