Art Relish

– by Chelsea Raflo

Castleberry Hill is well known as Atlanta’s thriving arts district, with a catalogue of diverse galleries and the popular monthly art stroll.  Those strolling the streets on October 24th will bear witness to the inaugural event of Le Flash: a unique experience that extends beyond white gallery walls in an effort to surpass another sort of barrier: the line between art and community.  The 45 projects and over 30 videos  included in Le Flash will enliven the Hill with light, performance, poetry, even music- all aptly culminating in a midnight fireworks display.

Light, the central theme of Le Flash, is here interpreted in various ways.   Some artists have devised explorations of the aesthetic properties of light, some take a more metaphorical angle toward illumination or “enlightenment,” and some- such as artist Steve Jarvis and his solar-powered coffee cart- consider light as it relates to the environment and our physical existence.  Other sights to be seen include street theater, acrobatics, and even a storm of paparazzi flashbulbs as audience members are swarmed by photographers in a piece by Trey Burns.

The content of Le Flash looks to be innovative and inspiring, but it is the nature of the event itself that generates an air of momentousness.  Le Flash will take place for only five hours, after which it will be another year before the streets of Castleberry are again animated to such an extent.  The transience of the exhibition exposes the core of performance art as a medium: its impermanence is its beauty.  Recordings aside, performance art can only truly be seen once.  It is an art form that relies solely upon the moment, and this temporality is what the artists are revealing and, in turn, what drives their performances.  Curator Cathy Byrd remarks, “I see how the artists are energized; they have essentially one chance to show the world their idea, one bright moment in the memory of our community.”

And community is the very sense that Le Flash hopes to invoke in its audience.  Byrd and co-curator Stuart Keeler envision an annual event that is to become the Nuit Blanche of Atlanta.  Byrd and Keeler both attended this year’s Nuit Blanche Toronto and has channeled their inspiration from the renowned dusk-to-dawn art celebration (which originated in Paris) into making Le Flash a model of creative energy for future years.  Their aim is ambitious, although not lofty: the Le Flash debut has been in the works for only five months, with only two leaders and limited funding, yet it is already generating major buzz (um…Art Relish, anyone?  Note to Byrd/Keeler: YOU’VE MADE IT) and forecasting an extraordinary evening.

Also featured in the program is the unveiling of a new project by acclaimed Ukranian artist Kristina Solomoukha.  The piece, titled “Mind the Gap”, will be a temporary feature in Cleopas Park and is intended as a whimsical reflection on Atlanta’s car culture.

Ms. Solomoukha’s work and others have the potential to initiate a greater discourse within our community, especially in regard to the distinctive art scene of our own city.  Atlanta’s art scene is long overdue recognition on its own terms rather than as some kind of knockoff New York, and, sadly, I mean this more as a jab at locals than outsiders.  I thought this was all in my own head until I saw a recent Creative Loafing issue comparing Atlanta and New York and, in doing so, revealing a latent discomfort with the place we call home (“Fuck your MoMA.  We have sweet tea.  And… we talk slow”).  Atlanta is full of considerable talent and interesting characters, yet many tend to look beyond our parameters- not in an open minded, “thinking globally” sense, but with a dismissive “there’s nothing going on here” sort of attitude.  But this city is far from small and stagnant, so in the somewhat deflated words of Hilary Clinton, “Bloom where you’re planted,” Atlantans.  Bloom where you’re planted.

One thing is for sure- if you miss the live debut of Le Flash, you will never, ever, ever in your life be able to experience it in its true form.  At best, you will only catch a diluted rendition- that is, if someone in the crowd happens to have a camcorder AND a tape AND it has excellent night-vision recording capabilities.  In which case, it will probably be one of the Art Relish crew.  In which case, you will probably be watching it on here, right after you read this article about how much better it would have been to see it in real life.  ZING!  I cannot predict the outcome of Le Flash, but what I can do is warn you of the dangers of potentially missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime performance, or in this case, thirty-one performances.  So, just to be on the safe side: make your way down to Castleberry on the 24th and become enlightened.  Le Flash will take place from 7 p.m.- 12 a.m. on Friday, October 24th in Castleberry Hill.  For more information visit the Le Flash Web site.

Chelsea Raflo lives in Atlanta and is Art Relish’s newest contributor.

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