It was a dark and stormy night Saturday, Sept. 12 as the 24 Hour Festival unfolded for the first time in Parking Garage No. 2. Students, faculty and guests braved weather that added unexpected drama to the ninth annual festivities, which were held under cover but in open air.
“The audience seemed to love the extra theatricality of the parking garage and we had double the capacity of the theatre, so it was a good thing we moved it out there,” said Theatre Professor Barry Cavin, who produces the event for the Bower School of Music & the Arts.
More than 200 people came to see the showcase Saturday night at which about 50 individuals performed or exhibited work after making it to the finish line with visual art, music, performance art and films they’d created overnight. The winners, listed below, will were spotlighted in an exhibition in ArtLab.
The 24 Hour Festival is a creative competition that involves imagination, talent, teamwork and time management. Individuals and teams are given the same list of prompts that they should incorporate into artwork that must be completed in 24 hours to qualify for scholarship prizes awarded at the showcase. The inspirational prompts this year included objects such as a propeller and a box of fog as well as references to dripping honey, chaos and ambiguity.
The festival was sponsored by Gene and Lee Seidler.
Winners were chosen in four categories:
Moving image
First prize: Isaac Espinosa, team captain, “24 Hour Film Submission”
Exhibition prize: Caitlin Karcher, team captain, “Destructional Video”
Live performance
First prize: Rebecca Nichols, team captain, “Love Lost In Chaos” (see video below)
Exhibition prize: Jake Eveker, team captain, “Apollon”
Music
First prize: Manuel Morrissey, composer, “Amaterasu (Black Flames)” (see video below)
Exhibition prize: Evan Welshans, composer, “Formulaic Dubiety”
Visual art
First prize: Simon Huebler, “Answer With A Question”
Exhibition prizes: Leila Mesdaghi, “All Dipped In Warm Honey”; James Futral, “Chaos”; Andrea Mucci, “Planting The Seed”