Megan and Murray McMillan

We just finished six Bruc Fugue collages. They include artifacts of the set collaged with photos of the Barcelona set. We were influenced by a Fresco exhibit we saw at MNAC this summer. The images show the collages in their crates. Tomorrow, we send them to the Laredo Center for the Arts for an opening Jan 6 (Bruc Fugue–the video–will open at Sound Art Space in Laredo on Jan 6 as well).

We’ve got two shows that will be opening simultaneously in Laredo, Tx on January 6. The first is our video, Bruc Fugue, at Sound Art Space, a new venue for contemporary art in the old industrial district of Laredo. Sound is poised to become a contemporary art outpost on the border, and their mission reminds me of one of the best exhibitions MCASD put together last year: Strange New World: Art and Design from Tijuana.

The other show, Bruc Fugue: Models, will open at the Laredo Center for the Arts, and it’s designed to complement the video exhibition at Sound. We’ve taken the original trash models, or set pieces, from the video and worked them into another collage with photo remnants of video stills. The six pieces are at the top, with all the wall mounted frames below. The pieces hang from the frames, floating off the wall about an inch.

If you’re planning on being in the South Texas region on January 6, please stop by one or both openings.

Our show opened on Friday night, and we had a great crowd. I forgot to take pictures at the opening, so here’s a shot of the final presentation. The show runs through Dec. 15.

Cecille R. Hunt Gallery
8342 Big Bend Blvd.
Hours M – F, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m

We’re opening tonight at Webster Universities Hunt Gallery in St Louis (6-8pm, Nov 17). Here’s what the gallery looks like without the video playing (the projector is in the ceiling box, above the couch).

image from Firefly Europa‘s production Gzhel, [source]

In the course of working on the soundtrack for our video Bruc Fugue, I have been doing research into Russian children’s songs.

The fugue (a more sophisticated version of singing in rounds) in the title will be sung a cappella by vocalists and layered over the sound of traditional folk clogging that’s native to the video. The lyrics of the fugue are a found poem written from the words of a pamphlet on Cherynobl that we picked up off the ground in Barcelona.

I’ve been trying to write the score of the fugue from scratch and haven’t been happy with the results. The other day, it occurred to me that I should adapt a pre-existing song that’s in the public domain into a fugue. What better type of song to use than a Russian children’s folk song? I’ve found a wealth of resources online, and was particularly charmed by this website, which has several examples of songs. My favorites are “We’ll Go Through This Trouble” and “Dog Could Be A Biter.” Even the children’s songs in Russia are morose and none too reassuring.

While doing research, I also discovered the group Firefly Europa (above), a dance company which blends traditional Russian folk dancing with modern. You can see examples of their work here. The costumes alone are worth it.

Photo: Marie Bukowski

Part of the set.

Set detail.