We are seeking artists, designers and craft enthusiasts from all backgrounds to participate in the Lillian Bottle Project. We will be spending a week in Vermont building internationally known artist Lisa Foo’s light sculptures, designed for folk opera Lillian by Benjamin Lear. The installations will be featured at the Opera Opera Festival in New York City this August. These sculptures are made entirely out of recycled plastic bottles.
On Sunday, July 10th, 20-30 of us will gather in Shaftsbury, Vermont at The Gulley, a beautiful, forested estate with a strong, artistic history (the house once belonged to Robert Frost and then to artist, Kenneth Nolan).
We will spend one week building 10-15 light-sculptures.
We will complete this project in groups, ideally taking shifts working on the different stages. The work is simple; cutting bottles, dividing the pieces, stapling them according to design, running LEDs through and then stringing them together.The most important part is getting a great group of enthusiastic people together to ensure we have as much fun as possible!
Yes, It will require focus, precision and an awesome attitude. Yes, by supporting the project with these things you will be given time to have a ton of fun, in or out of the pool or sauna, Get a group of friends together or come alone and you’ll surely have some very interesting friends by the end of the week!
Project details:
———— Schedule*:
Sunday, July 10th: arrival
Monday, July 11th - Saturday, July 16th: complete project.
Sunday, July 17th: departure.
*We will give first dibs to those who commit to the full week. However, if you can only do a few days, submit anyway and we’ll try to work it out.
———— If you’re coming from NYC, Transportation to and from Albany will be provided. However, getting to Albany is up to you. Megabus offers a really cheap ticket.
———— You will be accommodated and fed very well.
———— We will work hard to ensure we can play hard.
To Submit:
———— Please send your contact information along with a few sentences about yourself and your creative background and/or what excites you about the project to Carolineb.Scott@gmail.com
More info on Lillian:
————- Lillian is a folk-opera written by Ben Lear, which premiered last May at Le Poisson Rouge. It combines a 15-piece band, projected video-art/animation, intricate lighting, costumes, and NOW light sculptures to tell the story of a young man, who must scuba dive to the great pacific garbage patch to reclaim all he’s lost in his life.
————- The re-imagining of Lillian will take place during the week of August 21st-28th as part of an opera festival produced and curated by Classic Voltage. While multiple aspects of the production have evolved since last May, perhaps the most exciting is a new cross-Pacific collaboration with light-sculptor, Lisa Foo.
These pieces will be truly glorious; we will marry design and activism to create stand-alone works of art that happen to reflect a global, dire issue: plastic pollution.
And none of it will be possible without your help! This will be an incredible week, guaranteed.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Ben Lear and the Lillian creative team.
