Notes on the Classification of Spectral Lines, the Art of Water Writing, and Other Important Ephemera
by Catastrophe Theory Arts

Apr. 06 - Apr. 07, 2016
Wednesday-Thursday

Notes on the Classification of Spectral Lines, the Art of Water Writing, and Other Important Ephemera is the first production from Catastrophe Theory Arts - a new collaborative venture with an express interest in combining the arts and sciences. This first production - a collaboration between Rebecca Whitehurst and Stephen Pruitt, is an assemblage of short pieces about a wide variety of topics ranging from baseball signals to the feminist history of astrophysics; the decoding of signals from alien intelligences to the seemingly ancient, but in fact modern tradition of Chinese ground writing with water; and from the deconstruction of the music of Les Miserables to the ephemerality of far away radio transmissions picked up when driving on West Texas highways late at night. 

 

Catastrophe Theory Workshops is a new venture born out of the desire to create original work and explore storytelling and performance in a low-risk experimental format, with an emphasis on collaboration and an interest in science and the arts. We’d tell you more, but frankly it’s a bit of an adventure and we’re curious to see where it goes. 

 

Native Austinite Rebecca Whitehurst has worked around the globe as a theater animal-- actor, dancemaker, writer and director. She received her BA in Philosophy from Stanford, and then attended the CalArts MFA program in Choreography before embarking on a professional career with Diavolo Dance Theater. Freelancing as an actor and choreographer in New York City led her to the Institute for Advanced Theater Training MXAT/A.R.T. at Harvard, where she received an MFA in Acting and performed in regional and off-Broadway theater. While on a Fulbright Scholarship to Russia, Rebecca spent a year as a guest teacher at the Moscow Art Theatre School choreographing original works, creating a movement praxis for actors, and writing a play about Olga Knipper Chekhova. She is now very tired. 

Stephen Pruitt is a theatrical designer, writer, photographer, and former aerospace engineer who has been working out of Austin since 1997. He is the production and lighting designer for Forklift Danceworks, Tapestry Dance Company, Kathy Hamrick Dance Company, Andrea Ariel Dance Theatre, and several other dance and performance companies in Austin. He is also the resident lighting designer for Trouble Puppet Theater Company and a company member with the Rude Mechs. His short form works and performance pieces have been seen at festivals around the country, though not recently, and once was called “a sharp combination of Bill Nye and David Sedaris." 

 

For more information about the performance or Catastrophe Theory Arts email us.

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Notes on the Classification of Spectral Lines, the Art of Water Writing, and Other Important Ephemera
by Rebecca Whitehurst and Stephen Pruitt
Catastrophe Theory Arts

Notes will be performed as part of Austin's Fusebox Festival, Wednesday April 6 at 8:15 pm and Thursday April 7 at 2 pm at Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Road.

All Fusebox Performances are free as part of the Free Range Art initiative. For reservations, please go THERE.