Swerve Festival Announces Original Art Installations - Los Angeles, CA - Swerve Festival - a FUEL TV initiative - has announced its lineup of participating contemporary artists at the event taking place September 28–30, at Barnsdall Art Park. In keeping
Swerve Festival Announces Original Art Installations
Los Angeles, CA - Swerve Festival - a FUEL TV initiative - has announced its lineup of participating contemporary artists at the event taking place September 28–30, at Barnsdall Art Park. In keeping with the mission of the Swerve Festival to celebrate the West Coast creative culture – film, music and art - of the action sports world, Aaron Rose (Iconoclast, Beautiful Losers) will curate the Swerve Festival Art Installations.
Rose was tapped to helm the festival’s art show to attract new work from artists who are at the cutting edge of both the art and the action sports worlds. Rose quickly decided against displaying passively in galleries. “Looking at art in galleries is dead,” says Rose. “I didn’t want to have a little art ghetto in the middle of this dynamic festival.”
Instead Rose has turned the Swerve Festival location, Barnsdall Art Park, into an exciting, interactive space featuring five distinct, but interconnected installations, featuring new work from artists including Geoff McFetridge, Mike Mills, Chris Johanson, Terry Richardson and Ed Templeton to name a few.
“FUEL TV previously supported Aaron Rose’s ‘Beautiful Losers’ exhibition and artists,” says CJ Olivares, FUEL TV general manager. “We are thrilled to have Aaron and this amazing group of artists involved in our inaugural Swerve Festival."
First, in a nod to the vibrant music scene represented at the festival, Rose has transformed the park’s arbors into Listening Trees. 25 underground artists will have their music, sound-scapes, spoken word or other audio artwork looping on vintage headphones, dangling from the branches of living trees. Each artist will have a dedicated tree, affixed with his or her name. Many of the music acts have created new pieces for the installation, taking into account the unusual environment in which fans will be accessing the work. Others have hand-selected pieces that will suit the setting.
Look for new work from Animal Collective, as well as pieces from No Age, Comet Gain, Love is All, Tommy Guerrero, Mark Borthwick, BARR, Squeak-E-Clean, Soiled Mattress and the Springs, The Sads and many more.
Second, Rose has invited artists Sage Vaughn, Chris Pastras and Jesse Spears to create festival-specific murals on freestanding flats throughout the grounds. The murals will help the transformation of the Art Park into an Artwork – every surface providing interesting and unique visuals for festival attendees.
Then, in order to draw viewers into the art – literally – numerous novelty backdrops with cut-out head-holes are being created by graffiti artists “Gents of Desire,” featuring Finn and Doom of the renowned LA-based graffiti collective “7th Letter Crew.” In a spin on carnival cut-out photos, festival attendees can stick their heads into all sorts of unusual images and have free Polaroid pictures taken of them.
In case attendees aren’t satisfied with just a picture, and they want to take something a bit more permanent away from the festival, artist Jesse Spears will be creating custom, Sharpie Permanent Marker tattoos on enthusiastic SWERVERS.
Lastly, Rose is very excited about a set of ten original artworks he has commissioned for the festival from Mike Mills, Terry Richardson, Thomas Campbell, Todd James (aka REAS), Geoff McFetridge, Ed Templeton, Ashley Macomber, Misha Hollenbach, Chis Johanson and Matt Leines. In a hush-hush project that is only now being revealed, each artist received instructions from Rose on how to build a 15-foot high pinwheel with a six-foot wheel-span. Then they were left to their own devices on how to decorate their pinwheels. The mixed-media masterpieces will spin in the wind (if it’s strong enough) or be spun manually by observers, admirers and passers-by throughout the festival.
Wind-powered art and living Listening Trees are par for the course in this environmentally friendly festival, which is also featuring Global Inheritance's interactive recycling store, a human-powered energy source for cell-phones and computers, and a bike valet that encourages attendees to use the cleanest fuel – their own leg-power!
Swerve Festival - where underground film, music, art and culture come together and come to life – will be held at the Barnsdall Art Park and surrounding venues September 28-30, 2007.
About Swerve Festival
Swerve Festival is a new annual film, art and music festival in Los Angeles that celebrates the creative culture of action sports with film and video screenings, live music performances, art exhibitions, workshops and a televised awards show. The festival is a FUEL TV initiative, produced by FLUX. FLUX founder Jonathan Wells is the Festival Director.
About FUEL TV
FUEL TV is the only U.S. channel dedicated to the expressive culture surrounding skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, BMX, freestyle motocross, and wakeboarding. Programming includes exclusive perspectives on the lifestyle of elite riders, as well as coverage of top-level international competitions, the best films, latest music, art and comedy. A unit of Fox Cable Networks, FUEL TV was launched July 1, 2003 and is seen in 24 million U.S. homes. To subscribe to FUEL TV call 877-4-FUEL-TV.
