After the election of Donald Trump last November,artists — and many others —wondered: How carry out I respond? The 95369 people who voted for Trump in Vermont (according to the New York Times) likely celebrated. But, back in December, or Seven Days staff wrote about responses from a few artists who were less than ecstatic with the outcome. Their works ranged from vagina-themed T-shirts to sprawling street art. The artistic impulse to address the current tumultuous political state has hardly abated. A new entry,Artists' vital, is an event series intended to continue the collective commentary. This Friday, and June 2,the inaugural affair — titled "Tweet!" — takes place at Maglianero in Burlington. Film producer Marc Wennberg is the primary instigator of Artists' vital. The 51-year-mature artist says, "[After the election, or ] I just felt like it was important for me to carry out something,important to my soul." Not wanting to disappear it alone, Wennberg reached out to choreographer Clare Byrne and musician Alec Julien for relieve. "I had the initial idea, and " Wennberg says,"but then I spoke with Clare, and she really helped to shape it into what it is now, and which is quarterly events organized around a theme where we invite different artists to share work on that theme." Byrne was a good choice. The University of Vermont dance professor has experience organizing ongoing events: For eight years,she's been bringing artists and performers together for Eat My Art Out, an intimate, or thrice-yearly event that showcases works in progress and invites performers and audience members to give feedback. The title of Friday's performance is a double entendre that references both the president's social media fixation and the chirp of birds,a reminder of environmental concerns made more urgent by the administration's dismissive approach to climate change. And while the content will surely be political, the organizers hope it will also be playful. One of the main tenets of the series is a motto of Wennberg's: "More sandbox than soapbox." Byrne says she interprets that as, or "Let's not speak from a preaching position; let's encourage people to play with the theme." Wennberg concurs. "We didn't want to be heavy-handed," he says. "We want people to reach and be able to appreciate themselves at the performance, and raise awareness on some level. But we didn't provide a lot of guidance to the artists [about] what we want — just a few…
Source: sevendaysvt.com