Introduction
Upon our initial meeting with the Scottsdale Museum of
Contemporary Art (SMoCA) the museum development staff charged us with creating an exciting new benefit gala that
raises funds to support the mission and vision of SMoCA. “Night
Circus at SMoCA” Loosely based on the novel “Night Circus” by Erin
Morgenstern was an inaugural fundraising event created to
benefit the Museum, its exhibitions and arts education/outreach programs. The
goals of the museum were to engage the community; raise visibility in the
community of the Museum’s programming and fundraising.
The
evening was designed to immerse guests in a wildly colorful arena; enchanting
costumed characters in custom environmental installations were designed
alongside the living art, video art and décor of each gallery and aroused a complete
engagement of the senses. The Museum galleries and Sky Space were
individually transformed into thematic surreal, magical, dream-like circus
environments... Each turn into an unfamiliar new realm beckoned guests as they
encounter ‘living art, immersive films, tables serving delectable treats, and perused
a variety of chef-prepared food stations and signature cocktails created
especially for this event. This
site specific event/installation in its design as an immersive labyrinth and
experience engulfed the museum and also brought focus at the end of the journey
to the existing MASH-UP
Exhibition during the gala.
3. Design
(environmental installations and costumes/characters)
There are 6 spaces at the
museum include an outside sculpture garden. 5 of these spaces were schedule to
be blank and in between exhibitions. This allowed the museum the space to use
as a venue rather than renting space off site for a fundraising event. In addition the museum initiatives and
expectations were to engage existing and new community members into the museum
through this event.
It is rare
that this type of immersive event can be schedule in the galleries and through
our (Gregangelo & Velocity Arts/Entertainment) many multidisciplinary art
platforms and events in museums and cultural institutions we were confident and
seasoned in designing an event that is not only art, but pays homage to the
museum, its work and its former life as a movie theatre. The individual room designs,
inspirations and details are encapsulated below.
A. Red “Beneath the Wave” Lounge
Featured in
the Red Lounge was an extraordinary haute couture costume inspired and created
for public programs surrounding the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition; From the
Sidewalk to the Catwalk at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. This costume “Gilded Lady” was created
in house, along with several costumes for the de Young programs. The aesthetics of the permanent SMoCA
Lounge Installation created in 2011 “Beneath the Wave” designed by Janis with
assistance from Effie Bouras created a perfect backdrop for the “Gilded Lady’s”
gold infusion. the Egyptian
costumes that accompanied the Gilded Lady in the Red Lounge were created for
the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs Exhibition
also at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, this living, moving installations
of haute couture costumes meet performers in ancient to contemporary attire
were leashed together via three orange organza ribbons to show transition and
connection of time and fashion from ancient to contemporary, the custom film
both served as character lighting as well as to showcase imagery and
transitions of the sun from ancient to contemporary. The film also showed
different positions of the sun setting over ancient monuments and literally
reflected the “Sun” as a clock (key in the story The Night Circus), our
constant measure of time from ancient to contemporary as it still remains.
A. Black and
White Gallery
A direct
inspiration from the contemporary novel The Night Circus, in the book
the night circus is a series of magical, unexpected installations to be
discovered in a series of small tents. The Black and White gallery was inspired
by imagined scenes within the tent with hints of red on 3 key costumes and
characters that differentiated the key characters from others as ‘The Dreamers”
and were leading in the engagement of guests. In the book night circus there are hints of red on the
guests that differentiate them from the performers in the circus.
Custom Elements
in the Black and White gallery included:
1) On the East
Wall: Velocity created a floor to ceiling platinum museum frame encrypted with
moons reflective of night circus that framed a montage of vintage to contemporary circus films in
a black and white finish with black and white theatre style and arranged
seating for guests to view and mingle with each other.
2) On the West Wall
we created a custom “ID” film (inspired by Freud’s definition of ID and an
artist subconscious compulsion to create art). The film represented the known
artist faces and work throughout history from ancient times to contemporary.
Portraits of the artist faces fade in and out of imagery of their most iconic works
of art. As the film moved through each time period, a time clock reflective of
that era would appear. In night
circus the clock was a very important pillar of the story.
3) On the South
Wall Velocity created a floor to ceiling Optical illusion film. The circus environment
of The Night Circus novel is simply black and white stripes, so
starting with the simplicity of black and white stripes, we morphed them into
patterns, animated and swirled the
stripes until they created a pulsing and swirling animated optical illusion lighting
effect central to this gallery. Dancers in platinum and white costumes immersed
and choreographed within the motion media and in essence they themselves became the silver screen.
4) On the North Wall
we honoured the event sponsors by repurposing some black and white graphics as
a stylized morphing backdrop for “rolling credits” Placed directly next to the
DJ tent -they could not be missed.
5) An
interesting and challenging note was lighting. Early in the site visits and
conscious of fundraising expectations we took inventory or the existing
technical capabilities and resources available already in the museum. In lighting this and other rooms that required
lighting we utilized the existing museum lighting grid/plot and collaborated
with the museum’s carpentry staff to create pedestals, boxes and aerial points
for each of the characters. Through this design idea we lit, placed and
scheduled each character as living works of art engaging and interacting with
the guests in a museum setting, creating a beautiful and dramatic flow of
energy, observations, perspectives and sight lines for each character to be
integrated into the overall environment.
6) Upon meeting
with the Art Institute of Phoenix we worked with teachers and students to
design and create Architectural elements that framed the four walls to ceiling
films created by us and these architectural elements also anchored the room as
one entire installation.
The aerialist,
the mischievous monkey, and the Ringmaster in this black and white gallery are
costumed in red and represent the flight of the imagination, wonder, and love- a
direct reference to the circus revellers in the novel
The Night
Circus.
7) In the Black
and White Gallery, we also created an environment for the World Famous DJ Rani using
a simple effect of a gobo carousel (***the only traditional event lighting
element used in the entire museum) focused above a black and white opulent
carousel pagoda umbrella that we custom made. Both the DJ and his accompanying musician were costumed by
Gregangelo in opulent, hand crafted black and white regalia.
8) Everywhere
you turned in the gallery there were mini designed environments and objects- de-
art to view, sample, engage with and enjoy.
9) Dreamatorium
Moving from
the stark Black and White gallery into the astounding contrast of the
Technicolor Dreamatorium, we created a simple entry with a black drape and a black
and white spiral optical illusion graphic that signalled the exit from the
room.
Here, wonder
and imagination instantly burst into full bloom. Guests are given a new way of
seeing as special effect glasses are handed to them as they cross the threshold
into the Dreamatorium. Through a
combination of Velocity’s signature special effect lighting and costuming
viewed through glasses we are able to transform the effect of how a human
perceives.
The
Dreamatorium is literally a place that brings the subconscious to the
conscious. The central focus
is a sculptural twinkling LED Cube light source, which shifts through a
never-ending sequence of multi-colour luminescent patters which, in a
microcosm, attempt to imitate the
extraordinary varying light patterns of our infinite universe.
Juno, in an
elaborate and complex costume representative of the cosmos and inspired by imagined
other worldly beings welcomes you into this realm and interacts with guests on
an intuitive, intimate level, telling fortunes and guiding guests in the questions
and quests to help solve life’s riddles posed to her.
A cosmic
lily pond with hovering dragonflies illuminates Juno’s realm
The exterior
walls of the Dreamatorium are projected with films of Velocity’s “Neptune” phosphorescent
acts. Live characters appear to
meld with projected characters and are layered with various holographic and
laser effects from floor to ceiling, and add to an uncanny sense of floating in
space.
Two glowing
sculptural ‘Meteors” built on the principles of Sacred Geometry are anchored in
the room, each encapsulating a performer clad in illuminated architectural costume
appear to be hovering inside each. Another “living building” defies gravity and
glides throughout the room atop a rolling globe while manipulating cosmic
hoops, like the rings of Saturn.
A richly
orchestrated sound-scape, inspired by the majestic cosmos further indulges the
senses in this profound installation which contemplates the beyond...
10. The Night
Garden
The Night
Garden is intended as a sensual decompression chamber following the transition from
the over-sensory Dreamatorium. But, just when you thought you were catapulted
back to full consciousness … your eyes refocus to realize you are immersed in an
enchanted garden where all the flora and fauna stare in wonder at you and mythical
forest creatures are real…
In the Night
Garden, six distinct seasons (hibernal, prevernal, vernal, estival, serotinal and autumnal) , are
represented by opulent hand crafted, large scale umbrella “trees” which
simulate each varying season in their respective colours and artistry. Each seasonal tree also serves as an
environment where the characters and guests converge, interacting playfully.
Characters in
the Night Garden included an Ice Empress, living flora and fauna carnivorous
plants, queen green nymph, 12 foot living tree, aerial pan, satyr, and a water
sprite. The sound-scape we mixed for the environment fuses classical music inspired by the natural world, layered
with wind, water birds and other wildlife roaring in the distance to create a
surreal sensation of resting safely in an imagined new wilderness.
Working
with the Art Institute of Phoenix, Gregangelo directed the team to create a
garden cascading over two walls. Via video mapping, the AI team
created a
rich and lustrous film for the walls that included slow moving fog, and leaves that
fell slowly to the ground- a perfect environment for the living characters
placed in the foreground.
This AI video
mapping alongside films of previous Velocity performances set outside in the
lush nature-scapes of Northern California enrich the environment, lighting and
entertainment quality further. Watery effects from special projectors glisten
and ripple uniting the audience and characters alike.
11. Sculpture
Garden
Under the
dome of a natural night sky in the Turell Skyscape, Velocity’s resident
musician performed clad in a contemporary costume playing classical music of
the ages on a rare bowed bass. In the sculpture garden, The Art Institute
composed and video mapped poetic
verse on the east and west walls. The verses represented the times of day and
night and were projected onto the existing wall colours of yellow for day and
dark brown for night.
12.
Canyon
Entrance
On the entry
wall of the Performing Arts Center, just across the entrance of the museum, The
Art Institute of Phoenix, under the design direction of Gregangelo created an
animated film that defined the 40’x 12’ walls, using panoramic projectors.
Inspired by The Night Circus time-period A Victorian paper doll
swings through a starry night sky illuminated by a blue moon above the
shimmering horizon of a dark ocean of tears below.
The strolling
Victorian stilt walking character just beneath the scene welcomes and engages
guests on entry and creates a false illusion of what is to come… unbeknownst to
the guests, the “tents” inside are even more explosive of imagination than
could be anticipated.
Installations,
Costume Design and Creation- Gregangelo
Artistic
Director Gregangelo, of Gregangelo & Velocity Arts and Entertainment has been producing
and performing in the arts for 30 + years. He is a graduate of CCA with a
multi-media degree with an emphasis on textiles and costume design. His
signature aesthetic fuses ancient to imagined multi-cultural artistry with Entertainment,
Science and Technology. His team of twelve artists for this event included,
film makers, multimedia artists, costumers, make-up artists, libretto/musical
composition, sculptors, animators, technical specialist, an artist manager,
drivers, and four seasoned performers.
Concept for this event was a year in planning and execution, and was
made financially possible for SMoCA by a partial sponsorship.
Financially
for Gregangelo & Velocity, the event was made possible by directing a
dedicated team of artists willing to work at a reduced rate, and invest in the
future of the museum, as well as build relations with CSA Events and continued
collaboration with artists of the Phoenix/Scottsdale/Tucson region.
Velocity also repurposed much existing
inventory of costumes/props/equipment/film/music created over the years. Some
works included elements of the de
Young Museum’s commission of
costumes for public programs surrounding John Paul Gaultier exhibition, “From
the Sidewalk to the Catwalk”, the blockbuster exhibit Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs as well as
several other museum commissions and a recent commission from
HBO for the Season 3 Premier of Game of Thrones. All of the media and films used for The
Night Circus at SMoCA are site specific and custom created for the Museum’s
launch.
Producer-
Jeffrey Lazos-Ferns
As the producer Jeffrey provides leadership in design,
artist development/management, arts administration, business development,
marketing, public relations, community partnership, community relations and
strategic planning. His foresight
and long range planning skills has contributed to a significant growth in the
regional, national touring and special events markets for Gregangelo & Velocity
Arts & Entertainment.
He has been working closely with Gregangelo on large scale
multi-platform events and public commissions for the past 17 years. Currently
he is the project director for
Encoded Textiles Arizona, a multi disciplinary, 3 year project in partnership
with ASU Project Humanities that includes a touring exhibition of
encoded/augment traditional native art and 3 full length documentary films, In
addition he is a costume designer, event planner, has a catering company that
specializes in edible desert plants integrated with traditional indigenous
medicine men and women, and is a consultant/advisor in developing Circus School
of Arizona into a premier fitness
and professional training studio for circus arts in Arizona. He identifies
primarily as a cultural worker and uses his multifaceted skill set and
endeavours to create dialogue and advance communities through art/social
interactions and public programs.
13. Public
Relations/Marketing
Flash mobs
and spectacular parades extended beyond the gala walls and into neighboring
thoroughfares and businesses to further gain the public’s attention towards the
museum.
The museum
exceeded their fund raising goal and expectations by 300% during this one
event.
SEE FULL
NIGHT CIRCUS GALLERY HERE:
