UPCOMING EVENTS in Occidental Park:
OCTOBER:
Gina Coffman, Seth Damm and Kristin Ougendal
This October coyotes will inhabit Occidental Park. In the spirit of a Haruki Murakami story these urban agents of transformation, trickery and transcendence will, in 4 acts, explore the fitness of the park, make preparations for a den and establish a liminal and wayward home.
Well House and Surrender House
Saturday, October 24th 8-10pm
The coyotes have cleaned, tidied and have settled into the Surrender House. Interact with the coyotes and explore the Surrender House!
Foundation and Transcendence
HALLOWEEN: Saturday, October 31st, 6-9pm
PAST EVENTS:
October
Gina Coffman, Seth Damm and Kristin Ougendal
This October coyotes will inhabit Occidental Park. In the spirit of a Haruki Murakami story these urban agents of transformation, trickery and transcendence will, in 4 acts, explore the fitness of the park, make preparations for a den and establish a liminal and wayward home.
During the coyotes’ visit this October, images of their travels will be on exhibit at All City Coffee: 3rd Ave S and S Washington St. Join us for the opening event at First Thursday Oct 1st.
In and Through
Friday, October 2nd, 4pm-dusk
Egg and Wall
Tuesday, October 13th, 11:30am – 1pm
SEPTEMBER
Steve and Katie Messick and members of Orchestra Seattle
SATURDAY September 26: 2pm. Murakami ROCKS!
On Saturday, September 26 at 2:00 PM, there will be a public reading of “The Elephant Vanishes” and “Burn Burning”, two short stories written by Haruki Murakami, backed by an acoustic band playing classic rock.
The two short stories will be read by John Ryan, who is a reporter at KUOW 94.9 FM Puget Sound Public Radio. This is his first time reading surreal Japanese fiction aloud in a city park.
The band, the Murakamitones, is made up of Patrick Shaw (acoustic guitar), Steve Messick (double bass), and Michael Maloney (percussion). The Murakamitones will be playing classic rock favorites from The Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, The Who, and others.
Katie Messick will be moderating the reading and music by conducting the band based on the context of the stories being read.
The performance will take place under a tent in the middle of Occidental park with chairs situated around the tent on all sides so that the encounter to the performance can potentially happen from any direction of the park, and patrons can enjoy the performance wandering from place to place, front to back, or just passing through.
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 27: 12pm. Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Seahawks:
A Performance by Vina Musica (members of Orchestra Seattle)
Murakami often features unlikely elements in his stories: for instance, an elephant and keeper disappearing from a local zoo or a wealthy, young gentleman who burns abandoned barns recreationally. It’s also unlikely that lovers of classical music and enthusiastic football fans would cross paths, but that’s exactly what will happen on Sunday, September 27 at noon in Occidental Park.
Vina Musica will be performing Johannes Brahms’s String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor (Opus 51) and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s String Quartet No. 4 in E Minor (Opus 44) in Occidental Park one hour before the Seattle Seahawks take on the Chicago Bears. Vina Musica is made up of Mari Horita (violin), Theo Schaad (violin), Deborah Daoust (viola), and Yumi Hiraga (cello). Theo Schaad and Deborah Daoust are members of Orchestra Seattle.
The performance will take place under a tent in the middle of Occidental park with chairs situated around the tent on all sides so that the encounter to the music can potentially happen from any direction of the park, and patrons can enjoy the music wandering from place to place, front to back, or just passing through.
Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers (OSSCS) is made up of a 60-member semi-professional orchestra and a 55-voice chorus. Membership is by audition and includes professional musicians, music teachers, and highly skilled amateurs who choose to work together under the direction of George Shangrow. During its forty-year history OSSCS has made an extensive tour of the orchestral and choral literature and has sought to promote area musicians, world-recognized soloists and new music by Northwest composers. They have attained special recognition for their interpretations of the music of Handel and Bach and have introduced rarely heard choral masterpieces to Seattle audiences such as Handel’s Israel in Egypt, Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, and Haydn’s The Seasons. Praised by critics for their vibrant sound and spirited, disciplined singing, the Seattle Chamber Singers also delight in performing classics such as Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Brahms’ German Requiem.
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 12: 11am. Performance by The Meredian String Quartet (members of Seattle Orchestra)
“Murakami mentions classical works as either an inspiration or reflection for the main character in many of his stories. We see each shopper, artisan, and visitor as the main character of Occidental Park’s Murakami story, and it is our hope that the Meridian String Quartet’s performance of the American Quartet will cause that person to pause and listen”
The Meridian String Quartet will be performing the American Quartet (No. 12 in F major) by Antonín Dvořák on Saturday, September 12 at 11:00 AM. The Meridian String Quartet is made up of Susan Carpenter (violin), Stephen Hegg (violin), Deborah Daoust (viola), and Katie Messick (cello), all of whom are members of Orchestra Seattle directed by George Shangrow.
The performance will take place under a tent in the middle of Occidental park with chairs situated around the tent on all sides so that the encounter to the music can potentially happen from any direction of the park and patrons can enjoy the music wandering from place to place, front to back, or just passing through.
AUGUST:
August 21: 3pm – 8pm Performance by the Painkillers, hosted by Doug Jeck.
“Dance,” said the Sheep Man. “Yougottadance. Aslongasthemusicplays. Yougota dance. Don’teventhinkwhy. Starttothink, yourfeetstop. Yourfeetstop,wegetstuck. Wegetstuck, gottakeepthestep. Yougottalimberup. Yougottaloosenwhatyoubolteddown. Yougottauseallyougot. Weknowyou’retired, tiredandscared. Happensoeveryone, okay? Justdon’tletyourfeetstop….Yougottadance. Aslongasthemusicplays.”
— Haruki Murakami (Dance, Dance, Dance)
At the threshold between happening and not-quite-happening, Doug Jeck brings the Painkillers to Occidental Park, as Murakami’s themes of the common and the magical, the potential and this-is-all-we-got, the stops and the starts, are played out in a performance / event. The musical stylings of the Painkillers gives voice to the completely disregarded, the intimate, the familiar, the sanguine, the spritely, the flatline, and the semi-squished good soul. They are based in Tacoma, Washington.
DK Pan and nko Rey
“On hiding an elephant in plain sight: a performance of private acts”
Noon, Tuesday August 11 through noon Wednesday August 11:
On Tuesday, August 11th at noon, there will begin a 24-hour performance/reading in Occidental Park in Pioneer Square – Occidental Ave. S. & S. Main St. A box truck will be stationed at the park with a PA system, as well as an accompanying Elephant Ear vendor.
In this performance, D.K. Pan, NKO and Holly Brown explore the intimate relationship between reader, author and text. Featuring the words of Haruki Murikami’s “Wild Sheep Chase” (NY Times Book Review – http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/02/14/specials/murakami-sheep.html), two ‘authors’ transcribe the novel as it is read aloud: one pens on the exterior of the box truck (which serves as stage and ‘literary vehicle’), the other types the text on an endless roll of paper. The reader will be stationed atop the box truck, audible via a PA system. Accompanying the performance will be the Hanley Family Elephant Ear stand providing deep-fried goodness.
This overnight, endurance performance serves to highlight and expose the intensely private acts of reading and writing along with the conflicting desires they engender. The relationships of voice, hand, and typewriter become intertwined in the act of imprinting memory onto a public site. A silent transformation occurs, unnoticed. A box truck becomes an elephant, text escapes the confines of its pages; we awake from a dream and find ourselves at the beginning of a journey. Murikami’s tale of search, longing, and reconciliation serves as the point of departure for this performance action.
JULY
826 Seattle
Tuesday July 21 –Friday, July 24
12-4pm
Final performance and reading at Occidental park on Friday, July 24th from 4-6pm
4 day workshop at 826Seattle (Greenwood Space Travel) inspired by the works of Haruki Murakami. Run by Loren Drummond, a Seattle-based writer/editor who used to color in the rock layers of subterranean maps for her geologist father and who now mostly draws little stick figures with too-big heads.
Doug Jeck
Bastille Day, July 14 2-4pm
Petanque Competition:
Honoring the bocce ball activities in the park and acknowledging Bastille Day, there will be a petanque (French bocce ball) tournament in Occidental.
Participants included anyone in the park, with small prizes for the winners.
JUNE:
Doug Jeck
“Suspicion”
Tuesday, 6/23: 4-7pm
5 characters sit in the park. Each has one of five matching briefcases. Sometimes the briefcases change hands or stand in the middle of the park suspiciously. Cell phones are called. This performance questions who is watching whom and reversing or diverting the typical suspicions of the homeless’ actions.
[...] They’ll be reading the text aloud, transcribing it onto the exterior of a box truck, and typing the text on an “endless” roll of paper. Now all they need is someone to liveblogtweet it. // $free, but for the mind-boggling. 12-12. [occidentalpark] [...]
[...] a full series of location specific performance pieces sponsored by artsparks more details at murakami in the park. Gracias mucho ~~ lovely [...]
[...] In October, two collaborators (Gina Coffman and Kristin Ougendal) and I, expanded on the idea of the coyote and the Surrender House for a month long 4-part series sponsored by the Seattle Parks department and 4culture. http://occidentalpark.wordpress.com/events/ [...]