Last summer, Corin Hewitt, Erica Svec, and Zachary Wollard arrived at a site in central Vermont with thirteen students from Virginia Commonwealth University. Corin, who teaches in Sculpture + Extended Media, had enlisted Erica and Zachary to lead a summer course in learning from the land through the study of color. Following consultations with a botanist and chakra specialist, the group had made a number of field trips in the region, carefully examining the color spectrum of their immediate surroundings. Taking cues from rocks, plants, water, and sky, the students set out to devise a performance that would respond to their environment: a theater of color.
Corin’s work as an artist and teacher is based in part on philosophies developed in places like Black Mountain and the Center for Land Use Interpretation, but his references are also local to Vermont. Combining the DIY pageantry of Bread and Puppet Theater with the self-sufficiency of Helen and Scott Nearing, the group camped outdoors, cooked in a communal kitchen, bathed in a pond, and set up a gigantic tent to build sets and props for the final performance.
The resulting performance on July 23, 2011 consisted of the transformation of the set by way of color and scenery changes constructed from materials found in the performers’ immediate environment.
The course and performance has been featured in Paper Monument, an online journal of contemporary art.
Organized by
Corin Hewitt, Erica Svec, Zachary Wollard
Performed by
Riley Duncan, Ian Gamble, Olivia Gibian, Christian Gregory, Maggie Grymes, Danielle Horton, Mara Hyman, Josie Justice, Sarah Nelson, Robert Saltonsall, George Zeigler
Assisted by
Ryan Crowley, Laura Vitale
