TXT performance in Winter Park raised funds for Hannah Miller.

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Performance artist Brian Feldman resides in Washington, D.C. He grew up in Orlando, however, and the first time he performed TXT was at the Kerouac House six years ago. In D.C, he performs TXT weekly. In February of 2010 to protest the ban on gay marriage, Brian let everyone on social media know that he would marry anybody who showed up at the Orange County Courthouse on the set date. Three women showed up on that fateful day and Hannah Miller was one of them. He chose his wife with the spin of a bottle of water he got from a courthouse vending machine; the bottle pointed to Hannah. After the wedding Brian and Hannah went their separate ways, but she made the perfect wife since she firmly believed in the cause of equal rights in marriage. Her interviews were emotional and heartfelt. In January of 2011, Brian and Hannah’s marriage was annulled on the grounds that it was never consummated and they were never in love.

The TXT performance on May 5th at the Winter Park Public Library was a fundraiser for Brian’s ex-wife, Hannah. She has become incapacitated by a neuromuscular disease called Myasthenia Gravis
and a chest tumor that her doctors believe is associated with it. She is a
Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome Type 3 patient, also diagnosed with Grave’s
Disease and Refractory Celiac Disease. Hannah is a fun and creative puppeteer, but like most art forms it can’t pay the insurmountable medical bills. This performance was a fundraiser, with 100% of the proceed going to Hannah.  I emptied my wallet, but I know it is just a small drop in the bucket. Hannah and her boyfriend Jack Fields came to the performance and they sat in the front row. This was the first time I saw how Hannah’s mobility was being limited. Despite the medical setbacks she still manages to joke about her situation.

At a TXT performance the entire audience is asked to take out their cell phones and log into anonymous twitter accounts. They all tweet, and Brian reads every tweet out loud while adding some creative flourishes. I remember that one person thought I was taking notes to report on individual’s deprived rants. People were confused and reluctant at first, but once they understood the premise they embraced the creative flow. 

Jingle Eve offers gift options in Ivanhoe Village.

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Jingle Eve happen every December in Ivanhoe Village. All the shops on Virginia Avenue are open late and Mark Baratelli‘s Food Truck Bazaar supplies the food. I had to pick up a painting from Bare Foot Spa which is on Virginia so I got a sketch and an errand done with one trip. Artist John Glassman Gardner discussed a project he started in which he pays artists to fill a page in a sketchbook. I offered to fill a page, but the sketchbook is still making the rounds in some artists studio.You might notice that even in December, Orlandoens dress in T Shirts, shorts and sandals. You gotta love that.

I didn’t buy anything on this sketch outing but I discovered a glass shop that had all the tools and supplies needed to create stained glass windows. Bare Foot Spa (801 Virginia Dr, Orlando, Florida) always has exhibits of local artists in the front room. An exhibit curated by Parker Sketch will be opening this Saturday September 9th from 6pm to 9pm. The show is titled Television and it features art of television personalities, art of televisions, art of anything related to televisions. Here you will see classic television shows, cartoon characters, Atari, the evening news, and more. This show features 30 pieces of art by 17 different artists. I submitted one sketch done of Brian Feldman on the evening that all the analog signals were switched off. He had one analog TV for each station and one by one the sets switched to static. On that day if you had an analog TV, it became a relic and you had to go out and buy a digital TV. I wonder how much TV sales spiked around the country on that day. Anyway, stop on out to the opening if you are in Ivanhoe Village that day and say hi.

#txtsmall challenged the audience to think and create as one.

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Fringe tech rehearsals were in full swing when performance artist Brian Feldman returned to Orlando from Washington, D.C. to do a performance of “#txtsmall” a new variation of his “txt” show. The performance took place in the home of Carl F. Gauze. Carl has written and produced many Fringe productions, so he understands the need for a good set and production values. He set an antique desk on top of a wooden stage he made for the performance. Tiki gods and lava lamps set the scene while a disco ball was the cherry on the ice cream sundae.

“txt” was first performed in 2009 at the Kerouac House. The premise is simple: Everyone in the audience logs in to an anonymous account on Twitter. invited to an account on twitter. The audience tweets and Brian reads them all aloud. This has become Brian’s signature performance and shows continue in DC. At one show in DC, every Sunday night. At one show the audience began to work together -unprompted-constructing a storyline. It was a magical, unexpected collaborative effort and Brian hoped that the Orlando show might duplicate that magic.

“#txtsmall” had an audience of six gathered in Carl’s living room. There were isolated instances when a storyline began to form involving monkeys, but like most “txt” performances, chaos and mad improvised thoughts took over. Genevieve Bernard tweeted stage directions asking Brian to dance like a lava lamp. He got up, stood at the front of the stage and moved with a liquid oozing flow.

After the show, Brian told us about a new performance he will premiere at Capital Fringe in Washington, D.C. called Dishwasher. At a mutually agreed upon time, he will go to the ticket buyer’s home, wash the dirty dishes in their sink and,
once completed, cold read any monologue he is assigned. As the show description states, “Is he a better
actor or dishwasher? You decide.” Brian’s first job was as a child actor in a production with Orlando Shakespeare Theater, his second job was as a dishwasher. This production should decide once and for all which career path he is destined to follow. If you happen to be in D.C. right now, I would have suggested you get a ticket. However the 18 show run is completely sold out.

Lottery tickets at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Certer.

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There are affordable tickets to the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center. Brian Feldman a performance artist who now resides in Washington DC, returned to Orlando to surprise his parents this holiday season. The family decided to see “The Book of Mormon“. At 5:30pm there is a lottery for $25 tickets to the show. The Feldman family was at the front of the line. Names were taken and placed in one of those rotating lottery ticket cages. Perhaps 30 people stood in line.

A group of teens were playing, “Name that Sondheim Show”.  The MC knew all the shows, but her friends were Steven Sondheim illiterate. I felt like I should shout out the answers but I kept to myself. She tried to explain “Sunday in the Park with George“. “Its difficult to explain, the whole show is about this large painting of people in a park.” she explained. At 6pm the first names were drawn. Everyone crowded around the announcer hoping their name would be next. When a name was called out there would be gleeful cheers and clapping. The last name called only got a few disappointed claps. The lottery losers dispersed. None of the Feldman’s won the lottery.

Brian had wandered off to find a cash machine because lottery tickets could only be paid for with cold hard cash. I never did see him that night. His Mom, Marilyn, was in the box office in a bit of a panic. She didn’t have cash and so she couldn’t purchase fer full price ticket.  A friend offered to pay for her. Since so few people know about this lottery, your chances of winning are pretty good. As I hiked back to my car, I over heard a couple who had lost the lottery but had been offered winning tickets from another group that had won to many times.

No More Drunken Monkey

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I stopped off at the Drunken Monkey, (444 N Bumby Ave, Orlando, FL.) to meet Terry before heading to a party at Matt Rankin‘s house which was right down the street. The party was for Amanda and Matt Simantov who had just been married. Matt explained that the celebration was known as Ma’sshe Kanut. Ma’shhe Kanut is a Jewish Custom where friends wish the Bride and Groom Farewell before they returned home to their Seattle homeland.

A Traditional Ma’sshe Kanut is held at the friend of the bride. Ancient Rabbinic Law mandates a Fire to burn from the beginning of Ma’sshe Kanut (1 hour after sundown) until the last guest takes a hint that everyone wants to go to bed. If this is your first Ma’sshe Kanut, it is customary to bring Kosher Yuengling, Kosher Doritos, or Kosher something everyone will like.

Terry was running a little late, so I figured I had enough time to dash off a quick sketch over a cup of coffee. As always people sat transfixed, staring at computer screens, but who am I to talk. I’m staring at a computer screen right now. Jessica Pauli who is a band promoter was having a meeting at the next table over. All that I overheard is that the venue being discussed had a large comfortable green room. I wonder if I had sketched in that greenroom?

Terry arrived as the last watercolor washes were drying. We walked together down to Matt’s house. Matt was in the backyard nursing the fire pit. It was a cold night so I rotated periodically like a pig on a spit. Chairs circled the fire and soon everyone arrived. Marshmallows were roasted on sticks.  I had a stick with multiple branches but I only roasted one marshmallow. Brian Feldman had come from Washington D.C. to witness the wedding and after this fireside chat, Amanda and Matt would fly off to Washington State.

It was toward the end of the evening when I discovered that there is no such thing as a Ma’ssh Kanut. Matt had made up the word. That didn’t detract from the warmth and fellowship of the fire. I no longer go to Drunken Monkey since they used one of my sketches without consulting me on their Internet welcome page. I usually support local businesses but I can’t support theft.

Amanda and Matt Simantov Wedding

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On January 19th Amanda and Matt Simantov were married at Congregation Ohev Shalom Synagogue (613 Concourse Parkway South, Maitland Florida). Terry and I had attended a dinner party as well, but that was on the day of rest, so I wasn’t permitted to sketch. All the men at the wedding were encouraged to wear yamakas which are small caps that just cover the bald spot on a man’s head. Each yamaka came with a hair pin to help hold it in place. I buzz cut my hair, so there wasn’t anything to attach the hair clip to. At the reception before the wedding, I walked around the room like there was a text book balanced on my head. I ordered a soda however and realized that I would have to tip my head back when I drank. A straw would have solved the problem, but I didn’t see any. Whenever I drank, my yamaka would flop off onto the floor.

Plan B. There was a sushi bar. I’ve always found sushi rice to be rather sticky. Rather than eat the sushi I picked up, I dissected it, removing the raw fish and sea weed.  I then took the rice and molded it into a Frisbee shaped disk which I then placed inside the yamaka. I pressed it onto my head and regained my head mobility. As the rice dried, it must have lost its stickiness because just as I entered the Synagogue and looked up at the immense sun lit vaulted ceiling, it popped off again. I sat rice less through the service and avoided tilting my head as I sketched.

Terry and I sat sandwiched between Mark Baratelli and Brian Feldman both of whom claimed that they first introduced the wedding couple. During the service, one of the brides maids must have locked her knees because she nearly fainted and had to be moved to a pew by the brides maids around her. The officiant must have missed all the activity because he didn’t miss a beat.

The reception was also in the Synagogue. The photographer was testing out huge flash umbrellas, one of which war right next to the table Terry and I sat at. The flashes were blinding and constant, so I got up and sat across the room on a couch until the green spots stopped dancing in my vision. Elizabeth Drake Forbes gave a moving speech in which she listed all the amazing events Amanda had attended or helped organize while she was here in Orlando. Amanda had just moved to Seattle to be with Matt and that is where they returned to after the wedding. Amanda hasn’t acclimated herself there yet, so Elizabeth’s speech caused her to cry since she has had to let dear friends go to strike out and create a new life across the continent.

For the first dance, Amanda lip synced to a song by Debbie Gibson titled “Lost in Your Eyes” as she danced with Matt. Couples and friends crowded into a photo booth for regal commemorative shots, and of course there was dancing. When Matt was raised up in a chair for the traditional couples dance, he began to slip forward because the four guys couldn’t support his weight evenly. Terry shouted that I needed to help so I squeezed in and lifted it back up just in time. I wonder what kind of bad luck would have haunted the couple had Matt fallen from the chair. All the guests were given sparklers and they created a tunnel leading to the car as the couple ran from the reception to start their new life as husband and wife.

The Feldman Dynamic

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When performance artist Brian Feldman lived in Orlando, I tried to sketch as many of his performances as I could. Nearly two years ago he moved to Washington, D.C where he has only done one performance piece, a “friend building” experience called “BFF” for the Capital Fringe Festival. I lost all contact with him after the move since my primary interest was always in sketching and writing about his performance concepts. Orlando lost an unusual and unique artist when Brian left, and I lost a major source of inspiration.

“The Feldman Dynamic” was first performed in 2003 and started Brian on the road to becoming a performance artist. I didn’t start following Brian until 2009 when I started this blog. I knew about the Dynamic, but had never seen the original performance which was part of the New York International Fringe Festival. The members of his family have since moved in different directions. His parents are divorced. His mother is a breast cancer survivor and his sister has been married and now lives south of Orlando. Nearly a thousand miles separate the family’s daily lives.

When I got to the Jewish Community Center in Maitland, I had to have my drivers license scanned at the security desk in order to enter. Outside the Harriet and Hymen Lake Cultural Auditorium I saw Brian putting fliers on a table outside the auditorium entrance. He was a nervous ball of energy. I was pleased to see signs that announced “No Google Glass allowed inside the Theater!” No aspect of the performance was permitted to be filmed, but sketching was strongly encouraged during the pre-show announcement. I laughed out loud.

On stage the dining table was being set up and Brian’s mom, Marilyn Wattman-Feldman, was at the back of the auditorium warming up dishes in the kitchen.  Brian’s dad, Edward Feldman, was busy trying to get connected to the internet. He had me flip through a large portfolio full of his art work.  Adrienne McIntosh, Brian’s sister, was trying to get the internet password from JCC security. Brian helped me set up a crude barrier that would keep the audience from noticing me as I sketched from stage left. The resulting structure was rickety and I was afraid the whole time that it might collapse into the audience. Luckily it held up. An old radio was found backstage and placed on Edward’s computer table. Brian let me know that it was the same one from the last show he had performed there, a JCC production of Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs”15 years earlier.  Both he and Adrienne were child performers.

At 7:15pm the house opened and the audience entered. The family walked on stage together and sat down for dinner. Edward spent much of the time standing and serving food. A bottle of sparkling cider couldn’t be opened since no one had a bottle opener. Edward put the bottle on the edge of the stage and said, “I bet the bottle will magically open itself.” Sure enough, Carl from the audience got up and opened the bottle with his utility knife. For some reason Brian was wearing a tuxedo he had rented for Amanda and Matt Simantov‘s wedding. I knew this because he had e-mailed me and asked if I wanted to rent the same tux for the wedding. I stuck with my suit which I discovered had paint stains on the pant legs. I don’t think anyone at the wedding noticed.

Brian is a very private person. For one of his recent performances,he stayed off Facebook for an entire year. It looks like that performance lasted for four months. Then Brian explained that Facebook
only lets events last for four months. Since he didn’t log on to
the site for the entire year, he couldn’t keep changing the start and end
dates to cover the full 12 months. Yet another hangup with the site. I had no idea what life in D.C. has been like for him. The family chatted about films they had seen. Brian has seen tons of films and his mother has seen maybe 2 in the last year. He stood up midway through the meal feeling he needed to make an announcement to is family. His father asked, “Are you getting married?” “Wow, that makes sense”, I thought. Brian let them know that he had been fired from his job. He showed them the letter of termination. They read it in silence but Edward felt Brian should write a letter of apology and maybe he would be taken back. Brian had fallen asleep at a security job at 2am. “Well, they have to understand, maybe you were tired!” his father consoled. The audience laughed. Brian let them know that he wasn’t asking to move back. He is getting unemployment and actively looking for another job. Performance art would have to wait until he got a full-time job. Adrienne had an announcement as well. She got a promotion at Disney moving from one department to another. She was even getting a raise. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound!

I had a strange dream last night. Brian and I were seated on the ground floor of a parking garage that had been converted into a women’s prison. A woman in an orange jumpsuit had ankle cuffs with a noisy chain and was being escorted up a ramp by an armed guard. Brian was smiling broadly and giving me advice. “You should get a job,” he said. “I work at Full Sail,” I replied. “No, you need to get a full-time job. It has been too long.” It was an odd dream. I have no idea what it means.

After dinner the family stood around the computer looking at family pictures and shots of Adrienne’s dachshund. Before I knew it, they were taking a bow. The audience was maybe a quarter full with most of them being friends and local media. There were plenty of left overs. Edward served me some salad and beef brisket, which was delicious. I topped it off with some apple pie and got back to the sketch. Stage manager Sharli’ Ward was having an animated conversation about Israel with Marilyn. If you didn’t know about The Feldman Dynamic, you missed a personal, unplanned slice of life and some great food! It was theater as life.

Disney Security Kiosk

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Before leaving Orlando, performance artist, Brian Feldman wanted to produce a second performance of Thor sketches the Audience for the United Arts, Arts Fest in February . He had the idea of using the theater at Disney University as the venue. I drove down to Disney to meet him and Tommy Wingo. Tommy handled all the tech details the first time around with the projectors and screens. I changed into my nice pants since I figured I needed to fit the Disney look as we met the theater promotions folks.

When I got to the Disney Institute the security guard at the entrance asked me for my driver’s license. I searched my pants and wouldn’t you know, my wallet wasn’t there. I had left it in the old pair of pants. Fay, the security guard couldn’t let me onto the Disney property. I sat with her in her little security kiosk as I called Brian and the Disney folks to try and get in. I think one of the promotions people went out to the wrong kiosk to get me. Security has been this tight ever since 9/11 and I just might be a terrorist. I know I’m an anarchist.

The theater is absolutely gorgeous with plush theater seats
and an old school look, reminding me of the Ford Theater where Lincoln was
shot. We discussed lighting and the position of screens. The Disney folks were
a pleasure to talk to. The first time, I rented the theater space at the Shakespeare
Theater for about $300. In the parking lot near the Disney Theater, Tommy, Brian
and I joked about how expensive it would be to rent the Disney Theater for the
night. We placed bets and I believe I had the high bet at $5000. Much later, we
found out it would cost $30,000 to rent the space. That included renting
several Disney Buses to transport audience members from a distant lot. The
invoice did say that they world throw in a folding table for the evening at no
extra cost. Needless to say, we didn’t rent from Disney.

The Sketchbook Project

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The Sketchbook Project has been traveling the country hitting large cities everywhere. Now it is in Orlando for two more days. I went on Friday, the first day to see what the buzz was about. I submitted a sketchbook and it is part of this national tour. In all there are over 10,000 sketchbooks from artists from around the world. The mobile sketchbook library is being housed at Full Sail Live which is a brand new state of the art performance space on the Full Sail campus. When I arrived, Mark Baratelli and Brian Feldman were in the lobby. The first order of business was to get a library card, so I got in line to pick up my card.

Inside there are about 10 to 15 bookcases full of sketchbooks. My first impulse would be to thumb through multiple sketchbooks until I found one that caught my eye. Unfortunately you can’t walk among the stacks and choose the books yourself. The Project staff have to find the sketchbook for you. You can pick sketchbooks by the artist’s name or by geographic region or by the theme. I remember my theme was “Faces in a crowd.” I asked for two sketchbooks with that theme. One had over rendered pencil drawings of people’s faces from family photos. It had little appeal. The second book was covered in foil and had entire pages boldly painted with gouache. It was bold and interesting. Maisy and Ron Marrs showed up so I shadowed them for a bit so I could glance at Maisy’s sketchbook. Her work was fun and whimsical and there was a sketch of me in there which was an unexpected surprise.

I started sketching the long line of people waiting to check out sketchbooks. I spoke with Megan Everhart who was waiting to pick up her 2012 sketchbook. She had driven five hours down here from South Carolina to experience the Sketchbook Project first hand. Her work is abstract and she also does murals. Her iPhone had died so she couldn’t continue to shoot photos. I offered her my charger but I couldn’t find the wall plug piece. It was somewhere in my bag, but I couldn’t locate it among all the art supplies. She had a five hour drive back north so she headed out early. A former Disney colleague, Rusty Stoll was checking out sketchbooks, but after four books he was disappointed in the lack of draftsmanship. I saw Tracy Burke with her parents checking out the work. I kept bumping into people I knew, like Bess Auer of “Central Florida Top 5.”

All afternoon I checked out sketchbooks and I was enthralled by the wide variety of the work. At 6pm the founders of the Sketchbook Project, StevePeterman and Shane Zucker took to the stage. They were college buddies and the seed of this project started small. They at first only envisioned 100 sketchbooks would ever be submitted. Over time they had to adjust as the numbers escalated. There are 10,000 sketchbooks now being housed at Full Sail Live. It would be impossible to view every sketchbook even if you spent all three days checking out books as fast as you could view them. The sheer volume of art is staggering. Once again the power of the Internet is making art available to the masses. You have to experience the Sketchbook Project to believe it. It is open today (7/30) and Sunday (7/31) from Noon to 5pm. Don’t miss it! Listen to what others had to say…

“This event was incredible!! If you missed it today, check out Sketchbook Project this weekend while you can!!
– Tracy Burke

“The Sketchbook Project was one of the best shows I’ve ever been to for art! International artists and their sketchbooks and the excitement of being able to share it with everyone!”
– Maisy May Marrs

“Just got back from the 2011 Sketchbook project at Full Sail. It was awesome, so many books to look at. If you have a chance to go and check it this weekend Sat and Sun. 12-5pm. Check out Thomas Thorspecken, Peter Soutullo, Maisy Marrs and some other Florida Natives books while you are there. This is taking place here in Orlando, is free and its at Full Sail Live behind the Mickey D’s on 436 and University.”
– Chris Tobar

Happy Memories

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Jack Fields is working on a short film titled “Happy Memories” which combines puppetry and live action. He told me that Brian Feldman would be hatching from an egg on the day I went to sketch. John Regan III was behind the camera. Digital SLR cameras shoot quality video these days. Brian was perched on a crate covered with foam and a blue blanket. The wall behind him was painted as a blue screen so he could be composited onto another background in post production. He was dressed in long johns that had googly eyes pasted all over the surface. Whenever he moved the eyes wobbled. Jack was trying to get an eyeball hanging from an ocular nerve to look like it had popped out of Brian’s eye socket. The adhesive didn’t want to stick so the eye kept dropping off.

With costuming and makeup done it was time to shoot. Brian tucked his knees up to his chest in a fetal position and then Jack started wrapping him in aluminum foil. Jack stood back and shouted “Action!” Brian slowly extricated himself from the aluminum foil egg. Jack shouted “Cut!” He felt Brian had moved too slow, so he explained the pacing he needed. Brian was wrapped in aluminum foil for another take. This time the timing was perfect. They shot one more scene where Brian looked at a puppet held by Jack in shock and horror.

I don’t know the story behind “Happy Memories” but I can’t wait to see the final product. Jack’s puppets are an intricate banquet for the eyes.