Tetramurmur-An Immersive Environment

Four Minnesota Artists Inspired by Vincennes

We are looking forward to bringing a different kind of exhibition experience to Vincennes, that will start off with November 4th’s First Friday Art Walk (5-8 pm).

Last spring we invited four Minneapolis area artists, Liz Miller, David Hamlow, Theo Goodell, and Rachel Jendrzejewski, to visit Art Space Vincennes and if interested, develop some exhibition ideas.  During a weekend in April, they studied the gallery rooms, explored our Main Street, and did some photo documentation of the area. Later they asked for additional photographs of our great Main Street architecture.  I supplied them with a photo of the facade of every building on Main, plus others just off Main that I thought they would enjoy using.

Based on the material they collected the four artists collaboratively created this proposal:

“Tetramurmur: An immersive Environment is an imaginative contemplation of time in tandem with the natural and built environment of Vincennes. All three ASV exhibition rooms will be transformed into futuristic landscapes inspired by shapes, patterns, and forms found in local native flora and fauna as well as architectural detail on Main Street. Accompanied by dreamlike texts and sound, the galleries become immersive sanctuaries for meditating on the ever-shifting relationships between nature and humans. This project is created especially for Art Space Vincennes by installation artists Liz Miller and David Hamlow in collaboration with performance artists Rachel Jendrzejewski and Theo Goodell.”

 

We at Art Space Vincennes have been surprised at our visitors’ positive response to our downtown. Too often we have taken our buildings for granted and have even neglected them, failing to use our architecture as a valuable resource!  As downtown revitalization efforts continue, the Tetramurmur proposal fits in with putting energy toward preserving and appreciating those resources.


The work on this project has been going on since April. In less than a week, we will have the opportunity to see aspects of our hometown through the imaginative eyes and ears of four artists from Minneapolis and Good Thunder during the First Friday Art Walk opening on November 4.

What about the name, Tetramurmur?  Tetra, obviously refers to the four artists. Well, heh, heh, it could also mean November 4, the date of the opening!  Murmur? Well, you will just have to see and hear for yourself!  Plan to join us on November 4, between 5 and 8 pm.Back Story to Tetramurmer:

Rachel Jendrzejewski and her partner Theo Goodell have both been involved with writing and interdisciplinary art over the past six years. Last summer Rachel worked in collaboration with Minneapolis-based SuperGroup to present In Which ___and Others Discover the End at Minneapolis gallery Public Functionary. The production included text, music, movement, choreography, special lighting effects and an expansive installation piece by installation artist Liz Miller. Miller’s piece filled the gallery and during the performance served as the set. It consisted of densely hung felt and paper configurations perforated with shapes and patterns. Liz and her spouse David Hamlow, who is also a visual artist, live and work in Good Thunder, Minnesota, southwest of the Twin Cities.

CityPages.com, considered a definitive source of information for news, music, movies, restaurants, reviews and events in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area listed In Which ___and Others Discover the End I the Best Gallery Show for 2015. Their review stated: “For Public Functionary, which prides itself on being a non-traditional space for inclusiveness and creativity, Miller’s installation and the collaborative performances took that mission to a new level.”

Since Art Space Vincennes opened its doors in October 2013, we’ve been interested in hosting events that make use of the specific spatial experience our building can provide. The Third Coast Percussion performance in January 2015, the theatrical sketch “An Evening with Frida” by Shar and Jack Mahoney in August 2015 and this year’s Book Signing with J. Patrick Redmond and others are examples of events that departed from a visual exhibition of art. They were events within the space, though not specifically about the space. Tetramurmur will use the unique spaces of the gallery as installation components. The intent is to offer an awareness-heightening experience in an imaginary environment inspired by our town.

 

Biographies of the Tetramurmur Artists

Rachel Jendrzejewski is a writer and interdisciplinary artist who grew up in Vincennes and currently is based in Minneapolis. Her work has been developed and/or produced at the Walker Art Center, Red Eye Theater, Padua Playwrights, Wild Project, Playwrights Horizons, Rhode Island School of Design, and Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. Rachel is a 2015-17 Core Writer at The Playwrights’ Center and previously was honored with a Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellowship, as well as grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Network of Ensemble Theaters, Irrigate Arts, and Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Behind the scenes, Rachel has served in staff positions at Cornerstone Theater Company (Los Angeles), The Grotowski Institute (Poland), and Upstream Arts (Minneapolis). She holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Brown University.

Theo Goodell is a writer and interdisciplinary artist, originally from the Boston area and currently based in Minneapolis. His work has been developed and/or produced at In the Heart of the Beast, Red Eye Theater, Brown University, Padua Playwrights, A.R.T. Institute, Playwrights’ Horizons, National Theater of Alston, Imaginary Beasts, New Exhibition Room, The Cloud Club, Suffolk University, and others. In 2015, he co-wrote with Rachel Jendrzejewski SLEEPING BETWEEN WORLDS, a screenplay based on stories invented by adults with disabilities, which was commissioned and made into a feature-length film by Midwest Special Services. He also periodically works as a performer and puppeteer, most recently appearing in Bart Buch’s ODE TO WALT WHITMAN at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis. Theo holds an MFA in Playwriting from Brown University.

Liz Miller received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA from the University of Minnesota. Miller’s large-scale, mixed-media installations and works on paper have been featured in solo and group exhibitions in the United States and abroad. One-person exhibitions include venues such as The South Dakota Art Museum; Redux Contemporary Art Center (Charleston, SC); 1708 Gallery (Richmond, VA); David B. Smith Gallery (Denver, CO); and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Miller’s awards include a 2013 McKnight Professional Development Grant from Forecast Public Art; a 2011-12 McKnight Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists; a 2011 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant; a 2007-08 MCAD/Jerome Foundation Fellowship; and Artist Initiative Grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014, and 2016. Miller lives and works in Good Thunder, MN. She is Professor of Installation and Drawing at Minnesota State University-Mankato.

David Hamlow received an MFA in painting and drawing from the University of Minnesota in 2005. Hamlow was awarded a McKnight/PRAC fellowship grant in 2013, and Minnesota State Arts Board grants in 2001, 2009 and 2016. Hamlow exhibits regionally, nationally and internationally, including Above Is Below at the Minneapolis Institute of Art; Cashing Out at the Kala Institute, Berkley CA, and 9 x 12 in Budapest, Hungary. Resent solo installations include Drop City Redux at the University of WI Oshkosh and A Book of Hours, Coe College, IA.