Capsule

CAPSULE ART & TRANSFORMATION

Capsule Taos

TAKING YOU TO TAOS FOR AN IMMERSIVE ART EXPERIENCE

Art, Mental Health & Positivity

ART TRANSFORMS

Artists' Corner

MEET CHRISTINA SPORRONG & CHRISTIAN RISTOW

Sponsor's Column

BRIDGING ART, EDUCATION, AND COMMUNITY The Future

AN INSIDER LOOK AT THE EXCITING NEW ART SPACE, SECO LIVE SPACE,

BY ARROYO SECO LIVE JULY 2020

WWW.CAPSULETAOS.COM

CONTENTS Capsule- Inception

CAPSULE , A LARGE-SCALE, INTERACTIVE SCULPTURE

Positive Effects of Art on Mental Health

ON ART THERAPY TO EXPRESS EMOTION WITHOUT WORDS AND HOW TO PROCESS COMPLEX FEELINGS

Meet the Artists

CHRISTINA SPORRONG CHRISTIAN RISTOW

CAPSULETAOS

Sponsor's Corner

ARROYO SECO LIVE PASEO PROJECT

Changing Landscapes Through Art

ARROYO SECO LIVE IS CHANGING THE WAY THE SOUTHWEST LOOKS AT CONTEMPORARY AND PERFORMANCE ART THROUGH IMMERSION AND OPEN SPACE

Contributors

J. MATTHEW THOMAS CECILIA CUFF, THE NASCENT GROUP ERIN ELDER RYLAND SWEIGARD ALEX ABAJIAN

@CAPSULETAOS

CAPSULE A large-scale, interactive sculpture that responds to the unrest of 2020 with the transformative element of fire.

M ade by artists Christian Ristow and Christina Sporrong, Capsule will be unveiled in July, the artwork will be on view throughout summer and fall in the village of Arroyo Seco in Taos County, New Mexico. Conceived as a response to the unrest of 2020, viewers are invited to contribute their written thoughts and prayers that will later be set ablaze as part of the sculpture’s mechanical and philosophical transformation. Organized and funded by two local arts organizations, Seco Live and Paseo Project, Capsule kicks off an ongoing program of rotating outdoor art installations.

Inception In the face of COVID-19 shut-downs, two arts organizations in Taos County — Paseo Project and Seco Live — team up to commission Capsule, a new interactive art installation by Christian Ristow and Christina Sporrong.

As COVID-19 swept the globe, forcing shutdowns of every kind, the small community of Taos, New Mexico faced its own disappointments.

Ski season ended prematurely, the river running season has suffered, and the future remains vastly unknown in this place that depends so intensely on tourism. While the local economy continues to suffer a hard hit, arts organisations are concerned with recovery of a different kind.

www.konectmag.com

“We recognize that art is important to mental health and wellness. And art is a vibrant part of our identity,” ~Cecilia Cuff, The Nascent Group Cecilia Cuff, one of the project’s organizers, is the director of Parse Seco, an experimental creative space and art residency for underrepresented and emerging artists, located in the village of Arroyo Seco at the base of the Taos Mountains. She is also a board member for Seco Live, a local nonprofit that showcases the diverse talent from all over the world through community events, fundraising and promotion; one of many organizations that had to shift programming online and cancel large-scale events.

Facing the same limits, J. Matthew Thomas of Paseo Projects, led the difficult decision to 48 revamp Paseo’s 7th annual festival of outdoor art. Pivoting together, Seco Live and Paseo join forces to commission a new public artwork.

J. Matthew Thomas also said, "Our 2020 theme was already Transformations, so we’re stepping into the challenge. We’ll be presenting interventions, popups, public art installations, and virtual experiences from June September. Check paseoproject.org or follow us on facebook and instagram to stay up to date.”

And so we’re launching a summer series that can be enjoyed safely, from a distance — time-release art, so that you can get your PASEO fix all summer long. ~ J. Matthew Thomas, Paseo Projects

THE IDEA! POSTMODERN

A sneak peek PAINTING. Stella

alternately paints in

Artists Christian Ristow and Christina Sporrong are both known around the world for making massive sculptural projects that incorporate robotics, fire, and interactive elements.

Following solo careers through similar territories, they have each created iconic works for major art and music festivals.

Their work has been showcased at arts and cultural events across continents.

Though their lives have been intertwined for over 15 years, this commission is the couple’s first collaborative artwork. And though Ristow and Sporrong are some of Taos’ most beloved living artists, Capsule is their first local commission.

“Our idea came quickly,” says Sporrong of the assignment to conceptualize a site-specific artwork that meshed both artists’ talents. “We wanted to create an opportunity for transformation. We keep looking for a silver lining.”

oil and watercolor into what

inspired the artist duo.

“We wanted to create an opportunity for transformation."

Capsule will be a 14 to 16 foottall, steel and glass sculpture.

Its six-legged base supports a faceted body, atop which three large hands hold a radiant sphere. Flowers were one of the various inspirations influencing the form of the piece — its forms mimicking petals, stem and pistils, but also in its organic unfolding.

Capsule will be installed in July at Seco Live’s outdoor entertainment space, accessible to the public for summer and fall. There, viewers will encounter the artwork in a “closed” position. All visitors are encouraged to approach the sculpture and insert a wish, fear, story or drawing on paper.

In addition to visiting the site, there are also opportunities to participate online and through snail mail.

The project has a website: https://www.capsuletaos.com/

Capsule will be live in July at POSTMODERN PAINTING. Stella

alternately paints in Seco Live's

oil and watercolor

outdoor space

Take a peek into a day in the life of budding artist Stella Young, and how she improves her craft

“Flowers were one of the various inspirations influencing the form of the piece...”

At a currently-undecided future date, the piece will be activated as the centerpiece for a community-wide celebration.

Chambers inside of Capsule will be loaded with firewood and set aflame.

As the wood and wishes turn to ash, the shift in weight will allow the piece to open. The hands will rotate outward to reveal a spherical globe. After its initial presentation and transformation in Arroyo Seco, the sculpture will travel to other locations where it will close and open again.

While Capsule was commissioned in response to the novel coronavirus, it now speaks to a new pandemic as millions take to the streets in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by police.

“It’s good to be inflamed,” suggests Ristow. “Fire can be both destructive and purifying.” As the fight for racial justice heats up and New Mexicans are urged to wear masks in public — or better, stay home — the desire for transformation burns hot. As Cuff states, “We long for a time when we can be together again to feel our community’s solidarity and to breathe a sigh of relief.”

"The Dream"

“We see it as a life cycle. We hope that it can bring meaning and catharsis to our town and to others...” ~Christina Sporrong

Art, Mental Health & Positivity

POSITIVE EFFECTS OF ART ON MENTAL HEALTH WRITTEN BY Harvard Health Publishing

PHOTOS BY Hunger TV

The title of a recent documentary film, I Remember Better When I Paint , sums up the findings of a growing body of research into the cognitive effects of making art. The movie demonstrates how drawing and painting stimulated memories in people with dementia and enabled them to reconnect with the world. People with dementia aren't the only beneficiaries. Studies have shown that expressing themselves through art can help people with depression, anxiety, or cancer, too. And doing so has been linked to improved memory, reasoning, and resilience in healthy older people.The beneficial effects of creating aren't dependent on a person's skill or talents. "It's the process, not the product," says Megan Carleton, an art therapist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

WHY ART IS THE BEST MEDICINE?

Decades of research have demonstrated that in people with dementia and other progressive neurological diseases, the ability to create art remains long after speech and language have diminished.

Research has also shown that creating visual art can reduce stress and promote relaxation in people who are hospitalized or homebound due to illness.

Carleton, who like many art therapists is also a licensed mental health counselor, makes a variety of media — from acrylic paints to iPads — available to people who are undergoing cancer therapy at MGH. She has also worked with veterans and people with Alzheimer's disease in other environments. "Once people engage, they often realize they are having fun and the time passes faster," she says.

She says art also has an important role in helping people through particularly difficult times, including facing the end of life. "Working with a trained art therapist can give them a way to express themselves in a safe environment to help them get to the next stage more at peace."

She has seen people string necklaces to give to friends and relatives, make books and videos to memorialize their experiences, and even build boxes to contain their expressions of anger and frustration.

PAGE THREE |

WHAT YOU CAN DO?

Artwork: Aykut AydoÄ&#x;du

If you have a loved one who is confined to a medical facility, check to see if art therapy is available. If it isn't, you may be able to find an art therapist on the website of the Art Therapy Credentials Board, www.atcb.org.

If the situation is potentially life-threatening, get immediate emergency assistance by calling 911, available 24 hours a day.

If you or someone you know is suicidal or in emotional distress, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline- 1-800-273-TALK (8255) And don't hesitate to explore your own creativity. Take an art class or experiment on your own.

MEET THE ARTISTS

CHRISTINA SPORRONG

CHRISTIAN RISTOW

CHRISTINA SPORRONG CHRISTINA SPORRONG is an artist and metal sculptor based out of Taos, New Mexico. She was born in Sweden and raised all over the world but abandoned city life to live in the high mountain desert.

Words that sum up the intentions of her work include, relevance, reaction, curiosity and to inspire awe.

Sporrong established Spitfire Forge, her own commercial blacksmithing and fabrication shop in 1996. She teaches national welding and blacksmithing workshops to women as a means to empower women and to de-mystify the process of working with metal, as well as welding classes at the University of New Mexico.

The sculptural and performative process intersect on many levels, as is witnessed through Amortec, a delicate dance between a robot and a woman on stilts, The Heron Project, a kinetic sculpture that acts as a performance playground and Caged Pulse Jets, a fiery interactive sound sculpture that the audience can play like an instrument.

While living in Berlin, Germany a few years ago, she built an installation called Mitt Uthus, which exposes our current moment through the lens of digital media culture and contemporary news.

Carefully curated sociopolitical memes and digital screens cover the interior walls of an outhouse, inviting an exploration into contemporary viral media and the power wielded by these cultural sound bites.

Her latest piece is the Flybrary, a combined 40Ft tall steel head with book-like birds coming out of the open top. Within the contemplative and expressive head is a multi-level library filled with timely and socially relevant books for the public to enjoy.

The piece was featured at Burning Man in 2019 and partnered with the Human Library project out of Denmark. Sporrong spends a good part of the year traveling and the rest of the year at her home in Taos, NM. Website : Spitfire Forge

CHRISTIAN RISTOW

CHRISTIAN RISTOW has been building mechanical art since he was a child.

His large-scale interactive sculptures are influenced by studying architecture, the underground robot performance-art scene in the San Francisco Bay Area, and a decade of creating special effects for the film industry in Southern California. His work has been showcased at arts and cultural events on four of the world’s continents. While large kinetic sculpture remains Ristow’s lifelong focus, the scope of his artistic output has recently enlarged to include smaller-scale sculpture, traditional figurative clay sculpture, and oil painting.

Website: https://www.christianristow.com

Arroyo Seco Live is a non-profit organization founded in 2013 in response to a need for creative economic support for the largely arts-and-tourism focused businesses of the historic rural community of Arroyo Seco in north-central New Mexico. Seco Live focused on showcasing and promoting the place and the people through creative events, fundraising and promotion.

CAPSULE The Seco Live Space, where Capsule will be staged this summer is a newly dedicated community events space run for the mutual benefit of the community and Arroyo Seco Live programming. The Space will host arts events, markets and workshops, and private events like weddings and celebrations.

Seco Live has made a mark by producing events that bring a broad range of locals and visitors together for enjoyable experiences and into dialog around arts and cultural experiences.

Website: https://www.secolive.org/

PROMOTING ARROYO SECO AND THE PEOPLE THROUGH CREATIVITY

The Paseo Project lives at the center of three primary values: Art, Education, and Community, with a mission is to transform art through community and community through art. PASEO hosts an annual outdoor art festival in historic downtown Taos. This free public art festival brings thousands of people into the streets to enjoy cutting edge projection, installation, and performance art from around the world. The PASEO Festival programming incorporates robust education programming that reaches thousands of students all across Taos County.

Website: https://paseoproject.org/

PROJECTS Paseo Project’s year-round programming includes artist-inresidence programs, pop-up events and installations, and participation in many community partnerships in Taos and the region. The Paseo Project brings an ethos of creative placemaking/placekeeping to support a wide variety of initiatives in the region, from urban planning and design, to land and water conservation projects, to reclamation and revitalization of empty or underused spaces. paseoproject.org

ART, EDUCATION, AND COMMUNITY

CONTRIBUTORS

Cecilia Cuff Cecilia Cuff blossomed in Chicago, an environment that not only integrated art into every day life, but also ensured that all art from Fine to Modern to Musical, was highly accessible to its youth and inhabitants. This accessibility model helped to framework Cecilia’s ideologies as she graduated from the University of Illinois, taught on Chicago’s Southside and later began to work on hotel and restaurant design and renovation.

For over a decade, Cecilia traveled the globe designing and renovating food and beverage operations for the Nascent Group and Hyatt Hotels and Resorts focusing on curating the individuality of local demographics and creating programs that pushed sustainability and celebration of local makers and artists.

Website: The Nascent Group Parse Seco

Parse Seco Founded in 2016, PARSE SECO is an experimental creative space and art residency located in the heart of Arroyo Seco, NM. It is a nomadic branch of PARSE NOLA co-founded in 2010 by Ricardo Barba.

Cecilia is the Operating Director for Parse Seco and facilitates the monthly artist residency, music experiences, art mentorship programs for at-riskyouth and free community workshops, and additional programming.

PARSE SECO provides a unique platform for underrepresented artists, musicians, and creators to present immersive experiences for the community in an intimate setting. We strive to provide an inclusive sanctuary for the expression and amplification of marginalised voices.

Using methods of learning and therapy through art, PARSE SECO is a space boasting public art that sets trends, questions narrative and viewpoints and nourishes the artistic youth by emphasizing the importance of creative expression seemingly neglected by the standard educational model.

DESIGN THAT RESTS ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SENSES

J. Matthew Thomas

J. Matthew Thomas is an architect, artist and Executive Director of The Paseo Project in Taos, New Mexico. A graduate of Columbia University Architecture and Urban Design Program, Matt is determined to practice acts of urban design in the rural Southwest with public art and community engagements. Ever dedicated to a healthier, stronger and more creative community, Matt is also an organizer of Pecha Kucha Night Taos.

DEDICATED TO A HEALTHIER, STRONGER AND MORE CREATIVE COMMUNITY

Erin Elder ~WRITER

Erin Elder is an artist, curator and writer guided by interests in land use, experimental collaboration, and non-traditional modes of expression. Her research-driven projects take highly participatory forms, working with a broad definition of art to bring audiences into a direct experience of particular places. With an MA in Curatorial Practice from California College of the Arts and 18 years of experience in the art world, Erin operates Gibbous, a consulting service that supports committed artists at pivotal moments in their careers.

UNDERSCORING COMMITMENT TO THE CREATIVE PROCESS AND DIRECT SUPPORT FOR ARTISTS

Ryland Sweigard ~WEB DESIGNER

Ryland grew up enjoying the outdoors, which led to picking up a camera to document many outdoor activities. During this process he fell in love with video editing, which opened the doors to many other digital arts. He now has ten years of professional experience as a videographer, photographer, video editor, graphic designer, and web designer, to name a few hats he wears. He is passionate about his work and enjoys learning new things daily.

CURIOUS TO LEARN NEW THINGS & DOCUMENT DIGITAL ARTS

Alex Abajian ~GLASS ARTIST

GLOW was started by Alex Abajian in 2010. Like many glassblowers Alex just always wanted his own shop. Starting with the furnace and equipment from a studio in Taos, NM where he used to work Alex plumbed everything in and started his studio in a large warehouse in Oakland, CA. From there the space has evolved with the addition of new people and equipment. As owner/shop tech/everything Alex is a leader and has a unique ability to stay calm and steady in the middle of multiple projects while finding solutions that see projects to a successful end.

ALWAYS FINDING CLEAR AND CREATIVE SOLUTIONS

Looking Ahead The Seco Live Space aims to be a world-renowned placemaking art installation project in Taos, NM. Building from the immense talent of the local art community, the space will offer immersive, open-air art installation experiences for travelers, while creating a space of service for the community. The Space will host programs that develop and teach through mentorship, performance, art seminars, and hands-on learning.

The Seco Live Space, where Capsule will be staged this summer is a newly dedicated community events space run for the mutual benefit of the community and Arroyo Seco Live programming.

The Space will host arts events, markets and workshops, and private events like weddings and celebrations.

Facebook Live Launch: Join us on July 23rd at 6pm MT as the artists and collaborators introduce Capsule with the world. Live streaming on Arroyo Seco Live, The Paseo, and once installed Capsule will begin accepting the thoughts of visitors.

Local In-person participation: Drop by 481 State Rd 150 Arroyo Seco, NM 87514 for in-person participation. Public parking is limited within the village: Holy Trinity Church and Arroyo Seco Community Centre offer ample public parking a short walk from the installation.Global participation Global Participation: Write in to Capsule on the website http://capsuletaos.com and select whether to share or keep your entry private. Your digital note will be transcribed and fed to Capsule so even digital entries will be part of the physical burn. Snail Mail can be sent to Capsule Arroyo Seco Live, PO Box 285 Arroyo Seco, NM 87514.

With Seco Live Space which focusses on community giving, social cohesion, cultural understanding, Capsule will stride towards making people aware about inclusivity, cultural Identity & mental Health.

www.konectmag.com

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

PABLO PICASSO