| Inspired by an episode of the Little Rascals, Studio Arts invited folks to come and enjoy an evening of food and drink with a performance by visiting Irish Master Calligrapher, Denis Brown. In the Little Rascals episode, Pay As You Exit, the Gang is putting on another one of their stage productions for the neighborhood kids. The kids challenge paying admission. How do they know the show will be worth their hard-to-come-by pennies? Alfalfa suggests the audience 'pay as they exit' if they liked the show. The show went on and the audience loved it and showered the Gang with lots of pennies! It worked for Spanky, Alfalfa, and Company, and it worked for Studio Arts Center! And we have the photos to prove it! Please click on the image for enlargement. |
| Denis Brown is from Dublin, Ireland. (You may read all about Denis by visiting his interactive and very informative web site where he has images, text, video clips, and much more to captivate web visitors www.quillskill.com). Denis is developing a performance piece incorporating music with large scale calligraphy. He agreed to have a go at this performance at Studio Arts Center. A 16 ft wall was erected to hold a 16 ft sheet of Arches en-tout-cas watercolor paper. Denis made large scale calligraphic writing implements using dowel rods and ultra suede cloth. Denis decided to prepare the paper with some background marks and words prior to the arrival of our guests to pique their interest. He first did large marks and letters on the paper and then took the paper down to work in smaller letters and text on the table and floor. Denis then soaked the reverse side of the paper so could be stapled to the masonite wall and stretched taunt for performance writing ease. The 'fun' part was raising this 16ft hunk of wet paper so it could be stapled! Our thanks to Nate Trimboli and Steve Toepp for helping with this not-so-simple-but-necessary task. |
Preparations for the night were well worth the many hours of cooking and cleaning and prepping Studio 815 for the evening's entertainment. Jose Herre served as our Master of Ceremonies for the event. Studio Arts has exactly 70 chairs of all sizes, shapes and comfort. Every chair was taken! People were sitting on laps, edges of chairs, arm rests, floor, and anywhere else they could find. |
| The theme of the text Denis used for inspiration was "Txt Msg'g". And when he was finished with the 16 ft hunk of wall paper, he rolled out the remaining paper and began working on the floor. |
| When it's over, it's over. |
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| Studio Arts Center Studio 807 and Gallery 805 807 Lincoln Way West South Bend, IN 46616 574/288-0160 info@studioartscenter.org |
| Gallery of Photos |
| Pay As You Exit November 4, 2006 |