The Rotating History Project, in cooperation with the EMP Collective, is taking proposals for its forthcoming exhibition, Down the Needle’s Eye. The 6-week show is scheduled to open on July 13th 2012, at EMP, located at 306 West Redwood Street, Baltimore MD.

 This multimedia exhibition will serve as a case study of Baltimore’s Garment District, now commonly known as the Loft District—an area loosely falling between Fayette Street, Greene Street, Pratt Street and Hanover Street. Following the Civil War, needle industries—largely centered in the Garment District—became the largest generators of capital in Baltimore. It was here that umbrellas were first manufactured in the US and the largest and second largest men’s clothing factories in the world once operated. The city’s labor movement and many of its early union struggles happened here as well.

The rise and decline of the Garment District as a flourishing industrial center for Baltimore’s manufactured products, as well as the people who worked and struggled to maintain their livelihoods through the decades, speak to events and societal practices that are not alien to our own time and highlight the finite nature of our society’s industries in general.

EMP, located in the Faust Building, in the heart of the Garment District, was once a wholesale boot and shoe business, and through time leased space to clothing firms, dry goods wholesalers, and merchants of men’s furnishings.

The goal of the exhibition is to invite artists to create site/theme specific works that draw on any relevant themes or ideas that may resonate and inspire art. All mediums are welcomed, including 2D and 3D, film, music, installation, performances, lectures and all other forms of writing/dialogue, such as oral histories.

The show is part of a larger group of happenings called the Rotating History Project. Through a variety of artistic mediums, the Rotating History Project aims to draw attention to the threads running through our history, culture and environment, which remain relevant to our ever-evolving society today.

Proposals should be sent via email and include a description of the intended project in 250 words or less. Please include the proposal description in the body of the email, rather than as an attachment. Sending a resume is optional. Preference will be given to proposed artwork and projects that best contribute to the overall vision of the theme.

Artists may choose to include attachments of jpeg or PDF images of proposed work OR jpegs/PDFs of up to 5 previous work.  Images should be under 2 megabits in size. For proposed projects based in the written medium, please submit a writing sample of up to five pages. Art related to performance or video may be submitted via mail on a DVD.

All proposals and jpeg/PDFs should be emailed to rotatinghistoryartproject@gmail.com by Thursday March 1, 2012.

All DVDs must be postmarked by Monday February 27th and mailed to Attn: Teddy Johnson/Heather Rounds, 717 Homestead St, Baltimore, MD 21218.

Local artist (and one fine lady) Sara Barnes is opening her latest exhibition Foundation at EMP this Friday, February 10 at 7PM.

Foundation will feature collage, embroidery, and site-specific work.

This Friday, EMP is joining forces with upstairs neighbor in/flux! The two will be hosting a multiple-level gallery opening party featuring Foundation and non sense, a multimedia group show showcasing the works of Michael Koliner, Ryan Hammond, Phil Hessler, and Harrison Tyler.

Opening Party at EMP: 7 – 9PM
Music at in/flux: 9 – 10PM

Foundation Runs: February 10 – March 4
Gallery Hours: Wed – Fri, 12PM – 6PM

ABOUT SARA BARNES
Sara Barnes is currently a MFA Illustration Practices candidate at MICA. Barnes’ bold yet intricate collage work explores folk elements and narrative threads with embroidery and layered cut paper. Sara is also the founder and curator of Brown Paper Bag, a blog focused on showcasing artistic works on paper and beyond. Barnes previously exhibited her artwork at EMP’s (…and you’re just not good enough) in Washington, DC last February. The works can’t be done justice in 2-D form so EMP is thrilled to have Miss Barnes in for an up-close-and-personal session with her beautiful collection again!

Things all the kids are looking at:
Sara’s personal site: http://workbysaraebarnes.tumblr.com/
Sara’s curated blog Brown Paper Bag: http://www.brwnpaperbag.com/

We are, too. Join EMP on its mixed-media-on-your-feet theatrical voyage through an acid-laced dreamscape complete with puppet confidants, murderous vultures, swamp things, and all the terrors that keep us up while the whole world is sound asleep.

1/26 at 8PM (pay-what-you-can preview)
1/27-1/28 at 8PM
1/29 at 7PM (DOUBLE FEATURE performance with Odd Sundays Film Screening)
1/30 at 8PM
2/2-2/4 at 8PM

Tickets, $15, on sale at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/219869

NIGHT SWEATS follows 17-year-old, Gordon on the hunt for his missing psychiatrist-prescribed beloved puppet, Bluebarb. As Gordon searches for what has been his only friend and safety blanket he must fight against a long-time fear that has plagued Gordon for years: a 7-foot-tall anthropomorphic bird character from the popular children’s show, Poppyseed Place.

This immersive, on-your-feet, devised theatre piece is a true collaboration featuring over 30 writers, actors, musicians, film makers, designers, dancers and artists from Baltimore, Washington, DC and beyond. Through this collaboration, EMP Collective hopes to not only display the individual talents of each artist but also nurture new growth and connections amongst the different collaborators involved. These talented contributors are in the process of creating the nightmarish world of Gordon’s subconscious, which will take the audience on a journey through the middle of a dark sea, a Technicolor tripped-out children’s show, and the wooded swamps of Florida. In the end, NIGHT SWEATS is about the irrational fears that don’t just haunt our hero, but us as well.

Featuring performances/contributions/awesomeness from ALL these collaborators:

Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Experimental Dance Collective (movement), Stillpointe Theatre Initiative (musical development), Katy Dubina (EMP, music composition), Brad Cartwright (EMP, film), Nolan Cartwright (EMP, tech director), Christine Demuth (actor), Michael Wills (actor), Ryan Haase (STI, set design), Leiliani Uttenreither (cello), Natalie Drutz (costume design), Daniel Dobrosielski (puppet design), Maggie Villegas (EMP, producing director), Eric Bowers (lighting design), & Nichole Chaney (stage manager).

Washington, DC – Carly J. Bales (EMP, artistic director), Elissa Goetschis (EMP, director), Rachel Inez Lane (EMP, writer/director), Maura Krause (Dramaturg), Alex Vaughan (actor) &  Susannah Wells (actor).

Beyond – Writers Dan Caffrey (Tympanic Theatre Company, Chicago), Cameron Stuart (Couch Couch, Atlanta), Josh Mikel (Sharkguts Design, Atlanta)

We’ll be meeting at 7PM on the 1st 3rd and 5th Sundays of the month to get our film education on, get inspired, talk trash, and eat gallons of popcorn.

December Employee Pick: Music Rocks! brought to you by Marketing and Music Director, Katy Dubina.

Music plays a role in so many films. However, there are a few out there that use music as the inspiration and subject matter. Join us to celebrate (and sing along) all things music. Each event will feature some related-trivia questions and you can try your hand for a special prize!

January 1st  is This is Spinal Tap (1984): Get over your New Year’s hangover with some much-needed laughs at THIS IS SPINAL TAP! Join us for some pre-film trivia. The we’ll turn it up to 11 and enjoy the flick. What better way to show your appreciation of music than rockin’ out with Spinal Tap. You can never see this one too many times.

“Neophyte Director Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) presents this “Rockumentary” showcasing the North American tour of aging rockers Spïnal Tap. Band members David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), and Derick Smalls (Harry Shearer) form the core of the group, with various drummers dying over the years in freak accidents or through spontaneous human combustion. The band is set to promote their new record, “Smell the Glove,” featuring a degrading photograph of a woman in bondage smelling a glove. The cover is deemed too offensive for many chain-stores, and is redone in 100% black, lacking a band logo or even a title.”

January 15th  is The Saddest Music in the World (2003): Think D Minor is the saddest key of all? Well, let’s put that to the test. Join us for music-themed trivia prior to the film and see if you measure up to win a special prize!

“Set in Winnipeg during the Depression, a legless baroness host a contest for the saddest music in the world, with a grand prize of $25,000. During the assembly of contestants a father and his two sons; one who thinks he’s an American, one who is succumbing to madness over the death of his son and his ex-lovers nymphomaniac tendencies and the father a pathetic drunkard who fucks everything up. Their unique dynamics with the beer-baroness and tragedy bring these characters together to express their deep feelings of pain and give in to treachery. Great film with a prophetic ending is a unique twist on average indy films.”

January 29th is Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001): Join EMP for a DOUBLE FEATURE. Catch our production of NIGHT SWEATS at 7pm followed by the classic HEDWIG! Nothing says nightmare than losing all but an inch of your junk!

“Hedwig, born a boy named Hansel in East Berlin, fell in love with an American G.I. and underwent a sex-change operation in order to marry him and flee to the West. Unfortunately, nothing worked out quite as it was supposed to – years later, Hedwig is leading her rock band on a tour of the U.S., telling her life story through a series of concerts at Bilgewater Inn seafood restaurants. Her tour dates coincide with those of arena-rock star Tommy Gnosis, a wide-eyed boy who once loved Hedwig… but then left with all her songs.”

*quotes lazily taken from IMDB.com
**artwork brought to you by the EMP’s own Nolan Cartwright (October’s featured gallery artist)

An early look-see/hear!

And this is all the more reason to come see EMP’s next show because it’s going to be a colossal, psychedelic bonding experience for all. We had a great production meeting and first read last week; just looking at the costume sketches for shimmery intestines and blood-soaked beaks sent tremblings of gory delight through the room. Our set designer has come up with colorful, perfect worlds that begin to twist and deform before you even realize it, and our actors may just never be the same again. All this organized, professional work has gone into creating something almost as hard to grasp onto as a dream – in dreams, morals stop making sense and the power dynamic can be reversed before you realize you’re suddenly in your underwear.

The best part is that these messed up, squirmy dreams are actually useful. There’s this Finnish scientist with a theory that because the amygdala fires more during REM cycles of sleep than it does normally, dreams actually evolved for us to practice dealing with threatening situations. There’s the claim that dreams are psychotherapy, mirroring our innermost desires and helping us grow emotionally (or not, thanks Freud!) Then there’s the possibility that dreams help us get rid of all the unnecessary junk we accumulate in our brains day after day. In other words, if NIGHT SWEATS = dream, and dream = all of the above, seeing NIGHT SWEATS will help you be a better, clearer person who would be more likely to survive the threat of a zombie apocalypse.

So come to us with your killer seven foot ferret dreams, and your secret fear that one day you might paper-cut your hand off. We’re ready for you: to charm you, to scare you, to help you – remember, EMP loves you.

–Maura Krause, Dramaturg

Is it “better to burn out than to fade away”?. . .

Or to get dismembered by shark attack?

Get on your big kid pants–for his gallery show at EMP, we asked illustrator Joshua Mikel of Sharkguts Design to respond to NIGHT SWEATS, our upcoming theatre piece exploring irrational fears.

Joshua dove deep into his paranoid psyche from childhood to present and began to visually catalog some of his worst (and often absurd) fears about dying in a collection aptly titled–A Million and One Awful Ways to Die.

The opening will now be featuring works from Atlanta artist Jess Johnson as well!

We’re kicking off the gallery opening with a party on FRIDAY THE 13th!

Opening Party: Friday, January 13th. 8PM. Free Admission.
Gallery Open: January 13th – February 5th. Open Wed-Fri 12-6pm

Photo (left) by  Robert Bryce Milburn 

ABOUT JOSHUA MIKEL
Joshua Mikel pretty much does everything: Aside from freelance art and design (Sharkguts Design), Josh is a writer and actor. His latest play Shelter (one of our Cans n Drafts summer readings) was a 2011 Princess Grace Fellowship finalist, and had its first production at Lock Haven University November of 2011. His new play, Aesop, Come Back! was commissioned by and had its debut with Mount Paran Academy (Kennesaw, GA) in October 2011. He recently appeared as “Clay” in the feature film Crackerjack (executive produced by Jeff Foxworthy) (!!!) due out in 2012. Joshua’s Facebook page tells you he likes pizza, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Dirty South, and drawing creepy lil’ bucktoothed characters he calls pals.

(Perhaps that’s why Joshua likes us at EMP so much . . .)

ABOUT JESS JOHNSON
Jess / Jeff / Jessica Johnson is responsible for a body of work, mostly comics, from which these pieces are selected. In 1993-4, Fantagraphics Books published the comic book ‘Nurture the Devil’ which he wrote and drew. She has since passed through a gender prism of identity to confound available pronouns; now it is indifferent to the dialectic trappings of facile flesh. They are engaged in the generation of image, text and sound for the absurdly grandiose purpose of creating a world worth living in, draped over the armature of our extant, insufficient landscape. Jess can be reached at jess dot jonsun at gmail dot com. Older work lives at www. uroboricacid.com and the newer has a home at www.spambotsandziggurats.com. As a musical performance concern, the handle ‘w/o’ (without) has been chosen; recorded output is available at www.soundcloud.com/without.

Come out to EMP to celebrate and enjoy some live music from Norm Sherman on Friday, January 20 at 8pm.

Admission is FREE, so come out and party!

Norm Sherman is the chief editor and charismatic host of the podcast phenomenon The Drabblecast, an award-winning audio fiction podcast featuring Strange Stories by Strange Authors for Strange Listeners. His eponymous debut CD, featuring bluegrass folk songs of whale milking, chupacabres, Jesus cloning and mob torture gone awry debuted in 2007 and earned Mr. Sherman 3rd Place in the Indie International Song Writing Competition, won CDbaby.coms Editors Choice Award, and is still frequently requested and played on the Dr. Demento show. Mr. Sherman lives in Baltimore, Maryland where he performs regularly with Dusty Magnum in a 2-piece bluegrass-comedy duo known as The Skidmarx.

Recent Review:

We’re setting a goal of raising $2012 for Night Sweats by 20 January 2012 on Kickstarter.

Donate now! Your donation is tax-deductible alongside the awesome incentives we’re sweetening it all with.

Bring this project to life by supporting the construction of our sets, costumes, and puppets (!). We are also raising the funds to compensate the spectacular young local artists of both Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC volunteering their talents and long hours to aid in this endeavor: continuing to foster the collaboration between local artists of different mediums and bringing new art to the area!

And remember,
EMP LOVES YOU