Join us for an artist lecture by PlySpace Spring 2020 Fellows, Valerie Skakun and P. Spadine, on Tuesday, February 18th, from 5-6 PM in AJ225.

Skakun and Spadine have been working as collaborative partners since 2017. The philosophy of Skakun’s recent body of work began the moment she was struck by a car while on her bike and left unable to walk for a year. She has explored sculptures as objects of ritual and labor, ranging from time-based devotions to endurance trainings in order to transform mental and physical states of being. She received an MFA from Hunter College in 2019, and a BFA from The Cooper Union in 2009. Spadine has worked under Ashcan Orchestra, a pen name and performance ensemble as a vehicle for his audio/visual experiments since 2007. Informed by a sense of wonder, his work has sought to emulate, celebrate, and demystify the laws that govern the physical universe. Together they work in the realm in which the physicality of sculpture and sound overlap. Skakun and Spadine seek to explore the dual nature of labor and play, as a way to engage the world of wonder within the viewer through a physical catalyst.

While in residence at PlySpace, Skakun & Spadine will be researching stronger materials and building prototypes of new working components for their series of modular sound sculptures, which refer to an “organ” as both body part and musical instrument and require physical use of the entire body to play. They will be working with Assistant Professor Rachel Cohn and her 4d students at Ball State University to design and build pump organs which generate sound through bodily motions. The collaboration will culminate in a public performance featuring the ensemble of sound sculptures on April 2nd, first Thursday, at Madjax.

PlySpace is a program of Muncie Arts and Culture Council in partnership with the City of Muncie, Ball State School of Art and Sustainable Muncie Corporation. PlySpace is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.