CALENDAR (OR WHERE YOU WILL FIND US)
| March - June, September - October, 2000 | Community Residency, "Artists & Communities: America Creates for the Millenium", Cowley County, KS |
| January - February, 2000 | Installation/Performances, Castleton State College, Castleton, VT |
PAST PROJECTS (OR WHERE WE'VE BEEN)
DRIFT, Christine Price Gallery, Fine Arts Center, Castleton State College, Castleton, VT, January - February, 2000:
With guest artists Sarah Cunningham, David Hurwith and Susan Sgorbatti. DRIFT filled Castleton's Christine Price Gallery with figurative shapes of translucent polyethylene. Human 'tracings' hung from and ascended to the ceiling in gestures of reaching, support and embrace. The installation redefined the gallery space highlighting natural light and shadow as well as human movement patterns. A performance with guest artists during the exhibition used movement, light and projection to explore layers of reflection, response and interaction between the performers and the installation.
Rolla-la-la-la, Catholic Charities, Albany, NY for Art of the Millenium: A Downtown Windows Installation Project, December 1999 - January 2000:
Two side by side windows served as sites for the reinstallation of elements from two recent projects, Recycling Figures and Rollarama. The installation process explored communicating directions between a 'performer' in the street and a 'performer' in the window who worked in concert with the large figure from Recycling Figures.
Rollarama, Stratton Arts Festival, September 1999, Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, VT, June 1999, Hubbard Hall, Cambridge, NY, May 1999:
Bold costuming, a large sheet of glass, a stool, markers and reflections set a playful mood for a performance exploring the boundaries between audience and performers as well as between the Rollarama characters. Rollarama activities at the Helen Day included tracing rolling figures for a backdrop, creating related cutout figures and distributing 'point and shoot' cameras to the audience for their use during the performance. At Stratton, Rollarama included live video projection by Tony Carruthers.
Midmad, Former Feinberg Department Store Windows, Bennington, VT, July, 1999:
With guest artists Frank Peseckis, Tony Carruthers, Barbara Roan. Scored and improvised movement, video and video projection, sculpture building, numerous costume changes, drawing on glass and ball room dancing animated the windows of a vacant storefront for Bennington Vermont's annual Midnight Madness Salebration.
Scrollover, collaborative web site with Frank Peseckis, opened 1999:
Scrollover is an ongoing web based collaboration among Bill, Frank and Meg. Scrollover brings together seemingly different places and people and invites participation. The site was created with support from the Vermont Arts Council and 5points.net. From the earliest days of the site, numerous individuals have contributed to the 'choreograph' feature in PLAY. Their suggestions are part of Scrollover's history and can be seen by clicking the following 'more' button.
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Fish Tales, Riverworks, Williamstown, MA, May, 1999:
Visitors to an annual Riverfest created body shapes based on water sports. Their poses were traced in vibrant colors on a drawing of a twenty foot long fish on a large polyethylene 'tarp'. A choreographed performance for six movers and the tarp followed celebrating water, fish, people, and the river.
Plastic-Nature, Pownal Elementary School, Pownal, VT, April-May, 1999:
Visual art projects created a twenty-two foot high gateway for the school's nature trail with fifth and sixth graders and "mosaics" from discarded colored plastic for the town's recycling sheds with third and fourth graders. The projects culminated in a choreographed parade and celebration for the community.
Recycling Figures, Monument Elementary School, Bennington, VT, Mar. 1999:
A two week residency with fourth - sixth graders, created a giant sculpture of recyclable plastic bottles in netting, a suite of group dances and a large figurative ink marker on polyethylene painting. Cooperation in collaborative endeavors such as recycling was demonstrated through sculpture building, and group movement exercises.
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Rollover, NoBIAS, North Bennington, VT, Jan. 1998, Mobius, Boston, MA, April, 1998, Flynn Theatre, Burlington, VT, July-August 1998:
Rollover, a cumulative and adaptive performance piece by Bill Botzow and Meg Cottam with video by Kevin Bubriski and a sound score by Edmund Mooney, began with a giant figure made of natural material (leaves, hay) and netting. Rollover balanced "street" and "field" work with "theater" work, acknowledged the places where it was performed, connected audiences to other performance venues and encouraged active participation in elements of the piece. Rollover makes evident and compelling the spirit latent in ordinary matter.
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Pine Needle Pelt, Hopkins Center Plaza, for the exhibition, Post Pastoral, Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH, 1998.
A monumental sculpture of pine needles was created during an hour and a half performance for the opening celebration of an exhibition about land use. The installation invited the audience to participate in making a 40' leopard pelt by having their figures traced, then filled with pine needles during the performed build of the sculpture.
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Dormancy, Berkshire Artisans Annex Gallery, England Brothers Department Store, Pittsfield, MA 1998:
Botzow and Cottam worked with camera artist Kevin Bubriski on a two month long installation that combined performance, sculpture building, mark making and camera work. Visiting and revisiting the Main Street store front site of Dormancy, the installation highlighted winter, downtown revitalization and organic change.
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Movement Map, Vermont Arts Exchange, North Bennington, VT, 1998:
Movement Map created an installation of traced and cut out figures and a large mural as part of a community celebration around the theme of transportation. Participants were asked to create body shapes expressing human movement such as running, jumping, swimming, diving. The poses were traced with colored oil marker onto large sheets of black polyethylene, then cut out and mounted on the walls of the work area. Another set of poses were traced on a eight by twenty four foot sheet that became an outdoor mural.
Roll, Savage Arts Center, North Bennington, VT, 1997:
Roll explored the connection between movement and mark making and encouraged audience participation through conversational exchange and hands-on participation in dance and drawing.
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Cascade of Gravity -- A Parade in a Landscape, Vermont Arts Exchange, North Bennington, VT, 1996:
For three months, Botzow and Cottam sculpted a large scrubby clearing on the edges of a town park, then led parade participants through the area as part of the Vermont Arts Exchange's Paran Creek Festival. Parades were offered the opportunity to join in the activities, simply observe or cheer on willing participants.
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Current, NoBIAS, North Bennington, VT, 1994:
Spontaneously composed performances explored exchanges of sound, movement and drawing among a visual artist, two dancers, a musician and the audience in conjunction with Botzow's exhibition of large scale drawings and movable sculptures.
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Projects for the Holden-Leonard Mill, Bennington Area Arts Council, Bennington, VT, 1990:
As part of a team of six artists, Botzow and Cottam created interconnected installations in a vacant textile mill. The participatory installations discussed the mill's history, workers, and current condition.
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