themes for Mangola :: Austin project
We are looking for collaboration around 3 themes: family, beauty, authority.
1. What is community/family/belonging? Artists often struggle with belonging. The lone wolf. The isolated genius.
2. How do we view beauty? do we want to own it, do we cherish it, are we jealous of others who 'have it'? Do you as an artist feel used or exploited for your talent. What does it mean to be a star?
3. How do we feel about authority (political, spiritual, social) as artists? Do we feel threatened or protected by it? Do we trust it?
We're centering around 3 venues or places that represent these themes:
1. The Eastside, which is a strong family-based community of different ethnic backgrounds (and also where a majority of Austin artists have moved in the last decade). At the same time this community has been unintegrated with the rest of Austin and gentrification threatens the character as well as the community aspect that Austin desperately needs.
We want to celebrate this part of the city, of family, with a theatrical parade.
2. The River (formally known as Ladybird Johnson/Town Lake), along which are the fastest developing property schemes in Austin. Rivers are beautiful, but we want to own them. How does Austin feel about this, as a piece of art itself, as a river? Is it inevitable? But even more important, how would we go from viewing a beautiful thing as an "it" or something we can use, to something that is whole and dynamic? How can we teach others how to do that as well?
We want to create a performance piece with costumes, music and dance about different views of beauty along the river.
3. The Castle. One of the Austin symbols we strongly identify with is the old TMI Castle, which as been formerly: a military school, a , and more recently offices for the city's largest property development company. It has the widest 360 view of the city of anywhere downtown. It has been in various states of repair and disrepair over the last 5 years. How does Austin view its authorities or the place of biggest vision? What would you say if you could live and see from this castle all the time?
We want to create a series of film and visual art (photography, illustration) about castles and what they represent. We are also looking for short films about daily life in Austin, so that Austin can be viewed from the micro and the macro.
1. What is community/family/belonging? Artists often struggle with belonging. The lone wolf. The isolated genius.
2. How do we view beauty? do we want to own it, do we cherish it, are we jealous of others who 'have it'? Do you as an artist feel used or exploited for your talent. What does it mean to be a star?
3. How do we feel about authority (political, spiritual, social) as artists? Do we feel threatened or protected by it? Do we trust it?
We're centering around 3 venues or places that represent these themes:
1. The Eastside, which is a strong family-based community of different ethnic backgrounds (and also where a majority of Austin artists have moved in the last decade). At the same time this community has been unintegrated with the rest of Austin and gentrification threatens the character as well as the community aspect that Austin desperately needs.
We want to celebrate this part of the city, of family, with a theatrical parade.
2. The River (formally known as Ladybird Johnson/Town Lake), along which are the fastest developing property schemes in Austin. Rivers are beautiful, but we want to own them. How does Austin feel about this, as a piece of art itself, as a river? Is it inevitable? But even more important, how would we go from viewing a beautiful thing as an "it" or something we can use, to something that is whole and dynamic? How can we teach others how to do that as well?
We want to create a performance piece with costumes, music and dance about different views of beauty along the river.
3. The Castle. One of the Austin symbols we strongly identify with is the old TMI Castle, which as been formerly: a military school, a , and more recently offices for the city's largest property development company. It has the widest 360 view of the city of anywhere downtown. It has been in various states of repair and disrepair over the last 5 years. How does Austin view its authorities or the place of biggest vision? What would you say if you could live and see from this castle all the time?
We want to create a series of film and visual art (photography, illustration) about castles and what they represent. We are also looking for short films about daily life in Austin, so that Austin can be viewed from the micro and the macro.
