Universal Backyard Theater
Part of Menil Community Arts Festival
Saturday, April 14, 11AM-5PM, Screening at 8PM
Location: Aurora Picture Show Office and Library, 1524 Sul Ross
Free Admission
Inspired by old-fashioned barn raisings, which created a community gathering to build a structure from scratch, Aurora Picture Show has commissioned the New York-based art collaborative MTAA (Michael Sarff and Tim Whidden) to perform a 21st century variation on this feat with a cinematic twist. From April 11-14, Aurora Picture Show invites the public to help us raise a temporary cinema in our backyard located at 1524 Sul Ross. The Universal Backyard Theater works as a collaborative process in the creation of this sculptural cinema environment culminating with a one-night screening of short film, video and performance. The project gets started in Houston on Wednesday, April 11th at the Aurora Video Library with a Brainstorming Session held from 6:30-9:30PM and will be completed on Saturday, April 14th during the Menil Community Arts Festival from 11AM-5PM for the build-out and decoration, with the grand finale screening that evening at 8PM.
Part construction project, part participatory performance, Universal Backyard Theater explores the power of the community vote and collaborative art projects. In addition to the Houston brainstorming session, MTAA has already hosted a public brainstorming session in New York as well, making this a cross-country collaboration. However, the design process will be completed in Houston with a brainstorming session on Wednesday, April 11th where the community is invited to help design all aspects of the space, including architectural, aesthetic, and labor choices. Will it have windows? What shape will it be? Brainstorming fuel will be provided thanks to Pink's Pizza and Saint Arnold Brewery. Be prepared to get the build started on this night.
Then on Saturday, April 14, during the Menil Community Arts Festival, the community will be invited to help finalize and decorate the space as we prepare for a one-night only screening in the Universal Backyard Theater curated by the community as well. Screening will take place at 8PM in the Universal Backyard Theater project.
After the event, MTAA and Aurora Picture Show will breakdown the temporary space on Sunday and donate the materials so that the theater will live on in another useful form. Special thanks to AIGA Houston for their support of this program. Learn more about the project athttp://universalbackyardtheater.tumblr.com/
About the Artists
Michael Sarff and Tim Whidden formed the Brooklyn based artist collaboration MTAA in 1996. As MTAA, they have presented work at The New Museum, MoMA PS1, The Whitney Museum, and Artists Space, all in New York City; The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, The Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY; 2010 01SJ Biennial, San Jose, CA; The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; The Beall Center for Art and Technology, UC Irvine, CA; The Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA; and SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA. The home for MTAA’s various on- and off-line activities is http://mtaa.net
MTAA has previously raised two ARTBarns. One at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as part of the Filament Festival called "All Raise This Barn (East)" and then one in San Jose, CA as part of the 01SJ Biennial called "All Raise This Barn (West)." Each ARTBarn began life as a commercially available barn-making kit, and then online voting determined the architectural, aesthetic, and labor choices. Learn more about those projects at http://artbarn.mtaa.net/
About Menil Community Arts Festival
The Menil Community Arts Festival is a collaboration between the Menil Collection museum and a group of surrounding non-profit arts organizations that come together to host a free afternoon of art and entertainment that will extend across the Menil “campus” from West Alabama to Richmond Avenue. The 2012 Festival will be held on Saturday, April 14 from 11AM-5PM. Highlighting the diversity of the Menil neighborhood arts community, the festival will include programs and activities organizations including The Menil Collection, Watercolor Arts Society Houston, Writers in the Schools, InPrint, DaCamera, The Rothko Chapel, TALA, SWAMP, Menil Bookstore and more. In addition to the Menil Community Arts Festival, Houston Indie Book Fest will also be in full swing too! Special thanks to Mirabeau B, Texas Commission on the Arts, KUHF-FM, CultureMap and Houston Chronicle for their support of this event. Check out the full schedule for the event website www.menilcommunityartsfestival.org