Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance is a bilingual cross-border opera about the life and death of Pancho Villa. Commissioned by Ballroom, the project is the third installment of The Marfa Triptych, a genre-hopping trilogy of musical performances by visionary composer Graham Reynolds. The opera is an insightful examination of the Mexican and Mexican-American impact on the culture and politics of West Texas, contributing to the current and timely conversation about borders and the limitations of the concept of delineated states.

Exploring facts from Villa’s biography while also examining the mythology surrounding him, the opera asks what Pancho Villa means to Mexican and American culture and where these meanings intersect and conflict. The opera brings together artistic collaborators from both sides of the river to engage in a borderless conversation about the shared history between Mexico and the United States, Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance is the epic closing chapter in The Marfa Triptych.  Reynolds experiments with an exciting hybrid of composition and production techniques while leading an eight piece ensemble to bring Lagartijas Tiradas Al Sol’s fascinating libretto to an intensely visceral and intimate life.

The team includes composer Graham Reynolds; Mexico City-based theater collective Lagartijas Tiradas Al Sol as librettists; Shawn Sides of the Rude Mechs as director; Austin Lyric Opera tenor Paul Sanchez as Pancho Villa; and Grammy Award-winning producer Adrian Quesada on guitar.

To stay up to date on future performances please visit panchovillaopera.com.

This is Presence featured newly-commissioned work from artist collective the Institute for New Feeling (IfNf), including the video nominated by Ballroom for the 2016 season of Artists’ Film International (AFI). AFI is an international collaboration organized by Whitechapel Gallery, London, that showcases emerging artists working in video and animation. The IfNf project was complemented by two micro-exhibitions hosted by Arturo Bandini in Ballroom’s courtyard. These distinct projects both responded to the theme of AFI 2016: technology.

Founded by artists Scott Andrew, Agnes Bolt, and Nina Sarnelle, IfNf describes their collaboration as “a research clinic committed to the development of new ways of feeling, and ways of feeling new.” Their multidisciplinary works and installations borrow from the language of corporate branding, new age healing and traditional medicine, injecting the mystical and uncanny into commercial interfaces.

IfNf’s commissioned video, This is Presence, replicates the endless linking actions of web users as they search for answers on the Internet. The artists’ marshal search engine logic as a sort of modern oracle system while simulating the marketing mechanisms that optimize online presence. 

In addition to the film, Ballroom supported the production of Ditherer, a newly commissioned virtual reality experience from the Institute. The piece uses an VR headset to transport users into an infinite warehouse that features an assortment of products for sale and anticipates surreal, near-future shopping. The installation showcased additional videos from IfNf, objects from the Institute’s product line, and the other AFI selections.

In Ballroom’s courtyard, Arturo Bandini hosted two shows-within-the-show, Sim City and Grey Goo Gardens, over the run of AFI 2016. These micro-exhibitions included work from sixteen artists, who played with and off of the exhibition’s technological themes. Sim City (September 23 – December 4, 2016) featured Edgar Bryan, Jason Roberts Dobrin, Michael Dopp, Liz Glynn, Kate Hall, Julian Hoeber, Nevine Mahmoud, and Mungo Thomson; Grey Goo Gardens (December 9, 2016 – February 19, 2017) presented Ed Fornieles, Sonja Gerdes, Joel Holmberg, Dwyer Kilcollin, Chanel Von Habsburg-Lothringen, Anna Mayer, Thomas Mcdonell, and Isaac Resnikoff.

Ballroom joined forces with Summer Shake Up, offered by Marfa Independent School District (ISD) in collaboration with other community partner organizations. The summer camp was free with breakfast, lunch, and transportation provided. Students grades five through eight were invited to participate.

For 2016’s  DJ Camp, DJ Bigface returned to the Big Bend to offer essential guidance in real-live party-rocking skills. Students learned directly on DJ equipment and experiment with mixing songs and sampling music. The classes were designed to engage the imagination of students from all musical backgrounds, and throughout the week DJ Bigface highlighted other aspects of DJ culture, such as dance and visual art. While getting practical experience on the equipment was a core component of the camp, Bigface also presented DJing as an art form with a rich culture and history, with portions of each class covering the history of the DJ and basic music theory.

Ballroom Marfa hosted a lecture by artist Mary Weatherford, “Agnes Pelton and the American Transcendental” to complement After Effect, an exhibition in Ballroom’s galleries. The lecture took place at the Crowley Theater in Marfa, TX.

A painter herself, Weatherford spoke on the work of Agnes Pelton, a member of the historical Transcendental Painting Group active in New Mexico in the 1930s and ’40s.  

The Transcendental Painting Group’s manifesto identifies their aim as carrying “painting beyond the appearance of the physical world, through new concepts of space, color, light and design, to imaginative realms that are idealistic and spiritual” in an effort to “widen the horizon of art.” Watch Weatherford’s lecture below or visit Ballroom Marfa’s Vimeo page.

Bitchin Bajas returned to Marfa for an evening of kaleidoscopic psychedelia and collective good vibes in the Ballroom courtyard. Bitchin Bajas is the project of Cooper Crain, Dan Quinlivan and Rob Frye. Using a combination of synthesizers, guitars, flutes and saxophones, the trio conjures an otherworldly sound informed by the hypnotic rhythms of Krautrock, the scintillating guitar work of Robert Fripp, and the longform mysticism of classic New Age cassette tapes.

Bitchin Bajas’ performance was preceded by a live VJ set from local artist and musician Mellow Arms. Vapegoat Rising, Arturo Bandini‘s micro-exhibition in the courtyard, was also on view with its fog machine adding to the ambiance.

Bitchin Bajas’ album, Epic Jammers and Fortunate Little Ditties, a collaboration with Will Oldham, serves as a sort of uplifting guided meditation, Oldham’s voice drifting through the intertwined drones and melodies. Their show at Food Shark Land at the 2015 Marfa Myths festival was among the highlights of the weekend, and their performance at the First Christian Church on New Year’s Eve 2015 has already become a local legend.

This production was a joint venture of Ballroom Marfa and Remote Soundtracks, a mind-expanding radio program hosted by Stephen “Chick” Rabourn from 9-11pm on the last Sunday of each month on Marfa Public Radio.

Ballroom Marfa, FotoFest International and the Public Concern Foundation will bring Marfa Dialogues to Houston, Texas March 24-26, 2016 as part of the FotoFest 2016 Biennial. Join us as we consider the scale of climate disruption from the hyperlocal to the hyperobject. Events will be presented at The Menil Collection, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Marfa Dialogues was conceived in 2010 by Ballroom Marfa Artistic Director Fairfax Dorn and Hamilton Fish of the Public Concern Foundation with the aim of bringing together artists, scientists, writers, and critical thinkers to consider a range of social issues, from immigration to the environmental crisis. Since then Marfa Dialogues has taken place in Marfa, Texas; New York; St. Louis, Missouri; and now Houston, Texas.

Marfa Dialogues/Houston begins Thursday evening, March 24 at 7pm, at the Menil Collection with a keynote address by Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., the President and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus. As a minister and community activist, Rev Yearwood is one of the most prominent national figures working to involve communities of color in climate activism and green economy solutions.

This will be followed by a performance from Lucky Dragons, an experimental music group from Los Angeles whose artistic practice aims to create a better understanding of existing ecologies through workshops, publications, and recordings. This site-specific performance will feature a collaboration with Houston-based vocalists, arranged alongside an array of environmental field recordings and live electronics; a composition that lyrically speaks to biodiversity, human ecological impact and climate change as a loss of complexity in a moment of transition.

Programming on Friday, March 25 begins at 6:30pm at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. The evening of conversation will include a panel organized around the concept of “Imaging Futures”, which will consider macro-scale observations on Earth landscapes, the long-term effects of anthropocentric climate change, and the possibility of inter-planetary migration. The panel will feature MPA, a performance artist whose most recent body of work looks at the colonization of Mars; Dr. William Stefanov, ISS Program Scientist for Earth Observations at NASA; Jamey Stillings, a photographer who documents human-altered landscapes with an emphasis on environmental sustainability; and Dr. Trevor Williams, whose research focuses on Antarctic ice sheets.

Saturday afternoon’s events at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1-6pm, include a series of presentations, discussions and short films. The Center for Land Use Interpretation and Simparch will present the panel “Inundation and Desiccation: On the Edge in America”, a discussion about floodscapes and deserts. The conversation will range from their collaborations in Houston, including Tex Hex and other activities along the Buffalo Bayou, and their projects on the dried out basins and lakebeds of the desiccated West. Their presentation will be accompanied by a screening of CLUI’s landscan video, Houston Petrochemical Corridor, Texas (2008).

This will be followed by “Metabolic Landscapes,” a conversation connecting energy production, agriculture, and public health including Dr. Geof Rayner and artist Gina Glover co-authors of The Metabolic Landscape: Perception, Practice and the Energy Transition; Dornith Doherty, an artist whose work Archiving Eden looks at international efforts at preservation of biodiversity and food security through seed banks and other initiatives; and Juan Parras, Director of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS) and an environmental justice ambassador for the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. An excerpt from Sarah Rara’s video The Pollinators (2014) will be screened along with this panel.

Marfa Dialogues/Houston will conclude with “From Hyperlocal to Hyperobject: Art, Ecology, and OOO”, a conversation with Rice University professor Timothy Morton, author of Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World (2013) and Dark Ecology: For a Logic of Future Coexistence (2016) among many other publications and essays; and international award winning photographer Mandy Barker from Leeds, UK. The exchange will be moderated by author Erik Davis, host of the Expanding Mind podcast. The dialogue will explore the uncanny territory of the aesthetic dimension, anti-anthropocentrism, global warming and much more. Sitting Feeding Sleeping (2013) a short video by Rachel Rose will be screened to compliment this discussion.

The mission of Marfa Dialogues is to discover new perspectives on social issues by examining them through the lens of artistic practice. Marfa Dialogues/Houston brings together a diverse and insightful group of participants from the disciplines of visual art, public policy, critical theory, and environmental science, continuing this program’s open and creative approach to some of the most pressing issues of our time.

Marfa Dialogues/Houston takes place in conjunction with the FotoFest International 2016 Biennial, exploring the theme of CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES: Looking at the Future of the Planet, March 12 – April 24, 2016. The Biennial’s central exhibition features the work of 34 artists from nine countries, examining the dynamics of change and the potential for creative action. Projects address the Anthropocene – climate change; industrialization and urbanization; bio-diversity; water; the use of natural and human resources; human migration; global capital, commerce and consumption; energy production; and waste. Marfa Dialogues/Houston is one of the principal public programs organized with the Biennial, which also includes film series, music performances, lectures, and tours. Details on the full FotoFest 2016 Biennial program may be found at www.fotofest.org.

Marfa Dialogues/Houston 2016 began at the Menil Collection with a keynote address by Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., the President and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus. This was followed by a performance from Lucky Dragons, an experimental music group from Los Angeles. This site-specific performance featured a collaboration with Houston-based vocalists, arranged alongside an array of environmental field recordings and live electronics; a composition that lyrically spoke to biodiversity, human ecological impact and climate change as a loss of complexity in a moment of transition.

After Effect was a group exhibition featuring immersive artworks in painting, sculpture, installation and film that ranged from the cosmic and psychedelic to the sensual and visionary. The exhibition looked at historical paintings and film from the ‘30s and ‘40s alongside works from contemporary artists that address notions of the sublime, touching on mortality, landscape, the body, and various modes of abstraction.

Dan Colen produced a new triptych of large skyscapes based on stills from the 1940 Walt Disney film Fantasia, work that continued his exploration of spirituality and mortality via pop culture. Achieved through an arduous process of layering paint, the cloud paintings evoke both the cartoon and the Romantic sublime. The paintings appeared alongside a sculpture from Colen’s recent Canopic series, solid silver casts taken from the negative space formed by roadside guardrails mangled in automobile accidents.

Painter Loie Hollowell’s work displayed an abstract geography of bodily forms – vaginas, nipples, phalluses, tongues – in vivid oil on linen canvases that radiate with texture and symmetry. The artist finds inspiration in Catholic iconography as well as the architectural forms of European Gothic and Islamic architecture, while recent praise in the New York Times places her in a lineage with both Georgia O’Keefe and Judy Chicago.

After Effect also featured historical works from the Transcendental Painting Group, artists who figure largely in Hollowell and Colen’s lexicon. Founded in New Mexico, the Transcendental Painting Group existed from 1938-1942 and aimed to “defend, validate and promote abstract and non-objective art.” The exhibition included works by Emil Bisttram, Raymond Jonson, Agnes Pelton, Florence Miller Pierce, and Stuart Walker. The group’s manifesto identifies their aim to carry “painting beyond the appearance of the physical world, through new concepts of space, color, light and design, to imaginative realms that are idealistic and spiritual” in an effort to “widen the horizon of art.” 

Ballroom Marfa’s south gallery featured Oskar Fischinger’s iconic Radio Dynamics (1942), a silent animated film which ebbs and flows with rhythmically edited abstract forms. This meditative, painterly work is suggestive of Fischinger’s overlooked contributions to Fantasia and is just one example of his wildly influential role as the father of the visual music tradition.

In Ballroom’s courtyard, Arturo Bandini hosted two shows-within-the-show, Vapegoat Rising and Dengue Fever, over the run of After Effect. These micro-exhibitions play with and off of the exhibition’s transcendental themes. Arturo Bandini is a collaborative project/gallery by artists Michael Dopp and Isaac Resnikoff. Their first installation, Vapegoat Rising, is described by the artists as a “percolation of fog and rock” and features work by Josh Callaghan, Kathryn Garcia, Mark Hagen, Rick Hager, Yanyan Huang, Whitney Hubbs, Sofia Londono, and Barak Zemer. The second show, titled Dengue Fever, functioned as “a sort of Henri Rousseau delirium, a jungle of feeling, and a landscape turned inwards” with work by Kelly Akashi, Marten Elder, John Finneran, S Gernsbacher, Drew Heitzler, Sarah Manuwal, Calvin Marcus, and Roni Shneior.

From the cosmic to the corporeal, the works in After Effect evoked a transformative aesthetic effect – showcasing a spectrum of sublimity across mediums and revealing the resonances that exists between the artist’s process and the viewer’s experience. 

Marfa Myths is an annual music festival and multidisciplinary cultural program founded in 2014 by nonprofit contemporary arts foundation Ballroom Marfa and Brooklyn-based music label Mexican Summer. With Marfa Myths, the two organizations bring together a diversity of emerging and established artists and musicians to work creatively and collaboratively across music, film, and visual arts contexts. The festival is inherently embedded in the landscape of Far West Texas, and engages with Marfa’s cultural history and present-day community.

For more information visit marfamyths.com.

Organized in conjunction with Whitechapel Gallery, London, Ballroom Marfa presented the 2015 season of Artists’ Film International, a global exchange that showcases artists working in film, video and animation, featuring the work of Los Angeles-based filmmaker Brigid McCaffrey.

Many of McCaffrey’s films are set in landscapes that convey precarity and flux. Her approach to documentary focuses on environments and people in transition, and considers these subjects over long periods of time. Her works meditate on the tension between individualism and community in the midst of unstable economic and ecological realities. Shaped by the process of portraiture, the films respond to the physical and emotional changes of their subjects, creating documents that fuse representations of self and place. 

Ballroom hosted a free screening of a selection of McCaffrey’s works on film, including the piece nominated for AFI–Paradise Springs–which features Ren Lallatin, an itinerant geologist who studies the Mojave Desert. The film follows the wandering geologist as she describes her interactions with the natural world, while voicing her rejection of land regulation and privatization. A conversation with McCaffrey and Lallatin complemented the screening, and the following day offered a walk-in loop of the other AFI film from around the world. 

A geology walk and lecture led by Lallatin and a local geology professor, Jesse Kelsch from Sul Ross State University, added context to the films. The walk/lecture took place at the Far West Texas-based nonprofit Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute’s land reserve and geology viewing area.