Superior Concept Monsters

Luna Moths created by Alex Kahn for 1998 NY Village Halloween Parade

Superior Concept Monsters (SCM) is an ensemble of performing artists and theatrical technicians devoted to pageant puppetry and processional art. They are also known by the name Processional Arts Workshop, under which the group incorporated as a non-profit in 2005.[1] They are best known for creating the large-scale puppet performances that lead New York's Village Halloween Parade.

Founded by Halloween Parade designers Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles in 1998, SCM creates original performance works specifically for the medium of procession, involving giant puppets, mobile scenography, shadow and projection, and other visual elements. These works generally involve hundreds of volunteers who build and rehearse in community workshops, and then perform in the final event. Beyond their work for the Halloween Parade, SCM has travelled to communities around the world to create site-specific processions and parades based on local themes. Drawing on regional cultures, oral history, and current sociopolitical concerns, the group encourages local residents to participate at every stage of production from initial design to final performance. thus empowering them to identify and preserve narratives that uniquely define “local” in their own community. To date they have created events in Italy, Trinidad, Maine, Texas, New York, and other locales.

In 2001, SCM's work achieved widespread notoriety when Michahelles designed a giant silk puppet of the Phoenix – the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes – for the NY Halloween Parade, as a hopeful tribute to New York's resilience after 9/11. The puppet was built and performed by witnesses to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and garnered national and international media attention.

SCM has received numerous awards and grants and residencies, including a Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation Artist in Communities Grant (2006), a Roman J Witt Visiting Artist Fellowship at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and an Artist Residency at Caribbean Contemporary Art in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. In addition, SCM co-founder Alex Kahn was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study the traditions and social structures of the Trinidad Carnival.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Tancons, p.62

References

  • Ryzik, Melena. "Odysseus Is Parading Into Queens", New York Times (8/26/2011)
  • Tancons, Claire."The Greatest Free Show on Earth: Carnival from Trinidad to Brazil, Cape Town to New Orleans." in Prospect.1 New Orleans Catalogue (PictureBox, 2008)
  • Duprey, Rolande. "Greenwich Village Halloween Parade" Puppetry International Fall/Winter 2007- Issue No. 22
  • James, Kayode. “Puppeteers Find That Cultural Link”, Trinidad Guardian (4/25/06)
  • Botti, Deborah. “It Takes a Community to Build a Puppet” Middletown Times Herald-Record (2/23/03)
  • Honig, Elenor J. “Community Puppeteer” Harvard Magazine (Jan/Feb 03)
  • Michahelles, Sophia. ”The Mysterious Life of Giant Puppets” Teokikixtli - Mexican Review of Puppet Arts (July 2001)
  • Dewan, Sheila. "Night of the Living Dot-Com”. New York Times (11/1/ 00)
  • Aschan, Jan “Halloween årets rysare” NyTeknik (11/00) – Swedish technical journal – feature article on Halloween puppetry works
  • New York Times (11/1/98) – p. B1, photo from Superior Concept Monsters performance work in Halloween Parade

External links

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