03/03/2015
NadaGras 2015 at the Morris
Walk down the streets of Reno and the Burning Man tribes are unavoidable and forget about walking fourth street, downtown, at the Morris Burner Hotel. They are the very reason for and lifeblood of such a cool and wide open facility. The hotel brings the ethos of involvement (no spectators) into the heart of Reno's semi-neglected center of the action from days past. "You can check out any time you like but you can never leave." –Ghost of the Morris. You can find to his presence in the basement; his name, I'm told, is Andre.
(Living) people from these tribes invent their own identities, traceable by attire often of their own invention down to their playa names like Dewey (yes, as in decimal system) to Jim whose "first name" is Jungle and who unassumably owns the joint. Their lives are their creation and this is their life.
Reno Renaissance Project (RRP) is a microcosm of the NadaDada ethos of "Get a room, make a show". Perfectly in line is their unspoken "grab a brush" spirit. "Grab a marker" was the spirit at this weekend's event.
NadaGras is a three year old spinoff, a springtime NadaDada event in hotel rooms. NadaDada has been filling rooms since oh 7even. RRP has been at it for a long time, a Nada veteran. Seven years I believe it has been for them. It's possibly the longest running room.
What started in Tony's high rise apartment overlooking the Truckee River in Reno has evolved into a solid club of art makers meet up to paint together at their weekly Art Night. Over the years the group has honed in on what works. What works is an audience participating.
And it's not a minor art drawing in the participatory energies of the crowd. It's difficult and requires skill. Social engagement is a kind of performance and Lawrence is steeped in theatre. Lawrence likes to seduce participation by telling visitors that roles will be reversed in this room, "You yourselves are the artists as we become the spectators."
"A coloring book on walls" is how I liked to describe the room. The group projected art pieces both famous and also the local onto large paper sheets which were hung for spontaneous embellishment over the weekend.
It doesn't feel like a sales pitch but rather just another party with friends helping us fill the walls and acquaintances remembering shared stories with Guadalupe. She and Lawrence and Tony, the combo of these three artist works swimmingly. Tony and I markered alot of color onto these walls with the crowd's help this weekend as the other two mostly took up the role of greeters and instigators. Bryan takes pictures. It take a village.
We colored in glowing rainbow tones a vanGogh, a Picasso, Klimpt's famous "The Kiss" and a historic photo of the heart of our city of Reno,a classic streetscene at night which turned out very nicely. There was also a drawing from a photo of artist Kelsey Sweet wearing goggles.
A photo by New York City photographer Amanda Stevens ended up in outline form on our wall. She shot a standing bus in the sagebrush of Goldfield Nevada's International Car Forest of the Last Church, my own creative baby. I hope Ms. Stevens will be happy to hear of this illustrative defacement of her work, happening in a funky hotel room on the other side of the country.
Soon we'll post the time lapse footage of the room that the camera captured from a tripod in the corner all weekend long. It looks like 1000 speedy paranormal visitors in a matter of watching for one minute. A lot of calories were burnt on those stairs at the Morris this weekend. Nevada is leaving a serious art legacy.
–Chad Sorg
