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GALLERY:

BARAKA

RESIDENCY PROJECT 2017

A Hilarious Healing Game and creating the Dodo Derby

Two artists, a sculptor and a performance artist, were selected to spend a month at Baraka creating a Hilarious Healing Game for two local communities, Millbrook and Stanfordville. The two artists, Lily Cheng and Steph Wadman, hail from different backgrounds and geographies, but came together to create the Dodo Derby, a game that challenges and provokes the communities to unite in the Dodo spirit of shedding inhibitions. The game took form in man powered cart-like structures inspired by common and exotic birds, the Rooster, Penguin, Flamingo, and Turkey. 

 

The artistic duo states that they want to "encourage participants and ourselves to experience different perspectives through interaction with our work. Responding to Baraka’s call to make a “hilarious healing game," we approached how to foster a feeling of unity and loss of inhibitions through a common goal and physical silliness... Inspired by the nostalgia and love of cars of the Stanfordville community, we created a derby as an accessible, fun and challenging way to highlight everyone’s different and possibly hidden strengths. Similar to summer picnic games, the Dodo Derby starts with the drive to be the fastest as an entry point into the joy of creative flailing with others."

Be sure to check out the News section to see community day updates

Let the testing begin!

Let the testing begin!

Lily+Steph Test Prototype cars

Yoke style

Yoke style

Playing with carts that are pulled

Dolly Style

Dolly Style

Creating models

Creating models

Playing with proportions and body sizes

Planning and drawing

Planning and drawing

Lots of time spent hashing through problems and safety issues

Preliminary sketch of an egg cart

Preliminary sketch of an egg cart

Sketches often were transformed into a new idea while building the cars

1st version of The Rooster

1st version of The Rooster

Prototyping steering and pushing controls

1st version of The Penguin

1st version of The Penguin

Two golf carts strung together with a fire wood basket to make the 1st rendition of the penguin

The Bone Wheel Yard

The Bone Wheel Yard

Many prototypes were cast aside, but all were instrumental in fuelling the final outcome.

Steph and Onnig in studio

Steph and Onnig in studio

Getting down to business building the first two cars the Penguin and the Rooster.

Studio work (Steph)

Studio work (Steph)

The satisfaction of a chainsaw

Studio Work (Lily)

Studio Work (Lily)

Lily works on the Young Penguin carving away at any sharp or uncomfortable bumps.

The Young Penguin

The Young Penguin

The Young Penguin is specialized for smaller people and is outfitted with soft foam wheels. Get on your belly and slide on the ice!

Young Penguin all dressed up

Young Penguin all dressed up

Big Penguin ready for the races

Big Penguin ready for the races

Wood steaming set-up

Wood steaming set-up

Steamed wood was bent in order to make many custom curved components of the cars

Lily keeps the fire stoked

Lily keeps the fire stoked

1st wood bending day

1st wood bending day

Editing templates in the moment

Editing templates in the moment

Template for Flamingo Legs

Template for Flamingo Legs

Curved pieces were needed to make horizontal leg braces for the Flamingo.

Flamingo Plan

Flamingo Plan

Lily finishing up the Flamingo

Lily finishing up the Flamingo

The Flamingo

The Flamingo

Steering column for the Rooster

Steering column for the Rooster

The Rooster

The Rooster

Big Penguin, Young Penguin, Rooster

Big Penguin, Young Penguin, Rooster

Ready for the first games.

Steph giving a ride on the Rooster

Steph giving a ride on the Rooster

In Progress Turkey

In Progress Turkey

The Turkey

The Turkey

The Turkey went through many different phases and changes.

The Purple Turkey

The Purple Turkey

The turkey has a special hidden rider under the seat

Millbrook Community Day commences!

Millbrook Community Day commences!

Stanfordville Community Day Set-up

Stanfordville Community Day Set-up

Steph and Lily celebrate the races

Steph and Lily celebrate the races

The Dodo Leader board

The Dodo Leader board

Dodo Awards

Dodo Awards

Francois Fuertie making propeller blades for his Unidentified Flying Cupola

Francois Fuertie sculpting his tree piece

Scultpor Charlie Hachadourian’s lost wax “anti vessels”

Charlie Hachadourian applying wax for earth formed “anti vessels”

Charlie Hachadourian and Ara pouring plaster into an earth “anti vessel”

Edith Abeita preparing tree dome for her performance piece

Poorang Nori building a tonir oven

Poorang Nori covering unearthed roots with common spices from Iran

Poorang Nori baking Lavash bread in a tonir oven

Artistication@BARAKA 2012

Artists from throughout the world participated in an exhibition/residency program. The project sought to create place-responsive artworks that incorporated site, its role in community, and the use of dialogue and synergy between artists as critical links to a better understanding of both process and intent. Artists participated in pairs, each for one month. Each pair engaged in dialogue with the community and exhibited their works at the conclusion of their residency.

Greg MacAvoy and Kardash Onnig carving speaker

Kardash Onnig carving speaker

Womb of Sorrow

Field of Transfourmation

Transfourming Sorrow Installation 2015

A 100th anniversary commemorative multimedia installation that paid tribute to the systematic decimation of the Armenian population in Anatolian Turkey that began in 1915. Kardash invited all people to mourn their own grief in the "Womb of Sorrow" and transcend their sorrow in the "Field of Transfourmation." 

Cement mosaic workspace

Flower and vegetable garden

Artist residence interior

Artist residence interior

70-year old Beech tree

70-year old Beech tree

Outdoor studio frame

Outdoor studio frame

Building 2nd outdoor studio

Building 2nd outdoor studio

Day 1 Gabriel & Sahag cut log lengths for their carvings

Working together to transport logs to their outdoor carving stations

Gabriel experiments with different arrangements

Sahag makes his first cut

Sahag sanding & shaping

Gabriel carving with tools he made & brought from Senegal

Sahag tests the balance

Sahag shaping the bowl interior

A day of dual sanders

Preparing cement for the base

Preparing earth for the base

Blackening with fire

Testing the arrangement of his pieces

Finished piece "c'est ici"

Finished piece "c'est ici"

By Gabriel

Guests interact with Gabriel

Gabriel talks about his process

The community viewing the sculptures

Sahag explains his piece

Gabriel & Sahag

BARAKA RESIDENCY PROJECT 2016

Dedicated to the memory and legacy of Raul Hague

 

A month long residency was offered to two artists who work in the discipline of direct carving. The mission of the 2016 Baraka Residency was to provide selected sculptors with time in an open, natural environment where they could incorporate into their work the four disciplines of philosophy, science, art, and spirituality.  Preference was given to individuals inclined to engage the “Tao of direct carving” and who strive for universality in their work. Each artist was given a log to carve, a workspace, and access to hand and power tools.

Millbrook Dodo Derby
Millbrook Dodo Derby

Millbrook Dodo Derby

01:57
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Stanfordville Dodo Derby

Stanfordville Dodo Derby

01:49
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