Cast/Crew: Jenny K. Hager (UNF Professor, Sculpture), D. Lance Vickery (UNF Assistant Professor, Sculpture), Allen Peterson (Professional Artist, Atlanta, GA), Adreona Perkowski (UNF Sculpture Student), and Rebeca Mata (UNF Art & Design Student).
Description: The Music Box kept time on New Year’s Eve in a collaborative performance that celebrated music, dance and metal. Every hour, on the hour the Musicbox Magician operated a kinetic sculpture, designed by Allen Peterson and built with the assistance of Hager’s Interdisciplinary Performance class. The music box played a song written by UNF sculpture alum, Nicole James. A second box acted as a stage for the music box dancer, who performed in conjunction with the music played by the Musicbox Magician. Additionally, Ratatoskr and a Living State began each performance with a narrative element about the passage of time. Each performance lasted between 3-5 minutes, leaving the audience looking forward to more at the top of the next hour. Lance Vickery and Allen Peterson also offered pewter casting demonstrations throughout the evening, which included takeaways for MOCA guests.
Background: This project was an adaptation of the performance Iron Wedding, which was performed at the 8th International Conference of Contemporary Cast Iron Art in Scranton, PA in 2018. The project, which was created and directed by Jenny K. Hager, UNF Professor of Sculpture was orchestrated in conjunction with professional artists Allen Peterson (GA) and Cynthia Handel (MT), Lance Vickery, UNF Assistant Professor of Sculpture, UNF Alumni and current UNF Students from Sculpture, Painting, Printmaking and Photo.
Iron Wedding was originally designed as a collaborative and multi-disciplinary performance in which two artists/iron casters (UNF Alum Nik and Nicole James) were united in a marriage ceremony made of iron. The Victorian inspired imagery and multicultural sourced performance was a celebration of iron, music, printmaking, fire, and love in a three-part performance including the wedding procession, the ring ceremony and the recessional. These three acts took place over the course of one hour. The performance combined elements of theater site-specific installation and set design including backdrops and props with a printed surface, leather costumes with screenprint and printing with fire. Additionally, The Iron Wedding also featured a wedding cake cupola (furnace) design, original music and score played by non-traditional musical instruments, and innovative mold making.
Jenny K Hager 