LINEAR ZOETROPE – PETE MEADOWS + RHONDA SMAILES

+15 WINDOW EXHIBITION
APRIL – MAY, 2004
RECEPTION: THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2004 AT 8 PM

LOCATION – CALGARY CENTRE FOR PERFORMING ARTS
225, 8th Avenue S.E, CALGARY, ALBERTA

 

EXHIBITION INFORMATION

Rhonda and Pete brought together their varied interests in animation, tap-dance, puppetry, costuming and silent film. Their installation attempts to “depict a moment in time snatched from the era of silent film.”

The installation is a life size “linear zoetrope” inspired by William Horner’s classic animation device. As the viewer walk pass the window, an image of a costumed tap-dancer is animated. She performs as fast as the viewers’ speed and stops with the viewer.

The dancer is on stage in elaborate costume, and beneath the stage a classically styled silent-film card reads “…their attentions caused her to move.” The card is “from the movie which the character of the dancer, Heddle is meant to be taken from. It is a fragment of a narrative line describing the scene in which she dances the step” they depict.