Art Installation REAL TIME Comes to ACT's Eagles Building

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre announces the art installation that brings together four artists including Scott Bennett, Marne Cohen-Vance, Laurie Le Clair, and Jeff Scott who are career theatrical artisans, contributing to productions in every major theatre company in Seattle.

Their work both refers to and incorporates the theme of time into the exhibit. All four of these installations will be located throughout ACT's building and ask the viewer to become part of the art, and to engage it in real time.

Moving into the next half-century of ACT, the Theatre continues to increase the diversity of its cultural offerings to the community. This exhibition is a part of an ongoing effort to bring new art forms into this historic building under the ACT umbrella.

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About the Installations and Artists:

Real Time Video Art Performance by Scott Bennett

An improvised performance combining live drawing (using computer graphics) with live video remix techniques accompanied and inspired by a streaming audio soundtrack from the internet. A meditative approach was chosen for this setting and environment, with the hope of creating a "nice place to hang out", relax, and let patrons' minds wander.

Scott Bennett (aka scobot) started VJ-ing in 2005 and has over 600 professional VJ performances to his credit. He has produced content and performances for corporate clients including: Red Bull, Ducati, Microsoft, Midway, Nordstrom, Seattle International Film Festival, Reel Grrls, Real Networks, Pro Sports Club, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. In addition to his VJ work, Scott also creates artwork in a variety of mediums such as: painting, sculpture, electronics, video projection mapping, 2D & 3D game engines, and virtual reality. www.scobot.com

Lachesis by Marne Cohen-Vance

Constructed from everyday household objects, including 650 beaters from electric mixers and several miles of cotton string, Lachesis is an installation where the viewer is invited to engage the sound element by striking the row of kitchen utensils with one of the two rods provided at either end. The installation is named after the second of the Three Fates of Greek mythology, whose task was to measure the thread of people's lives out, allotting each person's fated lifetime.

Marne Cohen-Vance was born in Ballard and has been ACT's Properties Master since 2001. She earned a BFA in Printmaking came from the University of Washington in 1987 and spent many years as a scenic artist for theatre, television, and film productions in Seattle and Los Angeles. Marne began exhibiting her own work within the last decade, showing most recently at Gallery 104.

History by Laurie Le Clair

With this installation, Laurie Le Clair suggests the finding of a lost trove of personal papers which offer the uncovering of buried secrets not yet deciphered, not yet unburied. The follow-up to this installation will be in April of 2016 at CORE Gallery, for which she will have written on these pages letters and diaries referring to "secrets" divulged to her by participants in that event.

Laurie Le Clair attended The Corcoran in Washington D.C. and had her first exhibit in 1973 at the Corcoran Gallery. She exhibited at Collusion Unlimited, Battery Street Gallery, the Kurt Lidtke Gallery, and was represented for two years by the G. Gibson Gallery in Seattle. In 2003, she was selected by Seattle Arts Commission as a participant in its new Emerging Public Artist Roster, which association led to doing a full scale artist's installation for an emerging public artists' exhibition at City Space.

Monkey Business by Jeff Scott

Inspired by a vintage toy puzzle known as "Ole Million Face," this project consists of at least four images (approximately 3 x 5 feet) with corresponding puzzles. The puzzles will be wooden blocks with attached reductions of those four images. Viewers are encouraged to (re)assemble and reconstruct the puzzles in multiple variations. The images depict a cartoon monkey face conforming to a consistent outline. The choice of monkey image is a reference to the upcoming Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb 8, 2016.

Jeff Scott is a Scenic Charge Artist with ACT's production team. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1983. Jeff has worked at Seattle institutions including Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and The Village Theatre. Jeff has exhibited painting at Linda Hodges Gallery, Room 104 Gallery, TPN Gallery Walls, and more.

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Located in Seattle's Downtown Historic Theatre District, ACT is home to five performance spaces under one roof. Since 1965, ACT has been a destination for experiencing new voices, stories, and art. ACT is steadfast in its dedication to producing work with contemporary playwrights and local performing artists through its Mainstage Play series, ACTLab producing partnerships, and Young Playwrights Program. With more than 450 performances a year, ACT is a community hub where artists and the public connect about today's issues and ideas, and celebrate the shared experience.

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