LAST DAY OF MAGIC - Reenactment

(image: Brindalyn Webster)

Last Day of Magic
A Reenactment

Curated by Jan Van Woensel


Orange Alley Project
Saturday April 25th, 2009, from 6 to 9PM

Orange Alley (between 25th and 26th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
http://orangealleyproject.com/

Featuring: Sung-Hee Chang, Emily Hoover, Amy Keefer, Dustin Kelly, Christine Kesler, Stephanie Lagarde, Elyse Mallouk, Amy Martin, Josh Martinez, Lynne McCabe, Piero Passacantando, Brin Webster

Last Day of Magic was a one-day closed performance of rituals about departure and transformation that took place on March 28th, 2009. The rituals are designed with a personal significance and shamanic purpose. They examine the artist's interpersonal experiences with belief, sacrifice, loss, disappearance, and memory. The undercurrent apocalyptic character of this project is based on the belief that after the last day of magic life ends. The project's focus however, is on the quality of the shared experience of a suspended moment before the end. In-group, the artists sang a song that honors the departed, built a fire, sacrificed personal objects, drank wine, and meditated. Last Day of Magic is a melancholic journey to the metaphoric edge of the cliff of life where the artists take halt, build a secret community and reside.

Each ritual is a performance designed by artists from Last Day of Magic and will only be performed by this group once. The original ritual ceremony of March 28th, 2009, is documented in video form, and as a set of published instructions that can be distributed and reenacted by others. At Orange Alley, twelve volunteers reenact the rituals and create their own last day of magic experience. The reenactment is open to the public.

Last Day of Magic is a project initiated, organized and curated by Jan Van Woensel in the framework of his 2009 cross-departmental class at California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA. http://www.last--day--of--magic.blogspot.com Jan Van Woensel is an independent curator based in New York City and the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of New York Magazine of Contemporary Art and Theory http://www.ny-magazine.org

Last Day of Magic

Sung-Hee Chang, Emily Hoover, Amy Keefer, Dustin Kelly, Christine Kesler, Stephanie Lagarde, Elyse Mallouk, Amy Martin, Josh Martinez, Lynne McCabe, Piero Passacantando, Brin Webster

Curated by Jan Van Woensel

Last Day of Magic is a one-day closed performance of rituals about departure and transformation. The rituals are designed with a personal significance and shamanic purpose. They examine the artist’s interpersonal experiences with belief, sacrifice, loss, disappearance, and memory. The undercurrent apocalyptic character of this project is based on the belief that after the last day of magic life ends. The project’s focus however, is on the quality of the shared experience of a suspended moment before the end. In-group, the artists sing a song that honors the departed, build a fire, sacrifice personal objects, drink wine, and sleep. Last Day of Magic is a melancholic journey to the metaphoric edge of the cliff of life where the artists take halt, build a secret community and reside.

Each ritual is a performance designed by artists from Last Day of Magic and will only be performed by this group once. The original ritual ceremony will be documented in video form, and as a set of published instructions that can be distributed and reenacted by others.

Last Day of Magic: video: 

Consists of the documentation of the original rituals being performed by a group of twelve artists at Marin County’s Headlands, North of San Francisco, CA on March 28th 2009.

Last Day of Magic: publication: 

Consists of the instructions for completing each of these rituals, as prescribed by the original performers.

Last Day of Magic: exhibition: 

Consists of the re-enactment of these rituals, by a group of volunteers, in a manner consistent with the original performance (i.e. All performed in sequence, in the same location as one another, by a group of the same size.) and based on the instructions of the publication. 

The video and publication elements of Last Day of Magic will be distributed and exhibited separately. The publication will be disseminated according to the wishes of the original performers; it will, for example, be delivered to Miss Rockaway Armada, who will then create a re-enactment with the members of their performance group. The video will be screened at the Venice Biennale’s satellite project, Markers, in the summer of 2009. Another exhibition or re-enactment will take place, with additional documentation, at Orange Alley Projects in San Francisco, CA, on April 25th 2009.

Partners:

California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA, USA

Markers Project at the Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy 

Orange Alley Projects, San Francisco, CA, USA 

Miss Rockaway Armada, nomadic, USA

Last Day of Magic is a project initiated, organized and curated by Jan Van Woensel in the framework of his Spring 2009 cross-departmental class at California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA. 

LAST DAY OF MAGIC exhibition view 3

Charlie Edmiston


Jonathan Stofenmacher


Jonathan Stofenmacher


Jonathan Stofenmacher


Jonathan Stofenmacher


Virginia Arce


Claire Cregan


Elizabeth Mauceli


Michaelvincent Garcia


Michelle Johnson


Carly Strauss

LAST DAY OF MAGIC exhibition view 2

LAST DAY OF MAGIC exhibition view 1

LAST DAY OF MAGIC

LAST DAY OF MAGIC

Artists: Virginia Arce, Amanda Charchian, Claire Cregan, Katrina Duesterhaus, Charlie Edmiston, Michaelvincent Garcia, Michelle Johnson, Elizabeth Mauceli, Kour Pour, Jonathan Stofenmacher, Carly Strauss

Curator: Jan Van Woensel

Bolsky Gallery
Otis College of Art and Design
9045 Lincoln Boulevard
90045 Los Angeles, CA

December 8th – 12th, 2008
Mon – Fr: 10am – 5pm

Opening: Monday December 8th, 6 – 8pm
Opening: Wednesday December 10th, 6 – 8pm

LAST DAY OF MAGIC is a project organized and curated by Jan Van Woensel in the framework of the Fall 2008 critic-in-residence class he teaches at Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA.

LAST DAY OF MAGIC is an examination of illusion as well as disillusion that magic provides in culture: the search for the intangible; the revealing of deception, the removal of what’s obscuring. Magic changes the perception of reality. Magic is about surprise but also about secrets, lies and false beliefs. Each individually, the artists in the exhibition created a new artwork that interprets magic. The result is a multi sensory experience of artworks that touch upon themes as varied as entertainment, depression, belief, identity, addiction and the void.

LAST DAY OF MAGIC is an exhibition traveling to different cities in the USA and Europe. Inspired by Aspen Magazine, ‘Le Boite en Valise’ by Marcel Duchamp and time machines, all the work included in the exhibition physically fits into a carry on size box. Every time the box travels to a new destination, it will be shown differently than its previous unveiling. Its environment is ever changing; its display always different, while the art works remain the same.

LAST DAY OF MAGIC exists in two versions: an original and a replica. This format brings into question the false impression of the original and the copy in art. After the exhibition, one of the boxes will be send to the art archive of the Zurich based organization Curating Degree Zero. The other box will travel to exhibitions throughout the USA, including venues in San Francisco and New York. Its journeys will be documented on this blog. 


Contact: Jan Van Woensel - office.janvanwoensel@gmail.com
Info: http://last--day--of--magic.blogspot.com and http://www.curatingdegreezero.org and http://icpabackstage.blogspot.com