Jell-O Bizness

 

We really got the Jell-O Art Show plans jelling this week. The brainstorming is the fun part that reminds me that I really do want to do it. I really do have the energy to make another show happen. It's a fine bunch of warm and talented people and we work together to create silliness and joy. It's hard to think of a better way to navigate the winter months.

I've made some Jell-O, since I have very little left after last year's Boxes O' Fun. I gave away about six tubs worth of my 12 tubs of gelatin pieces...so I can make specific ones for this year's project if I can get settled on what it is. This part is just playtime...I put them on a table and arrange them in various ways while I think about some kind of concept. 

I kind of lost interest in the crowns idea. The sticks didn't really work out, so I threw what I made outside when it got moldy. Then I picked it out of the compost and thought maybe I would just let it age outside and see what it turned into. It might become something. I might glue moss and lichen on it and make it super-natural...or I might throw it back on the compost. I have plenty of time to decide.

We settled on the theme: There's No Bizness Like Jell-O Bizness. It reminds us of a fun song that we can use at the beginning, and it seems like a good prompt for the artists...because Jell-O bizness is funny bizness. So they can go off into any kind of business they want...real estate, banking, politics, all hilarious. All worthy of satirical comment anyway. Serious Bizness.

We always have a blast tossing around ideas for a meeting or three. Tonight we constructed somewhat of a narrative so now I get to start a script which is something I love to do. It gets changed a lot, and some years has been completely trashed and started over, but we build on the framework and everyone adds their quirky things. Nothing is too weird at this stage.

Picking a character, or a song, or even just a costume is a way to start, and I thought I might play Queen Elizabeth but now I might try some other royal. Of course I always begin with my own character, the Queen of Jell-O Art, Queen Gelatinaceae. I have the wonderful role of being the bridge between the Jell-O artists and the public, and I usually introduce the Slug Queen and the beginning of the performance. I love the role of the somehow glamorous Queen, even though I know I am a dumpy old lady in a costume...it's a real glamour in the sense of something magical coming over me and everyone else in the room. It's reality and an escape from it at the same time. It's pure fun and everyone gets to laugh with me, or at me, I don't even care. If you think I'm ridiculous, that works fine.

What a piece of freedom. What a gift I have been given. I'm the luckiest of Queens. 

Make sure to put the show on your calendar and attend. It's only three hours, 5-8 on a Saturday night. (March 25th) With luck we will be past Covid enough to forget all of our grief and horror for a few hours and just enjoy that we live in a place where we have a gallery show where everyone works in Jell-O. I mean, what town can beat that?