2640docs presents
EVERYMAN AS ANYMAN: A night of cinematic performance inspired by the work of Esta Nesbitt

Sun Sep 25, 2016
7:30pm, $5 suggested donation
2640 Space
2640 St Paul St (21218)

Kristen Anchor performs Esta Nesbitt’s Everyman as Anyman, or Putting On, On, On, On, On
C. Tara and David Gladden present a site-specific performance, Forgotten and Now the Coming Thing, based on the work of Esta Nesbitt
Plus music videos by Danielle Damico, Dina Fiasconaro, Daphne Gardner & Taylor Hebden

Everyman as Anyman, or Putting On, On, On, On, On (1969) by Esta Nesbitt, from the Esta Nesbitt papers, 1941-1981, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution (20 minutes) 

A five-screen Super 8 film and reel-to-reel tape performance reconstructed and performed as a video and sound performance by the artist and filmmaker Kristen Anchor. Originally created by Nesbitt to demonstrate “the media bombardment surrounding ‘everyman’ today,” it is whirlwind collage of documentary footage, print media clippings, and hand-written text with a multilayered soundtrack combined to create living audio-visual poem, which is different every time it is performed. Digital interpretation commissioned by the Smithsonian’s Archives of American art in 2015, this is a rare performance of a one of the greats in American avant-garde cinema. 


Forgotten and Now the Coming Thing (2016) by C. Tara & David Gladden

A site-specific, dreamscape opera that takes its name from recurring phrases in Esta Nesbitt’s fashion illustrations. These phrases, “And Now...,” “And Again…,” and “The Coming Thing…” resonate beyond the world of fashion, into timeless questions of universal significance. C. Tara & David Gladden use Nesbitt’s diverse body of work as inspiration, creating a performance that combines live sound, live-feed cameras, video projections, and ritual actions.

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Esta Nesbitt (1918-1975) was an illustrator, xerography artist, filmmaker, and educator who lived and worked in New York City. She was a fashion illustrator for about two decades before becoming a children’s book illustrator, performance artist, xerography artist, and filmmaker. To demonstrate “the media bombardment surrounding ‘everyman’ today,” Nesbitt created a film and sound performance piece titled Everyman as Anyman, or Putting On, On, On, On, On in 1969. More information available on the Archives of American Art website here: www.aaa.si.edu/collections/esta-nesbitt-papers-8079/more

Kristen Anchor is an audio visual artist, curator, teacher, and musician. Her work has screened at film festivals, events, and galleries throughout the U.S. Anchor plays drums for Baltimore’s all-girl lo-fi art pop band The Degenerettes, and is the creator of the out-of-this-world performance duo Monster Drummer Thunderupagus. kristen-anchor.com

C. Tara & David Gladden explore how the sensual interacts with the cerebral. They use cinematic and theatrical strategies to create engaging, immersive environments that also have a rigorous conceptual base. They consider their performances to be “live cinema,” with a seamless mix of music, projections, performance, poetry, and tableaux.

Dina Fiasconaro is a Baltimore-based filmmaker. She has an MFA in filmmaking from Columbia University, and is an Associate Professor of Film and Moving Image at Stevenson University. She recently co-founded the Baltimore Chapter of Film Fatales (www.filmfatales.org), a national organization working towards gender parity in the film industry.www.dinafiasconaro.com.

Daphne Gardner and Taylor Hebden met in high school and started documenting their group of friends through photography and video. They both studied film in college, and collaborated on work while at different schools in Maryland. They continue to work together on a variety of film projects, with the shared vision of exploring the female experience.
Daphne: www.daphnegardner.com 
Taylor: vimeo.com/user3089289