italy | Apothecary Shed

Lets Get COVID in New Hampshire!

July 22, 2022

gem art, dance, music april, gem, into the unknown, italy, julia, New Hampshire, NH, oopstock, rhine, spool, where's aubrey 1 Comment

We thought we had narrowly escaped COVID with our collective departure from Italy. But it was not to be.

Everything was looking good, from the could-have-been-worse schlep through the Zurich train station with the enormous guitar case (no carts?! no humans who help?!), through wine tasting in SwissAir First Class, to smooth arrival in Boston.

My trusty ally and friend Spoolia was there to scoop me.

And driving into Newton it was as if we hadn’t even left Italy! Heck, dinner even was Italian, but pronounced incorrectly.

Mabel was impressed, and this is a dog not really impressed by much!

So it was off to New Hampshire for some music. And a side of accidental COVID.

Oopstock has been going strong for 29 years. Many of the usual folks were in attendance. But get this: there was a professional sound guy, and there were high school kids manning the grill. Holy cow, so upscale!!

This made my life much easier (not to mention Rhine’s). Here are my feet on the table where the sound board USED to be positioned way back when I was the sound guy. The hombre to the right is Steve. He ran great sound.

The usual instrument pod.

The East German Gold Medal Swim Team Captain.

New blood with high charisma.

Where’s Aubrey did an iteration of the Into the Unknown game. We all missed Sogol’s dancing. But here is the picture that April made.

The Moose Hut guys also got whacked by COVID. Chris was down and didn’t make the party. As a result, a game of musical chairs around who plays what instrument resulted. Zack played drums?!

Everybody missed Romey.

There was, in deference to Italy, a Negroni session mid-day.

The sun set. The babies went to bed.

And the bands came out under the actual light show. FWIW, LED lights still attract shit tons of mosquitos.

Guy Ferrari played some original music. Tight.

Moose Hut became Moose Nut or maybe Moose Butt.

And then it was the Grayhounds (a quasi-iteration on Splatterfoot with a new guy named Paul whaling on guitar).

Sadly, Rhine was infected the whole time. He started feeling symptoms Sunday. And I got it from him. I am pretty sure this all started with the Italian villa art collective (and I secretly wonder about their self-reported negative test results before our performance). So many years of top notch risk management come tumbling down when you change your risk stance. WHOMP.

A view from the stage. We played electric until 10 then shifted to the campfire where this year’s highlights were a complete treatment of one side of the Pink Floyd Animals record, and a coveted iteration of Hangin.

Then it was off to Spain to become a vector. Unknowingly. Alas.

Special thanks to Spool for making this all possible and to Rhine and April for persisting with the music party even in a summer crammed with art and fun.

Performing in Campiglia Cervo: Into the Unknown

July 21, 2022

gem art, dance, music, who knows april, April Claggett, art, dance, dobro, gary mcgraw, gem, guitar, italy, live art, matt, matt savage, painting, performance, rhine, Rhine Singleton, sogol, sogol shirazi, violin, where's aubrey 2 Comments

The stadium in Campiglia Cervo is scaled to match the interstate highway system that blazes through the center of town. We packed the stadium to the gills with what I am told was 65 people, including the vice mayor who introduced us, but not including the mayor himself who had more important things to do like look at himself in the mirror. Just so you know, this was a much bigger show than the show Metallica put on at the same stadium!

The show was actually very good. Intimate. Interesting. Tight. During the rest of our time in Rialmosso we ran into lots of people who either attended or heard through the grapevine about our performance. That was both really cool and very gratifying.

So what happened, exactly?

First we invented the idea. And we practiced. Then Matt arrived and things got remarkably much better. in the end, the performance included:

April Claggett, realtime art

Gary McGraw, violin, mandolin and vocal harmony

Matt Savage, piano

Sogol Shirazi, piano and dance

Rhine Singleton, guitar, dobro, vocals, songwriting

The road crew set the stage after arriving the day before to check electricity levels and make sure all of the seating was available. We have nothing but admiration for our intrepid road crew. They work so hard so we can do what we do.

The show consisted of three parts as shown on the billboard above.

Here is a stage floor view of the set list for those of you collecting bootlegs.

And a view of the nosebleed seating in the back before anyone was in the house. You can see the dancing props professionally built by our dedicated construction crew.

Publicity was run by our crack PR team who were able to put up a poster with the last of the tape.

Fortunately that poster was all it took to fill the space to the gills. When we started (only 5 minutes late), people were standing because the seating was gone. Even the reserved section for mastiffs and toddlers was full.

We sincerely appreciate the willingness of the locals in the area to support our art with enthusiasm and love!

The stage is set. The weather is perfect.

And we’re off. Sogol and Matt play Bach together.

Dancing to Vivaldi Concerto in G major for Two Mandolins, Strings and Continuo, RV 532 (re-re-arranged for violin, guitar and piano).

Realtime art during We Will Float Away.

Then the game.

Here is a (raw) video compilation of the show, barely edited. This is six minutes of an hour long show.

A complete properly-produced video will be available someday (or so we believe). We are told it is being edited by the BBC in cooperation with NPR.

Another view of the Finale from the audience.

We had so much fun inventing the game and performing it that we want to do it again.

How many paradises are there, anyway? A visit to Terzo Paradiso in Biella, Italia

July 20, 2022

gem art, dance, film, photography, river, who knows april, April Claggett, art, art museum, art space, biella, gem, italy, rhine, river, sleestaks, sogol shirazi, terzo paradiso, travel, video Leave a comment

You might die, but if anything is noted as the cause of death, it will be loneliness.

There are no people doing art or even visiting Terzo Paradiso unless you count our unruly bunch. Here’s what we saw (and what we did).

First we explored random spaces.

And then we found some art to see (but only after getting lucky).

After a short nap in the hammocks near the circles, we found the projector and those glowy rocks from Land of the Lost.

There were no Sleestaks. So here are two for good measure. They covet the glowy rocks.

There was dirt.

There was also very silly science. But it was arty.

Not surprisingly, the room was better than the dirt.

Watch this video. Really.

Rhine took pics too. It was hard not to.

We got lucky and found another human who told us how to cross the highway, go down the stairs and find even more art. Or rather more art places with not much art. Something like that.

Rhine woke up from his long nap, dreaming of Sleestaks and late 1970s TV.

The space rang a long cool echo of lost civilizations and the empty planet to come.

So there was dance.

And reflection

We climbed back down to reality using a ladder that was too short to reach the sky.

And then we left.

Passeggiata al Bariosco (near Rialmosso, Italy)

July 20, 2022

gem hiking, nature, travel ave maria, bariosco, hiking, italy, opera, passagiata, rialmosso, rosazza, shooka Leave a comment

On my last day in Rialmosso (Italy) after all three performances were behind us, the hiking boots finally came out. Sadly the boots were massive overkill since the “hike” was really just a walk and the walk was really just a stroll. But, I lugged those boots all the way here from Virginia, so on they go!

Anyway, the stroll in the park was behind Rosazza on a mountain trail that was well tended and obvious in the Italian way. Gorgeous, filled with green trees, burbling creeks, and an ancient Italian village at the top.

I like listening to the woods as much as looking at them. The sounds were curative.

We did the blue ~~hikewalk~~stroll.

The four others included Santa Mariela, Matt (of the piano), Shooka (of the opera), and Dani (movement artist).

A fellow Tennessean.

A miniature concert at the top by Shooka with some movement by Dani.

After the walk we headed down to town (about one km away) and revisited Auto Bahn. The others joined us there for dinner.

Tutti per la cena.

Stevie demonstrates proper chaise lounge form.

The imitators.

Ciao, bella!

Do Not Abandon Art in Italy

July 19, 2022

gem art april, April Claggett, art, improvisation, italy, rialmosso Leave a comment

Our resident artist in Rialmosso, April Claggett, made some excellent pictures under lots of diverse constraints. Improvisational. Realtime constrained. Performance related. Then, like all of us, she ran out of time.

So it was up to me to preserve her pieces, roll them up, find a tube and fly them back to the US.

That’s exactly what happened.

The one below is my very favorite.

A Side Trip to Rosazza

July 9, 2022

gem travel, who knows fiat, italia, italy, midieval, mountains, negroni, rialmosso, rosazza, towers Leave a comment

Just up the road (the windy windy road) about 12 or 15 km from the Villa Emma is Rosazza, a beautiful little Italian town in the mountains, exuding a simple rustic life.

The Fiat 500 (nero of course)

We went for fun. Here is what we saw.

Dead people by a river in small dead people compartments.

Then one of the very old Austrian towers (with eagles even).

The town is magical and midieval. Photographic evidence is sparse.

You have to walk the narrow maze of streets without a plan or a map.

Roofs are slate (or maybe that is granite).

Chimney engineering is, um, interesting.

As you can see from the clock, it is time for a Negroni. So cross the foot bridge.

And here you are Auto Bahn.

Cin cin!

Making music Near Biella (Miagliano)

July 6, 2022

gem art, dance, music, travel, who knows alabama art, april, April Claggett, art, concert, dani, drawing, gary mcgraw, gem, improvisation, into the unknown, italy, miagliano, original music, performance, rhine, Rhine Singleton, sogol, where's aubrey 1 Comment

What happens when you convene an eclectic group of artists with a vague plan to “make something” involving music, dance, drawing, and possibly opera? Well who knows. We haven’t been able to find out yet as one of the dancers came to Italy with COVID (everyone tested on arrival) and spread it to two others in our group before proper quarantine set in. The biggest impact involved our fearless leader and chief convener Shooka taking to her bed.

The upshot on Sunday about three hours after landing in Italy was a hastily constructed spettacolo involving Bach, improvisational movement art to unplanned spontaneous music, and Where’s Aubrey in Miagliano, Italy. Amazingly, the people who came to see us actually enjoyed themselves.

We fittingly call ourselves, Into the Unknown.

Instruments fly from Germany

Giant guitar case travels well

Sogol plays Bach to open the show

The audience mostly avoided the actual amphitheater seats, instead opting for the shade

We shifted the “stage” to face the shade loving audience.

“Backstage” with a dobro

By far the most interesting part of the show was when the musicians played whatever occurred to them (us?) as the dancers moved to the improvisational music and the artist drew what she heard and saw. We divided that piece into eight parts defined by the artist. We also asked the audience to participate by drawing as well.