Open Studio: Jamie Isenstein
Mar 16, 2016
A family makes performing objects in the Laurie M. Tisch Education Center, Hearst Artspace, March 2016. Photograph by Filip Wolak
In our Open Studio program for families, artist Jamie Isenstein invited participants to transform everyday objects and give them a life of their own. Kids and parents turned cereal boxes, milk cartons, socks, and empty drink bottles into scary monsters, eccentric characters, and cheeky personalities.
Kids stage a performance with their puppet characters, March 2016. Photograph by Filip Wolak
Adorned with fur, feathers, googly eyes, and glasses, the puppets were all set to perform. Kids and parents animated their creations and staged their own performances in a specially constructed puppet theater.
A peek “behind the scenes” with Meghan Wolf and kids staging a performance, March 2016. Photograph by Filip Wolak
Actor, storyteller, and puppeteer Meghan Wolf was invited by the artist to work with families and help them make their performing objects move, using their hands as limbs or mouths and their voices to take on the puppet’s character.
A kid animates her puppet, March 2016. Photograph by Filip Wolak
Isenstein collaborated with Family Programs staff to select materials and create prompts to help kids project an entire personality onto their objects. Some of our favorite prompts were: What’s the most mischievous thing that your puppet has ever done? How on earth do you climb a tree with those arms? What happened to your shoes?
A kid notices that the curtains move, March 2016. Photograph by Filip Wolak
On view nearby, Isenstein’s installation combined video, sculpture, and performance, including a player piano that continuously belted out a ragtime version of the Bee Gees’ disco classic, Stayin’ Alive. The artist was present, but no one could see her! She was hidden behind a red curtain, making it move to the music.
A family visits Isenstein’s installation in the Susan and John Hess Family Theater, March 2016. Photograph by Filip Wolak
Here, a family watches a short, looping video in which she performs a vaudeville duet with an animatronic skeleton, a jaunty dance of death that repeats without end.
Billie Rae Vinson, Coordinator of Family Programs commented about the program: “It was exciting to see kids connect with Isenstein’s practice by bringing their transformed objects and performance skills together. Families really let loose as they brought their puppets to life, embraced their characters, and performed all kinds of scenarios for each other.”
Open Studio for families took place on March 5 and 6, in conjunction with the exhibition, Collected by Thea Westreich Wagner and Ethan Wagner.
Watch videos of kids and their puppets:
Learn more about Family Programs here.
Dina Helal, Manager of Education Resources