Oiseaux Sisters / Mixed Media Artists

Hullabaloo On The Weather Channel
A Toy Theater in Progress by The Oiseaux Sisters,
Susan Andrews & Carolyn Fellman

To see the full theater image, click here.

The Toy Theater Festival, sponsored by Great Small Works opens in St.Ann's Warehouse,
38 Water Street, Brooklyn, New York. May 23 - 30, 2008 ....Box Office tickets: 718-254-8779

War, famine, revolution, repression, terrorism, fanaticism of all stripes, wind, water, fire, ice, drought, flooding, cyclones, earthquakes —what in the world in going on?!! We are spinning out of control on all fronts, physically, geophysically, socially and politically and this greatest of all xtreme reality shows is featured daily on the Weather Channel.

And yet, at the same time, we are all struggling to stay civil, recognize and create beauty, and be as peaceful as possible under the circumstances. The Oiseaux Sisters’ Hullabaloo On The Weather Channel, invites the audience in with a blue bird bearing the words of poet Kenneth Patchen:

They are so
Happy you could
Make it.
Out of this
May come
Something
Nobody
Quite figured on

The proscenium for our stage consists of a set of Prayer Flags For Everyday Artists touting useful thoughts and icons to carry us through all manner of extremes. Center stage, our youthful spirit impresario selves orchestrate the hullabaloo against a back drop of the heavens, while their puppet minions dance on the Masonic mountain top and further stir things up. Other characters— a peach, a car, palms, a cup, a hungry house, a frisking dog, line up at the foot lights waiting for their moment.

Waiting in the wings in the form of little tin story paintings are all sorts of weather to heighten the mood, while below, from the orchestra pit comes the ominous rumble of volcanoes. Yet, the fish continues to swim and the leaves unfurl and begin their living/dying season.

Oh, how will it all come out? This is an audience participation piece and we are all just as confused and vulnerable as Adam and Eve, not knowing which way to turn, what to do, what garment to take cover in. Time will tell.

The Oiseaux Sisters are Susan Andrews and Carolyn Fellman, two artist entrepreneurs who have been working together for more than 20 years. As artists we craft objects and images, a slow meditative and somewhat archaic way of working. We perch, at the edge of the 21st Century, change accelerating all around us, grabbing at little glints of insight and trying to pin them down in talismans of wood or metal or paper, or shimmering image. Our work tells the stories of travels and travelers exploring the borders of possibility in this time of upheaval and delight.

The site of the sponsoring group is www.greatsmallworks.org

Above are details from the "Hullabaloo on the Weather Channel" installation by Susan Andrews and Carolyn Fellman