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“Tableaux vivants”
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About this talk
Tableaux vivants is French for living paintings, where visual art and performance art meet. My idea is to bring several familiar and famous works of art "to life" through artist & community collaboration. Imagine seeing a living "American Gothic" or “Mona Lisa” before your eyes. Utilizing our experienced theatre resources, this can be achieved by artists creating an evening of "living art". Artists and models would work together to transform famous works into living, breathing paintings. The list of well-known images is almost endless. For example, recreations of Wood’s “Woman with Plant” next to Munch’s “The Scream”; Seurat’s “Dejeuner sur la Grande Jatte” across from Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” or Leutze’s “Washington Crossing the Delaware”. Whatever the images, it will be a unique experience for the spectator to be close to “life-like” recreations; certainly a memorable event.
The presentation of the tableaux vivants would occur at a special event to perhaps coincide with Freedom Festival or Fire & Ice festivities or become its own event. The ideal location for the event would be in downtown Cedar Rapids storefronts. Resources would be dependent on the number of tableaux created. In general, a stipend would be needed for each artist to create their given image. Items needed would include materials for foreground & background, make-up, costumes, paint, etc. The tableaux will each be photographed to be reproduced then hung for a time afterward in place of the live art. The event would coordinate or coincide with special evenings at local restaurants and bars drawing visitors in to patronize their establishments.
Community Impact: This would create a fire of excitement in our city by involving the community in a unique event. Many feel that art isn’t accessible. As we saw in 2001, many were drawn to the city with “Overalls All Over.” What made it successful was the project made art familiar and available to the masses. Similarly, tableaux vivants would bring art right in front of them in a live event. The event would also make art accessible to the viewer and bring to life works that they may have only seen in books.
In researching this subject, I found that tableaux vivants have been around for some time. It has been a staple of the Laguna Beach, California’s Festival of Arts since the 1930s. It is known as the “Pageant of Masters” and draws thousands of spectators each year. Our own event could draw visitors each year transforming Cedar Rapids not only into a distinct urban hometown but a cultural destination.
Bio
Growing up in Des Moines, Brian Smith has lived in Cedar Rapids for almost 15 years and the Corridor for over 20. He has been an active volunteer in the community at local non-profits and arts organizations such as Theatre Cedar Rapids, Brucemore and Ushers Ferry. A graduate of the University of Iowa, he works at GE Capital as a Learning & Development manager.
How to get involved with this idea
