wake! program

The word WAKE is the poetic knot at the heart of our event. In one sense, we encounter a word meaning alertness or holding vigil, and in another, the artifacts trailing behind a person or idea. 

WAKE! takes its inspiration from the late co-founders of Issue Project Room, Suzanne Fiol and Dana Maisel. As curators, their devotion to a diverse and multi-generational space, promoted an ever-broadening sense of community. A community that strove to dissolve divisions by the undefinable rituals of experimental art making.

Our event draws direct inspiration from the Poet’s Dinner(s), organized by Dana Maisel, which were celebrated in conjunction with the 2005-2006 literary season New Language. These dinners brought poets and audience members together “to converse and inspire, [where] all are welcomed to come and feast”. And, Ruminations (2006), an evening of poetry and sound that assures us that “Yes there are eternal things to fight for”. 

The scale of this event blurs the lines between artists and their offerings. Anonymity though, is not the loss of self, it is acknowledging unseen influences as they move through us. It is the interaction of past and present through living artists, projecting future worlds, hazy-edged and eternally out of focus. 

RUMINATION

Have we not tired out the old game of Sherlock & Charade?
What good is a mirror to a man who is blind.

How many times can I blame the knife for having cut my finger,
Before it is me who must cut off where I'm going?

-Dana M Maisel

6pm

Ronan McKinnon Ensemble
featuring Carina Geist, Celine Kang, & Sean Lawson

When was the last time you cried? by Julie Kim
featuring Che Buford, Rocío Díaz de Cossío, & Ana Luisa Diaz de Cossío

Tavis
Travis Bliss, Shane Simpson, Priya Carlberg, Jon Starks, Alex Quinn, Andres Abenante

7pm

Anthony Coleman & Yoona Kim

Heather Lynn Johnson

2 films by Frances Arapia
Luck Be a Lady Tonight
I Put On the Glasses But I Still Could Not See, in 3D with a live score by Diaphanous Ensemble (Che Buford & Aimée Niemann) 

8pm

Readings of work by Dana Maisel

Eloquent Vulgar
Steve Long & Kalli Mathios
featuring Carlo Costa, Erica Dicker, & Nikita Manin 

Eternities
Bob Bellerue & Katie Porter

9pm

Nepenthae
Zach Layton, Henry Fraser, & Raf Vertessen

Webb Crawford

10pm

River Ramirez

Hourglass by Zach Paul 
featuring Jeremiah Cymerman, & members of the Brooklyn Chamber Players

11pm

Selba
Concetta Abbate & Hannah Selin

Truth Ritual
presented by Peter BD, Gabby Beans, Goddess Earth, Noel Heroux, Jessica Zambri, & Kate Eberstadt