I/EAR PRESENTS DAD ART: BIO AND DAD ART DESCRIPTION

iEAR Presents!: DAD ART: GRIEF/LOVE/LIFE By LINDA MARY MONTANO in Collaboration with RPI Arts Graduate Students, Faculty, and Local Community

 

LINDA MARY MONTANO [ http://www.lindamontano.com ] is a pioneer in contemporary feminist art since the mid-1960s. Attempting to dissolve the boundaries between art and life, Montano continues to actively explore her art/life through shared experience, role adoption, and intricate life-altering ceremonies, some of which have lasted for 21 years. Her artwork is starkly autobiographical and often concerned with personal and spiritual transformation. Montano has taught Performance Art, published seven books, has exhibited internationally, and has over sixty free videos on YouTube.

“In 1998 I began collaborating with my father for seven years: recording on video our meals, time together, and finally getting to know him. For four of those years we enjoyed this art-life collaboration. After he had a hemorrhagic stroke, I literally hid behind the video camera because I couldn’t face my Dad’s situation and failing health. So for those last 3 years I recorded it all so I didn’t have to see it with my unshielded eyes while feeding/bathing/walking with him. The camera became my mask. After his death in 2005, Tobe Carey edited all of the footage together and I first mourned with my art family, showing this video, probably around 2007, at Pauline Oliveros and Ione’s Deep Listening Institute on Broadway in Kingston and then for some time after that I shared the video-performance, but very rarely because the pain was too raw. The story was not ready to be public. But now, I am able to re-share this experience because of many things, especially the support of performer-collaborators and the compassionate assistance of the presenters, but also because of music! My parents had a band in the 30’s and 40’s: Dad played drums and trumpet and sang; Mom sang in the band. So when I began focusing on SINGING FOR MY PARENTS AS THE ART OF MOURNING in DAD ART and seriously included my singing in this INTERACTIVE mourning-meditation, the video took on a teaching-tool function and became a way for me to rise out of debilitating pain and fly toward trance-formation and support in dealing with this great Mystery called Death! Also audiences have a chance to interact with many generous performer-collaborators on stage with me and we all deal with death performatively, which opens a door to REALLY/AUTHENTICALLY being with Impermanence.”

 

We get it: LIFE IS SHORT. Art makes it spacious and long for a minute. The interactive aspect is what makes DAD ART a communal ART OF HEARTFELTNESS/COMMUNITY. 

 

Gratitude to the performers.

Gratitude to the audience for sharing your stories and your collaborative interactions with the performers.

Gratitude to the cultural center,  performance coordinating producer, video documenters and editor, tech support, creative advisor, curators, and  executive producers.

May our life=art=life.

 

—Linda Mary Montano