Wednesday, February 27, 2013

A Poet and Prairie Girl in the City

When I was in Chicago in mid-February for From Motion to Stillness, an art exhibit opening & release reading for Poets and Artists Magazine, held at Zhou B Art Center, I also had the good fortune to attend Prairie, an art installation soundscape by Shawn Decker, at the Chicago Cultural Center, the next day!!

The Cultural Center is a wonderful institution, with lots of free programming, beautiful art, and activities for all ages and abilities.  It also shows how truly multicultural Chicago is. "My kind of town, Chicago is..." (Now you've got that song in your head!) (And so do I.)

Anyhoo, here is my account of the experience in an EIL Blog post at Escape Into Life. "Poetry in (Eco) Motion." I was lucky enough to be there when one of the companion events was happening, too, a short ballet: On the Prairie: Elemental, by the Elements Contemporary Ballet company. Talent, grace, silence. The only sounds, in addition to clicking and whirring of the exhibit, were the padding and running of feet, breathing, and sometimes the dancers' hands slapping their bodies.

And here's poet and artist Alice George walking through the Prairie created by her husband!


3 comments:

Sandy Longhorn said...

Oh wow! Wish I were closer to Chicago (My kind of town...right back at you!). I would love to see this piece.

Maureen said...

Oh, this looks like something I'd enjoy! Wish I could get out that way. The diagrammatic at the link makes the construction look very complicated, yet there's a lovely simplicity to the installation as shown here.

(Had trouble leaving message on EIL.)

Kathleen said...

Thanks for checking it out, you two! Maureen, I'm not sure why you couldn't comment at EIL. I checked the post itself, and comments are allowed, so maybe there is something goofy at the site today. Try again later, if you like!