Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Who are these guys?

Easily the most intriguing event scheduled as part of IndyTalks is the collaboration between the Library and Big Car on February 24, "7 Simultaneous Lecturers: Indy Arts and Globalization." The Big Car Collective, one of Provocate's favorite groups, developed an off-beat and creative partnership with the Central Library in fall, providing improv music for showing of classic silent films such as "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" and "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde," lectures by experts on screwy topics such as Sasquatch and more. Here's the Library's description of the IndyTalks event:


As part of the community-wide "IndyTalks" dialogue series and IMCPL's own "Made for Each Other" interactive series of programs, seven prominent names representing the city's arts community will discuss the future of Indianapolis arts in the face of globalization. However, there's a twist - the lecturers will be speaking at the same time. Audience members will be able to arbitrarily raise or lower the volume of each speaker as the talks progress, creating a frantic, unstructured whirlwind of words and ideas. Following the lectures, the audience will be encouraged to express ideas and feelings generated by this surreal presentation in a facilitated discussion period. The "Made for Each Other" series is presented by Big Car Gallery and Know No Stranger.
OK, perhaps this isn't the most off-beat approach ever to a serious discussion of globalization. In the mid 1990s the short-lived "Paula Poundstone Show" aired this bit: "Paula ... sends a group of economists to the Santa Cruz boardwalk and asks them business questions while they're spinning in the teacup ride." Still, this sounds pretty damn cool, and Provocate's John Clark will be in the audience to crank up the volume on Big Car's John Clark (even if he doesn't dance).





Provocate knows Big Car, Provocate aspires to have an impact on the community comparable to Big Car's. But who are these other guys? What's up with "Made for Each Other" and "Know No Stranger"?

Made for Each Other is a very exciting project between Big Car and several artists and community groups large and small, intended to draw residents of Indy neighborhoods into collaborative exercises of creativity. You can read more about the plans here and here.



As always, when I hear about these great ideas from Big Car it makes me wish Provocate had thought of it first. Learn about how you can be part of Made 4 Each Other's projects here.

How about the other new name on the schedule for the "7 Simultaneous Lecturer" IndyTalks event, Know No Stranger? According to the website, "KNOW NO STRANGER is a collective group of friends, students and artists set on making the city they live in a more enjoyable place by giving the community a good time with inexpensive, local entertainment." And the goodies you'll find on the website are worth the visit.





Teaser for Optical Popsicle DVDs coming soon from KNOW NO STRANGER on Vimeo.



A good piece about Know No Stranger is at the excellent arts blog, Outposts from the Material World.

As always, getting sucked into the gravity well of Big Car reveals many cool initiatives and projects happening around Indy. More on the February IndyTalks event as details emerge from the spontaneous and surrealist caldron.

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