Jell-O Waves

Yes! We have a title and theme for the 2016 Jell-O Art Show. It took us two brainstorms to get there, with a lot of discarded ideas which had their great aspects. The synergy of putting ten to twenty creative people in a room and telling them to open their minds is stunning to experience. I was trying to take notes and I could not follow the bursts of laughter, the outrageous images being described, and the wild synapses that crackled

as we all tried to connect Jell-O Art with what is trendy, what is funny, and what will foster a good art show and performance.

Jell-O Art is unique in the balance between the serious and the ridiculous. When you take such an awkward medium and try to shape it and express a concept with it, you depend on happy accidents and discover what you love about it as you go. The transparency and color is obviously what attracts me, with the way the colors can work together and create new ones in a shifting display from every angle. The performance is kind of like that...it happens and envelops spontaneity with careful planning and a desired outcome, but unknown results. Any joke can fall flat or be rendered not funny by April. Using the militia (Jellitia) and the birders fell right off the list this week and it's unlikely that we will land on anything political, especially locally, for the same reason. It would be a shame to polish a skit and learn music and moves to have it be really in bad taste on April 2nd. So the show theme has to be broad in scope in the beginning, and gradually narrow as we all choose our parts and refine our characters and actors' business.

Any sculpture can slide off the plate and become a mess on the way over the railroad tracks to MKAC. It felt almost like cheating when I settled into the dried gelatin because it is so much more stable and long-lasting, but after so many years I've gotten over that. I've been able to do so many more things with it that I don't really miss the jiggle. And as an old angel, I've gotten over the need for glamour and prefer the intellectual aspects of the performance. Not that I am a seasoned performer. Even though I am a Radar Angel and Jell-O Artist from the beginning, I only really started being part of that wing of the Angels in 2013, so I am still a newbie and somewhat in awe of the process. But I do want the jokes to be clever so I try to keep stimulating everyone to think of silly things, which they all seem quite good at and did for years without me. Okay, really I just try to keep up.

It's truly collaborative and run by consensus and that helps. Everybody gets to choose their characters, costumes, write their own lines, and find their own way to fit into the mix. That can be hard, but if you can tolerate the chaotic part in the middle, that kind of divergent thinking can certainly converge into something wonderfully together. You may not agree from the viewpoint of an audience member. You can go to the Radar Angels Facebook page and view the video of last year's performance to see for yourself what was successful and what was not. Like the page while you're there, please. Keep in mind that most of us are enthusiastic amateurs and it's rare that we have professional talent, though we generally do have some. Everyone has their strengths and as an ensemble it is both supportive and challenging. I wauv it so much.

So we settled on Waves with a list of possible interpretations and thought it would be conducive to lots of possible sculpture ideas, from the obvious water ones, through tsunamis to ripples, and of course waves travel through sound and air and other areas of science. Sine waves, ultraviolet waves, standing waves, and so on will work, not to forget permanent waves and 40's Navy women. If you want something really amusing, go read urban dictionary and see what else is in the culture. There's plenty to draw from. I have a lot of faith in the Jell-O Artists who continually delight me with the myriad ways they can bring fresh ideas and techniques each year. I know we will get some great pieces and you will want to come and see them as well.

As for the performance, for it to be the maximum fun it has to stay secret. If you read previous blogs you know I can't help giving hints and I will no doubt reward you with that this year in some form. I will tell you now that because we have the present Slug Queen, Markalo Parkalo, Your Queen and Mine, in our group, he will be appearing in lots of ways and you will want to see them for yourself. I don't feel that my position as Queen of Jell-O Art is threatened by this in any way, in fact, I am still taking lessons on Queenliness so hope to gain some skills, even if just in waving practice. You never know when you will be asked to appear in a parade (it could happen) so I need to make sure my wrists are flexible enough and my fascinators are dusted.

So you can start thinking now about your piece. I am going to order more gelatin as I'm on my last four pound bag. I'm not inspired yet, having been doing a lot of meeting stuff and thinking about really dry and political and academic topics, but this weekend I plan to sweep the papers off the table and get some pie plates filled with color. I don't really need to have a concept at this early stage. Just starting to play will stimulate me to think that way, to step into the flow and let it carry me. I'ma gonna wave, and if it doesn't feel like a wavegasm yet, I'll just wave it off as a Wavavirus and catch the next one. Surf's up!