Minneapolis, October 2024 Ruin Courtyard of the Mill City Museum
Complete Show:
Highlights:
about
Projection Mapping, Animation, Video by Paul Herwig - Soundtrack by Ben Siems with Jeremy Hauer & Stephen Rettner Live music parts performed by Ben Siems & Jeremy Hauer - Drawings of “The Boy” by Dirk Opstaele - Dancers (Hands & Arms): Nieya Amezquita, Gerry Girouard, Becky Heist, Jennifer Ilse, Christine Maginnis, Gregory Parks, Odessa Rain, Julie Warder - Crew Assistance Jaclyn Mack, Jasper Kipp
Special Thanks to Jennifer Ilse, Wini Froelich, Dave Stevens, and all the staff at Mill City Museum
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Local artist, Paul Herwig, presents Rising from the Ruins, a projection performance within the stunning architecture and walls of the Mill City Museum Ruin Courtyard, in the open air and under the stars. Rising from the Ruins is an epic and imaginative story-journey, told through visuals and live music composed and performed by local composer and musician Ben Siems. Presented in part in the style of a graphic novel, with original drawings by Belgian artist Dirk Opstaele, Rising from the Ruins is an allegory that sets off from the banks of the Owamniyomni, and travels down the rivers of time, history, and space to trace the resilience, recovery, and renewal of all who are affected by its power and fragility.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Paul Herwig is one of the area’s sole practitioners of projection mapping, and live animated projection events. Recent large-scale projects include the powerful community art project, Facing the Fire, which wrapped the ruins of the former 3rd precinct building with the history of civil unrest along Lake St, and reflected the fears, and hopes of the neighborhood’s residents. Other events under Paul’s company name, Future Projections, include Canopy/Calliope, a site-specific work commissioned by the MN State Fair, immersive projection environments for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts Art in Bloom Preview Party, and a show-length live animated projection “score” for a James Sewell Ballet production and tour, along with many other events.
Ben Siems, a Minneapolis composer and multi-instrumentalist, created the recorded soundtrack for Rising from the Ruins in collaboration with percussionist Jeremy Hauer and experimental musician Stephen Rettner. Siems and Hauer will perform additional guitar and percussion parts live from the Ruins Court balcony. They are the co-founders of The Willie August Project, a progressive jazz trio based in the Twin Cities.
Dirk Opstale created the graphic novel style drawings that accompany the performance. Dirk is an author, stage director, and visual artist. Dirk is generally known as the founder and helmsman of the Brussels based theater and opera company, Ensemble Leporello (1985), which has toured its productions throughout Europe for the past forty years. He also writes, adapts and translates plays, and has just published a book about Alzheimer’s.