Rachel Green and Seth Sexton: Hypnagogic Jerk
In April 2014 we presented a series of accessible workshops at Jack Straw in conjunction with Rachel Green and Seth Sexton’s New Media Gallery installation Hypnagogic Jerk, which incorporates dance, sculpture, and sound. Over three consecutive weekends, sighted and visually impaired students from Seattle and around the region participated in hands-on art, music, and movement workshops with Seth, Rachel, and Jack Straw teaching artists Susie Kozawa and Esther Sugai. This project was provided under a contract with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of their VSA Arts Access for Kids program.
April 12, 2014: Art-making Workshop
One of the main visual elements of Hypnagogic Jerk is the use of branches that have been painted white, then wrapped with multi-colored yarn. For the first workshop, Seth and Rachel guided the students in the use of the materials, and each student painted and wrapped his or her own branch. Later, they placed their branches in the gallery as new elements in the installation.
On all three Saturdays, the students went into our studios and recorded their own stories, dreams, and songs.
April 19, 2014: Sound and Movement Workshop
For the second workshop, the students learned how to make sound and music with audio cassettes, fried chicken buckets, blocks of wood, and other unconventional materials. Susie Kozawa, Esther Sugai, and Seth and Rachel all worked hands-on with the kids to explore the sound-making potential of a variety of everyday objects.
After the sound workshop, the students went into the gallery with Seth and Rachel, who explored the dance and movement elements of the installation with them.
April 26, 2014: Audio-described Performance
On the final Saturday of this series, Seth and Rachel performed their original dance in the gallery for the students. The performance was audio-described for the visually impaired by Jesse Minkert of Arts and Visually Impaired Audiences. The audio description enriched the performance for all of the children in attendance, both blind and sighted.
Artists
Rachel Green
Rachel Green creates site-specific multimedia performances that tell stories about our human condition. She regards the body as a container for emotions, infusing her work with delicate and volatile…
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Seth Sexton
Seth Sexton has performed with Rachel Green at Velocity, On The Boards, and site-specific venues. Their work is an exploration of repetition and realms of consciousness.
New Media Gallery…
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Jesse Minkert
Jesse Minkert’s work has appeared in about fifty literary journals including the Cream City Review, Confrontation, Mount Hope, the Floating Bridge Review, the Minetta Review, Poetry Northwest, Common Knowledge…
READ MORE >Exhibits
Rachel Green and Seth Sexton | Hypnagogic Jerk
March 31 – May 30, 2014
Hypnagogic Jerk is a multi-media look at the processes involved in falling asleep. Artists Rachel Green and Seth Sexton are exploring the mind’s…
