One of the new things this year at the Rogue is a formal "Meet the Artists" format in which some of the festival's featured visual artists get a turn in the spotlight. I attended the Saturday afternoon session, which included mini-presentations by Aileen Imperatrice, Edward Stewart and Rattananan K. Moerdyk. (Three more sessions are scheduled, including one at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday).
It was an interesting 45 minutes. I'm not sure if it should be classifed as a "show" or belongs as a scheduled event for a ticket price in a performance festival. Imperatrice shared her decision to go the "pop art" route for the Rogue, including enormous homages to the old-fashioned-style TV dinners. (Remember with the foil on top and the cherry cobbler in the dessert slot?) Stewart explained some of his newest work of specific Fresno locations, including a view of the City Hall and an intriguing burned outline he made of the Fresno Water Tower. Moerdyk, originally from Thailand, offered some insights on her bas relief art -- a style that she developed in part because it's cost effective, always a concern for artists and one that sometimes results in fascinating results -- and shared some of its personal meanings.
A couple of comments on the format: Featuring three artists in 45 minutes seemed rushed. Not much time for questions was available. I'm not sure if a longer block of time could be reserved for this format, or perhaps fewer artists featured at each session.
And while I certainly don't begrudge giving visual artists a chance to earn a few bucks from their participation in the Rogue, I don't think the $4 charge really works for this event. Like it or not, the art-delivery model is different for visual artists than performance artists: The visual folks sell their work by the piece, while performance artists are selling a more ethereal commodity based on time. Traditionally, people pay to VIEW art but not to listen to artists talk about that work. I think there's something to say for that tradition.
I know I might get grief from visual artists who feel a little left out in the Rogue -- and I certainly think it's nice to give those visual artists some exposure during the festival -- but the fact remains that this event is formatted as a performance festival. Not fair? Maybe. But visual artists get a whole host of advantages over performance artists in terms of society's art-delivery model (think galleries that can be open on a daily basis, museums, etc.) Sponsoring an open house for visual artists at the Rogue would expose more people to their work. Making it into a "performance" doesn't ring right to me.
Playing: 8:45 p.m. Wednesday (Edward Stewart, Rattananan K. Moerdyk, Erynn Richardson with a special guest appearance by Dominic Barajas, the 2009 Rogue Muse artist); 6:15 p.m. Friday (Sandy Schulte-Day, Aileen Imperatrice, Edward Stewart), 1 p.m. Saturday (Rattananan K. Moerdyk, Erynn Richardson, Sandy Schulte-Day), Ashtree Studios, 1035 N. Fulton St. Cost: $4.
Interesting, with this being the first year we're still trying to find the right fit. It is important to give the viusal artists their due and maybe tweaking the format from this year for next years... thank you for the support and the suggestions on how to improve it next year :)
donald, thanks for coming to the show and sharing your thoughts. as you are one of the people who routinely review art hop i'd love to hear thoughts about the art as well.
the dedicated rogue gallery could be a good option. i know renee and i have been chatting about it & the lack of the a place for sculpture over here. it really could be an interesting different component. as is, the artists get the rogue hop & arthop, but those are both free events. and unless we sell something, we don't see any financial benefit directly from the rogue. i don't know if anyone would say they're doing it for the money, but it does help. i know that if i can recoup my entry fees through the 'meet the artists' i'll feel it's been a success.
unless you're going to just make it a performing arts, it's good to at least try to figure out ways to incorporate the visual artists in the festival. i'm not trying to disagree with you donald, but as someone who has been in the festival for the last three years, this is the first time i've really felt a part of it. the previous two years, i would talk to people either @ the tail end or after the festival and mention that i was a part, and they were generally stunned. then after explaining where exactly my pieces were, they usually had seen them, but wouldn't have had any connection to me as a person or artist. that's probably more the norm if it's in a gallery. but rogue's not a gallery.
overall, i appreciate that this year the festival is trying different things, and trying to embrace a broader arts community. i'm glad to have a chance to share my thoughts on the pieces. i do agree that the time gets rushed, especially if you talk a lot (like me). i know i would've liked to take more time answering questions than i did, but alas, fifteen minutes runs out so quickly.
finally, at $4 we're still one of the cheapest shows out there.
I don't think performers who participate in Rogue think about making the profit from Rogue too much. I think they do it because they love to do it. Just like visual artists, even we don't make any money, we still keep doing it. Yes, we don’t have to pay money to see art at galleries or arthop, but we don’t get to know what artists really want to explain about their artwork. Some people might think, it’s not important because they had never known how interesting it is about artist’s motive and inspiration. Visual art in the Rogue gives opportunity to open new attitude for the people. The art isn’t only the decoration and something for people to look at it. It’s more value in the meaning. “Meet the Artists” is a kind of talk show, to share the opinion, stories and attitude. I don’t think it’s different from performance. For my opinion, this year is first year for visual art in Rogue, so we do not really know how it will be. It may not be the perfect performance but it is a good start. I believe if you open your mind, next year will be the better when artists really know what they’re doing. It will be more interesting than this year. I think there are too many artists in 1 gallery.
At the end of the Meet the Artists presentations many people said that hearing the Artists speak about their art was very interesting and made them appreciate the pieces much more than just looking at them without any additional information. I don't think it matters that this was not a 'performance' or a 'show' in a traditional sense because that is the Spirit of the whole Festival -- experimentation, unpredictability, new ideas. If it can't be done at a Rogue Festival then where? I think trying this opens the event to all kinds of additional creative experimentation. The most exciting aspects of the Festival, for me, are the surprises and nontraditional ideas.