July 3, 2009 - The Austin Chronicle

THEarts30 Classics Comeback 32 After a Fashion 62 Arts ListingsC-Scape Dune ShackMorning, Provincelands,Mass., by Suzanne Lewis‘DUNE SHACK SUMMER’ Finding her muse on old Cape CodSummer gets many Texans thinking of the beach, butfor at least one Texan, the beach in mind is more thana thousand miles from her home state. Last year,Suzanne Lewis was one of the few individuals selectedfor an annual residence program that allows artists tospend three weeks living and making works in one ofthe 17 historic dune shacks scattered across threemiles of the Cape Cod National Seashore. The shackswere built in the Twenties, Thirties, and Forties, oftenwith lumber that had washed ashore, and the livingconditions in them now are as bare-bones as whenthey were cobbled together: no electricity, no runningwater, the closest paved road 30 minutes by foot oversoft sand. Still, for Lewis, the dune shack was “heaven,”a getaway in which she was splendidly productiveas both a photographer and a painter of abstracts.The work she generated there has resulted in the exhibition“Dune Shack Summer,” opening July 2 in WallyWorkman Gallery’s upstairs space, and a book by thesame title, available at the gallery and at BookPeople.The Chronicle asked Lewis what made this beach andher time there so special.– Robert FairesAustin Chronicle: What draws someone born andreared in Austin to old Cape Cod?Suzanne Lewis: I am a fifth-generation Texan. However, I must’ve beenmisplaced, because I adore and hope to live on Cape Cod someday. It’sthe ocean, the New Englanders, and the weather. Need I say more in this100-plus degree heat? Bring on the bitter cold, snow, fog, and gray days.AC: On the one hand, you’re capturing the landscape in realistic photographicimages, and on the other, drawing on it as inspiration for largely nonrepresentationalpaintings, which would strike some folks as moving in oppositedirections simultaneously. What appeals to you about taking such differentapproaches at the same time?SL: I like it that way. I work very spontaneously and intuitively.The camera allows for this, as does the nonrep painting. Iget bored easily and am constantly having to entertain mycreative muse. I would shoot like a madwoman early in themorning and paint by music from NPR in the afternoon on mybattery-operated weather radio. I produced about 30 paintingsand more photo images than I’ve ever shot in one place.The most inspiring thing about the shack was knowingthe history of those who had gone before me. Over theyears, notable artists and writers have called these shackshome for weeks, months, even years. Willem de Kooning,Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Mary Oliver, e.e. cummings,Eugene O’Neill, Jack Kerouac, Annie Dillard, Norman Mailer– all spent time out there creating in the dune shacks. Thelight, the colors in this environment were magnificent. Theweather was so inspiring – storms rumbled, the shackshook. Every morning after I photographed, I’d walk the100 or so yards to the ocean with my coffee, journal, andbinoculars to watch the finback whales.The solitude was very regenerative for me. Even when Iwas not working, I was gathering the quiet to use when I gotback to my studio. I discovered it’s not only about creating; it’sabout preparing to create. I realized I could survive without somuch stuff. I was captured emotionally as if put under a spell.Being tuned in to things like the wind’s direction is reallyabout staying alive in the moment. It’s easy for me to be unconscious ofhow much water I use at home. But at the shack, I maybe used a gallon aday. I was so much more cognizant of it. I was mindful of every sound. Andjust being more aware of the impact of my actions is an important balancefor me to have. When we forget that, we’re disconnected from ourselvesand disconnected from one another. It was a sacred experience.Night in theDunes, bySuzanne Lewis“Suzanne Lewis: Dune Shack Summer” runs July 2-Aug. 5 in the upstairs gallery ofWally Workman Gallery, 1202 W. Sixth. For more information, call 472-7428 or visitwww.wallyworkmangallery.com.HIDEOUT IMPROV MARATHON Going out like meteors: blazingCOURTESY OF PETER ROGERSGoing to an improv show at the crack of dawn on aSunday is a tad surreal. Nowhere near as surreal, I’msure, as performing improv then – especially whenyou’ve already been doing that for 38 hours straight –but still. First surprise: that once you’re in the performancespace, the Hideout Theatre at 7am feels a lotlike the Hideout Theatre at 11pm. With the worldscreened out, the look of the stage and audienceanticipation are the same as in an evening show.Second and bigger surprise: that eight improviserswho had been at it nonstop since before sunsetFriday could be so sharp, focused, and riotously funny. Anyone at the finaleof the Hideout’s inaugural 40-Hour Improv Marathon to see a spectacularflameout by one or more of the sleep-deprived performers got a, well, rudeawakening. What flames there were came from these improv pros being onfire: listening to one another as keenly as surveillance ops, consistentlymaking clever choices that moved scenes in fresh directions, and keepingtrack of what had been created in earlier scenes, then calling back elementsfor comic effect. In hour 39, with guests McNichol and May, an offhandline about a spring break trip to Omaha sparked awhole series of scenes about the Nebraska metropolis:from a Grapes of Wrath-style family migration to Omaha,imagined as a biblical paradise with honey flowing frombuilding tops, to a Brooklyn mob couple in the witnessrelocation program grousing about the city’s cordiality. Inthat 50-minute succession of scenes, the players wereas smooth, supportive of one another, ingenious, andhilarious as any improvisers I’ve seen in town. And thatwas just as true in the final hour. Even when the eightwho had gone the distance – Kareem Badr, Kaci Beeler,Matt Pollock, Curtis Luciani, Jeremy Lamb, Andy Crouch, Troy Miller, andCaitlin Sweet – could see the finish line and punchiness occasionally overtookthem, they remained in top form, playing off whatever happened –hearing a baby’s cry in the audience during a scene in a space station, theymade it a “space nursery” – and building a cohesive story of variousthreads that they pulled together in dazzling fashion. Like the meteors theyreferenced in this last spontaneous tale, the eight improvisers of this firstmarathon went out in a glorious blaze of light.– R.F.GEPPETTODREAMSFAMILY PUPPETWORKSHOPSBuild a Bert (or Ernie)For my daughter, it was Lamb Chop, BigBird, and Kermit. For me, it was Cecil theSeasick Sea Serpent, Kukla and Ollie,and Farfel. For my parents, it was CharlieMcCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. And forsome ancestor way back when, I’m sureit was Punch and Judy. For generations,puppets have been captivating kids, andthe spell they cast is as powerful in theInternet age as ever. (Just ask any weeBiscuit Brothers fan about TinyScarecrow.) So when Geppetto DreamsPuppet Company offers a series ofSunday-morning workshops where childrencan learn to make their very ownpuppets, well, you gotta figure that theyoung ones will jump on that faster thanyou can say “Snuffleupagus.”The twice-monthly workshops (first andthird Sundays, 11am-12:30pm) will cover arange of puppet styles for various ages:paper puppets (4 and older), trash toys (5and older), glove puppets (6 and older),sock puppets (8 and older), trash puppets(8 and older), and deco-puppets (12 andolder). Costs vary, with suggested donationprices ranging from as little as $4 to $18.But for families who live in the 78702 ZIPcode, the workshops are free of charge,and special workshops are also availablefree to nonprofits serving children. (It’s away for Ricki Vincent and the GeppettoDreams puppeteers to give back to theircommunity.) Space is limited, however, soreservations are suggested. GeppettoDreams is located at 1715 E. Seventh. Formore information, call 358-4632 or visitwww.geppettodreams.com.– R.F.a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m JULY 3, 2009 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E 29