TASI March exhibit to boldly go to way-out space frontiers
Outer space is an infinite dimension of time and distance. It is a boundary between light and shadow, between science and superstition — and between the pit of humanity’s fears, and the apex of imagination and knowledge.
“Capsula Stellis Iter in Nave: Have Space Capsule Will Travel,” debuting March 2, is another promising spectacle brainchild of Beau and Karen Dumesnil as a follow-up to their “Acquae Obscura” show in 2014,
Unlike the “Twilight Zone” paraphrase above, “Capsula Stellis Iter in Nave” is an “happening” — part art show, part performance and all party — that both Dumesnils say has been in the planning for a couple of years. Sci-fi, steampunk, cosplay or costuming is encouraged.
“Capsula Stellis Iter in Nave is Latin for ‘have space capsule will travel,’” Beau said. “This event is what I call an ‘art happening’ and is presented from the concept of artists that have been exploring outer space and have come back with numerous artifacts, alien life forms and specimens.”
Art happenings came out of the New York art scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s when a group of artists would come together with different mediums and express a theme or maintain a continuity of theme.
Dumesnil’s call for artists to submit works emphasized that any medium would be considered and displayed — two- and three-dimensional art, digital multimedia and performances.
“Think along the lines of the old Explorers Club from the Victorian era where these gentlemen of upstanding character would sit around and brag about all the wonderful things they killed,” Beau said. “They went on in the deepest, darkest jungles of Africa, Madagascar and Indonesia and have exhibitions of what they found and tell the stories of their experiences.”
Beau and Karen Dumesnil
At the Acquae Obscura show, the theme visited the Neches River and all of its secrets and “critters,” Beau said. “Capsula Stellis” came to fruition with discussions between him and his wife Karen.
“That show was a rave hit, it was a blast and I had people come up to me that had been to art shows their whole life and tell me is one of the best experiences they’ve ever had,” he said. “So Karen and I began to think about another experience we could create to get as many people as possible to help create and see.”
Karen said creating an experience is the most engaging way to get people involved in an art show.
“We want to create experiences,” she said. “And that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to create an experience like no other. The more artists we can get to get involved will make it more interesting for everyone.”
An element of this experience is not just what will be happening at The Studio’s physical location, but what will be happening within another space — cyberspace.
In what will be a first for TASI, the event will transmit outgoing streams of the opening and artists located from around the world will be streaming their content in.
“This whole program is going to be uploaded through my Twitch TV channel and also Space Capsule’s (heard locally on Lamar’s KVLU 91.3 FM) Twitch channel,” Beau said.
Patrons and artists will participate either as someone who’s coming to view the show or someone who’s contributing artwork, and Dumesnil says all will have an experience to value.
“We value the experience out of events and, hopefully, people will enjoy this event because not only can they interact in the environment at The Studio, but they can be a part of environments elsewhere at the same time.”
Additionally, Karen and Beau say they want patrons to also stream from their own social media channels.
“We want this to be a totally interactive event,” Beau said. “We can have 400 people at The Studio, but online we could have 4,000.”
To accommodate this, TASI is upgrading its internet and Wi-Fi capabilities through the exhibition areas and offices to increase bandwidth for live streaming.
“Our goal is total immersion, not only to transform the setting of The Studio’s physical space,” Beau said. “We want to transform the dimension of The Studio in space and time through interacting with the world outside of The Studio.”
The Dumesnils plan for guest artists streaming in and creating art during the opening night.
“The Studio is going to be transformed into an alien containment area for people to walk around and interact,” Beau said. “We are going to have at least three interactive stations for people to engage outside the physical gallery.
“We’ll have UK artist Studioj7 (twitch.tv/studioj7) streaming on his Twitch.tv channel creating art live and we’ll have another artist (twitch.tv/ipaintcreatures) based in San Francisco — he has done work for LucasFilm. What they create will be based on the interaction from the people at the show and online.”
An important feature is BYOD — bring your own device. Information will be available during the show to connect to the various apps and streams. Dumesnil said people can connect now to his Twitch.tv channel, twitch.tv/dorklordz, in advance to prepare.
“What I adore, and I love and cherish so much about being a curator for a show like this, is I have no idea what I’m going to get,” Beau said. “I have to take all these things and I have to arrange them around the room and around the space, and then I have to move things around and move things here and move things there.
“I don’t want to reveal too much what is behind the curtain. I want people to be curious. I want them to be surprised.”
A TARDIS will be in residence as one of the interactive stations.
“A TARDIS is like the window to the universe” Beau says. “People will go into the TARDIS and look at the face cam and you can talk to the people that are watching from twitch on my channel or on Space Capsules channel you’ll be talking about them and listening to ambient music going off at the same time and there’ll be a couple of cameras set up in the space in the gallery space to show what’s going on.”
Dumesnil says an effort like this not only requires multiple artists but a literal crew to put it on.
Beau refers to himself regarding the event as Capt. “BeauBeau” and Karen is chief mate. The crew is rounded out with chief engineers Jason Miller, Matthew Myers, Kyndal Watkins and Sarah Bellian.
The group will transform and navigate visitors into an alien containment area that will feature a lightshow and create a force field in which the exhibition will display captured “specimens” in the immersive environment.
The force field will by synced up with Space Capsule’s playlist and be used as sort of a mission control for the containment area.
“This all will be uploaded to the streaming broadcast and people can interact with others on the channel,” Beau said. “The multi-stream will join with the two live artists and will make this a truly international show.
“Monitors will be placed in stations around The Studio and people can use their own device bring your own device to interact too.
“There will be poetry and the puppet show, and one artist is going to be drawing people of their spirit karma animal, and studioj7 is going to be demonstrating how to create cosplay costumes and games workshop armor.”
Beau is a tug boat captain and has been known to stream from out on the water
“An online community is just as meaningful as a face-to-face community,” he said. “It’s just a bit different and you can reach out to so many different people.”
He added that all the streams will be moderated to ensure the content is appropriate for all audiences.
“Our streams are pretty PG-13,” he said. “I want as many people as possible to see these demonstrations and conversations and to be able to participate in a way that is enjoyable and positive.”
Karen is going to be the moderator-in-chief throughout the event.
“We want people to participate and ask questions and get involved in what is happening during the streams,” she said.
Both say that art communities have the technology and the ability to broaden the value artists provide.
“Recently we were having a debate openly and online about artists,” Beau said.”How do we create value as an artist? Well, the local community determines the artist value at this, right?
“So, in order to expand or increase the amount of value for artists, you have to increase the reach of that artist. And what better way for an artist to reach a wider audience?”
Karen said this is also a way to attract and interest younger audiences.
“Streaming is one way to bring younger people into The Studio because they have the ability to stream and are familiar with the technology, “ she said. “They learn there is a space for their art and interests. They have an avenue to do that. It keeps us relevant, if nothing else.”
Beau and Karen say this is more than just another art exhibition.
“There’s so many levels of why we’re doing this undertaking in the fashion that we’re doing it — to expand the reach of The Studio beyond just the confines of downtown Beaumont,” Beau said.
Story by Stephan Malick, ISSUE staff writer