By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
ArtsX is always bustling.
The sounds echo in the glass enclosed Wolfe Center lobby – taiko drumming, vocals, saxophones, tap dancing.
The classrooms and studios in the Wolfe and Fine Arts Center are abuzz as film makers, music ensembles, musical theater performers, and more demonstrate their craft.
The studios are packed with the goods for sale, and the corridors are crowded with art to see and people to meet. There’s a conversation around every corner. There’s always something to experience, and always something that will be missed.
From babes in arms through elders, community members, university faculty, administrators and staff, and students excited to display their own work and see what their peers have created flow through the exhibit.
So, it makes sense that this year the event held Saturday evening is called ArtsX: Movement.
Tucked in the backstage area of the Donnell Theatre was a quiet place.
The guest artist Fringe Society came from Detroit to create “Portal Sanctuary.”
Levon Kafafian said the mission was to create a contemplative space.
This was achieved through near dark, atmosphere, with abstract, projections like projections on all four walls, a wash of soft voice, and, at the center, a four-sided simple loom where members of the Fringe Society, Kafafian, Ash Arder, and Nick Szydlo as well as visitors wove bits of plant-based fabric onto the frame. The weaving was as much meditation as fabrication.
Visitors were asked to remove their shoes.
The piece, Kafafian said, was created specifically for ArtsX. They are sure of what would happen to it afterward. Maybe it will be installed somewhere. Maybe elements will be used in other work. Maybe pieces will be discarded. Even for “Portal Sanctuary,” there is no rest.
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