Marfa Dot Net

By JOHN DANIEL GARCIA

johndaniel@bigbendnow.com

MARFA – Marfa filmmaker David Fenster’s latest work, Opuntia, will make its Marfa debut during the 2018 CineMarfa Film Festival at 3pm Saturday at the Crowley Theater.

A short film by Marfa filmmaker Travis Walker, We Danced with the Devil, will also screen.

Opuntia which is the genus name for prickly pear cactus, Fenster said, was influenced by his long-time interest in the life of Spanish conquistador (and shaman, or faith healer) Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, which was piqued after reading the explorer’s chronicles, Naufragios (Shipwrecks).

Cabeza de Vaca was one of only four survivors of a shipwreck during the doomed Narváez expedition, sent by the Spanish monarch to explore and colonize Florida.

The conquistador spent the following eight years traveling along what is now the U.S.-Mexican border, during which time he became a faith healer before returning to Spain in 1537.

The title of the film comes from the an opening line, which states, “My name is Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and my spirit resides in this cactus.”

In 2015, CineMarfa screened a 15-minute short of the work in progress.

“Most of the material [from the 15-minute short] is in this cut,” he said. “It’s an expanded version. It’s a blend of the text from his book with some fiction.”

The fiction, he explained, are his thoughts on the gaps that appear in Cabeza de Vaca’s book, mainly pertaining to the conquistador’s life as a shamanistic healer.

“There are a lot of spaces in his story pertaining to his life as a shaman. I think it has to do with the fact that he was writing to the monarchy and his spiritual change may have been the last thing he wanted to say,” Fenster explained. “You can imagine he used peyote, for example, as a healer. But maybe he left it out for profound or personal reasons. But for someone like me, who likes to take a story and make it my own, that space to expand or question aspects of his life are great.”

Still from David Fenster’s Opuntia.

Though his interest in the life of the explorer has been longstanding, he said, the film didn’t gain traction until he moved to Marfa.

“I’ve had a constant interest in Cabeza de Vaca. It’s one of those things where you don’t choose the story, but the story chooses you,” he said. “I resisted for a while, but it sucked me in once I started spending more time here, along the route he took.”

For the film, he added, he interviewed La Junta de los Rios historian Enrique Madrid of Redford, Center for Big Bend Studies director Andy Cloud, and other local experts in the life and myth of the conquistador. Some of them appear in the film.

Cabeza de Vaca’s book, however, remains the main inspiration for the film, which takes excerpts from the Spaniard’s texts verbatim.

“One of the things that stood out was his style of writing. It was very straight forward, and kind of the ‘proto-novel,’ very unadorned, in a way,” Fenster said. “Another thing was his depiction of the indigenous people. They were very fleshed out. In his writing, the natives were not romanticized or demonized, but made very human. I was very struck by the portrayal of the people.”

The story of the explorer, he added, has also been lost in time, with later conquistadors and explorers having received more notoriety.

“He was the first European in Mexico, Texas, and many other places in the Americas, but he doesn’t seem to fit the colonial narrative. I feel like he’s been largely ignored in history,” he said.

For the film, the filmmaker added, he worked with a psychic to fill in the spaces of the conquistador’s history.

“My first two features were dramatic narratives with a little bit of documentary. This one’s a documentary with what some may interpret as fiction, since I worked with a psychic to make the film. I want to let people interpret it as they want. I like leaving it open for interpretation. I’m half-cynic and half-believer. A lot is not knowing what’s what,” he said.

The CineMarfa screening will be the second time the film has been open to an audience.

Following the festival, Fenster plans to take the film on tour along the route taken by the explorer, with screenings in Ojinaga and El Paso.

The Saturday screening, however, will be special for the filmmaker.

“I’m super excited about having it shown at CineMarfa. It’s great to show a film at a great film festival in your hometown,” he said.

Still of Fabrizio Terranova’s Story Telling for Earthly Survival, the final film to be screened at the 2018 CineMarfa Film Festival.

By JOHN DANIEL GARCIA

johndaniel@bigbendnow.com

MARFA – For the eight installment of the CineMarfa Film Festival, which kicks off tonight with Mexican filmmaker Betzabe Garcia’s 2015 film, “Kings of Nowhere,” festival co-founders looked no further than the subject of the festival’s final film, Professor Emerita in the History of Consciousness Department and Feminist Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Donna Haraway.

“This year’s program was inspired by Donna Haraway’s latest book, “Staying With the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene.” I’ve always been inspired be Haraway’s writings,” said co-founder and festival curator Jennifer Lane. “One of the points in Haraway’s book that really struck me was that for indigenous peoples, the apocalypse has already happened.  So, there is a model for coping that the dominant culture could learn from.  Haraway uses the metaphor of string figures to connect a diverse range of people, ideas, and projects, which reminds me of how we put our programs together for CineMarfa”

The theme, co-founder David Hollander agreed, delves into Haraway’s ideas.

“It’s about story telling for survival,” he told the Big Bend Sentinel. “[Haraway] looks into primates and cyborgs and gender and technology. We’re showing films with these ideas she brings in, and there are a bunch of films that resonate with those ideas.”

For both Lane and Hollander, the 1989 Ulrike Ottinger film Joan d’Arc of Mongolia is a standout for this year’s festival.

“Joan Of Arc of Mongolia, is one of my all time favorite films, because of the story, about these highly cultured, educated Western Women who are completely at a loss when they are taken in to the ‘foreign’ culture of the Mongolian warrior women. It’s a funny adventure and I love it for its celebratory feminism and its inversion of who is the ‘other,’” Lane said.

The screening of the film, Hollander added, is a rare event, which he says follows in the mission of CineMarfa.

“This is the film I’m most excited about seeing this year. It’s rarely screened anywhere, and it follows along the line of our mission of showing things that don’t get shown a lot,” said Hollander of the 2-hour, 45-minute film, which shows at 1pm on Friday at the Crowley Theater.

As per usual, the film festival will also hold a special screening for the kids at 1pm on Sunday in the Adobe Room at the Lumberyard: Studio Gibli’s 1994 Pom Pako; a film about a group of raccoons fighting against development in their natural habitat.

“I love POm Poko, even though we’re showing the English dub because children can’t read subtitles,” Lane laughed.

As for the longevity of the festival, Hollander stood incredulous at the fact that the festival, which has remained free and open to all members of the public, sees its eighth year and a redesigned website (www.cinemarfa.org) with a complete archive of all films shown since the festival’s inception.

“I can’t believe that it’s been eight years,” he said with laugh. “I’m pretty excited about that. The whole attitude was to propose an alternative to the film festival scene. We’re also the first film festival to have archived their programs. There’s a whole ‘out with the old, in with the new’ sort of cultural amnesia with film festivals that I find distasteful.”

Each year of the festival, Hollander added, is an addition to the larger programming rather than a one-off thing.

“It’s a constantly unfolding program. Even if it seems different one year, it always comes back around,” he said.

For Lane, the eighth year of the festival is an exciting prospect that couldn’t have been possible without community support.

“I feel extremely proud of the work that David and I have done over the years, and that we’ve managed to keep CineMarfa loose, free, and fun in the midst of many changes in Marfa.  Our board has stuck with us with unwavering support, and for that we are truly grateful” Lane said. “And we’ve just completed work on a new website, which archives all of our programming and makes it easier to get a sense of the overall gestalt of our sensibility and what we’ve done.”

For the complete schedule of the 2018 CineMarfa Film Festival, please visit www.cinemarfa.org.

(photo by JESSICA LUTZ)
Dersu Collective’s 2017 art sale.

MARFA – The Dersu Collective will have its 8th Annual Art Sale Benefit to support the 4H Club and the Marfa Education Foundation.

The Benefit show is Friday, April 27 from 6-7pm at the Marfa Book Company, in the Hotel Saint George, 105 South Highland Street.

Organizers recommend getting there early as it tends to sell out fast.

For this year’s benefit, over 50 full or part time Marfa-based artists have expressed interest in donating their small-scale artworks to support the 4H Club Veterinary Sciences Certificate Program and Marfa Education Foundation Teacher Grants. Any artwork exhibited can be purchased for a suggested price of $50. One hundred percent of the proceeds raised will go to support these two causes.

The Veterinary Science Certificate Program provides 4H students with the knowledge and skills necessary to become a Veterinary Assistant. The program also provides a sound platform for students who wish to pursue an associate, undergraduate, graduate, or professional degree in the veterinary science field. Students who complete the program receive Veterinary Assistant (VA) classification and are eligible for CVA certification through the Texas Veterinary Medical Association (TVMA).

The Marfa Education Foundation Teacher Grants allow MISD teachers an opportunity to expand their arsenal of tools, software or books, in order to start a new program within their class, or to supplement anexisting one. Some recent examples of teacher grants include purchasing a Chinese novel by Ji-Li Jiang for the 6th graders tostudy, supporting the National Honor Society in the Marfa High School, buying painting easels for art classes, and bringing virtual reality into the classroom.

The Mission of the Dersu Collective is to gather Marfa-based artists, and artists who care about Marfa, to create and donate small-scale artworks to be sold in a Dersu Collective exhibition, for the sole purpose of funding specific in-need projects and equipment benefitting the children of Marfa. All proceeds from art sales during each annual exhibition go directly to fund that year’s specific project(s). Past Dersu Collective benefits have supported the creation of East Side Play park, an MISD playground for Pre-K and Montessori students, 4-H Club, and several MEF teacher grants.

Please come by on Friday and show your support for all the children of Marfa, Dersu Collective, 4H Club, Marfa Education Foundation, and our local artists. As is tradition, great art, beverages, and disco, will be served.

Photo caption: (photo by GUADALUPE PEREZ) Jason Roman, as Anselmo/Muleteer, is caught in the midst of a dispute between Aldonza/Dulcinea (left, Sedia Woods) and Sancho Panza (Diff Torres) in this scene from “Man of La Mancha.” The Tony Award-winning musical continues Friday-Sunday (April 27-29) on Sul Ross State University’s Marshall Auditorium stage.

ALPINE – With three performances remaining, director Dona Roman believes “Man of La Mancha” performances have exceeded expectations. The Tony Award-winning musical concludes a three-weekend run Friday-Sunday, April 27-29 in Sul Ross State University’s Marshall Auditorium.

Performances resume Friday-Sunday, 27-29. Curtain time is 8:15 p.m. for Friday and Saturday performances and 2 p.m. for Sunday matinees. Tickets are on sale at www.sulross.edu/theatre.Patrons buying online will automatically receive reserved seating. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for senior citizens and children. Please call (432) 837-8218 for reserved seating or for more information.

“One long-time theater-goer said he believed ‘La Mancha’ was the best show we have ever done,” said Roman, Sul Ross professor of Theatre. “We had great attendance this weekend and audience members were very pleased with the entire experience. I received many accolades for the set, costumes, lighting, acting and singing, and our outstanding orchestra.”

“I know that I am so proud of our students,” Roman said. “This is the best group of musicians I have ever been associated with. Overall, the work the cast and crew has done through lengthy rehearsals and building sets has produced impressive results. We have surprised the audiences with what we have done scenically, and the actors have truly embraced the reality of the show.”

“We anticipate a great closing weekend. Many thanks to our patrons for supporting our programs.”

Inspired by Miguel de Cervantes and his famed novel, “Don Quixote,” the musical tells the story of the “mad” knight Don Quixote as a play within a play, performed by Cervantes and his fellow prisoners as he awaits a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition. Dale Wasserman authored “Man of La Mancha,” with lyrics by Joe Darion, and music by Mitch Leigh.

Dr. Donald Callen Freed, professor of Music and Dr. Jeffrey Meyer, assistant professor of Music, provide musical direction.

The orchestra, directed by Meyer, includes: Allison Bryant, flute/piccolo; Christine Cavazos, flute; Steve Kennedy, soprano saxophone; Jim Wright, clarinet; J.D. Leyva, drums; and Sul Ross students Malyssa Reed Cosper,Katy, bassoon; Tim Dzida, Midland, trumpet; Jonathan Guerra, El Paso, trumpet; A.K. Holmes, Cotulla, horn; Andylyn Heckart, Runaway Bay, horn; Valentine Shindel, Terrell, euphonium; Maxwell Ferguson, Presidio, guitar; and Nicolas Westerlink, El Paso, guitar.

Josh Martinez, El Paso, portrays Don Quixote/Cervantes, with Sedia Woods, Houston, as Aldonza/Dulcinea; and Diff Torres, Van Horn, as Quixote’s faithful companion, Sancho Panza. The cast also includes: Westin Huffman, Fort Davis (Duke, Dr. Carrasco); Braydon Clues, Katy (Governor/Innkeeper); Michael Amerson, Fresno (Pedro/Head Muleteer); Eddie Molinar, Alpine (Quito/Muleteer/Padre); Jason Roman, Fort Davis (Anselmo/Muleteer/Innkeeper); David Altamirano, Brady (Jose/Muleteer/Barber); Cory Hill, Alpine (Juan/Muleteer/Captain of Inquisition); Westerlink, (Guitar Player/Muleteer); Jessica Westfall, Alpine (Antonia); Alyssa Longoria, Brownsville (Housekeeper); Callie Jones, Midland (Fermina); Gabbie Rule, Brady (Maria); Kendall Hughs, Houston (Prisoner); Cierra Nicole, Houston (Prisoner); Brian Welch, Georgetown (Guard); Christopher Burrell, Enochs (Guard); and Carlos Ruiz, Presidio (Guard).

Stage manager is Theseus Francis, Alpine; Alondra Flores, Presidio, assistant stage manager; Joanna Barnett, Alpine, lightboard operator; Kayla Garza, Balmorhea, costume/make-up; and Stuart Standly, house manager.

“Man of La Mancha” celebrates five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Composer and Lyricist.  After its success on Broadway, the musical was produced as a major motion picture starring Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren.

ALPINE – This Saturday at Kiowa Gallery’s Hideout located at 105 East Holland Avenue is hosting Alpine’s ArtWalk Spring Fundraiser Crawfish Springfest from 2-10pm.

All you can eat crawfish, with red beans and rice, and the dinner bell rings at 4pm. Buy tickets in advance at Kiowa Gallery for $20 or $25 at the door.

You can access the Crawfish Boil through Kiowa Gallery from 10am-6pm, or through the alley behind Kiowa throughout the event.

Enjoy live music by Anthony Ray Wright and The Doodlin’ Hogwallops, open mike from 2-4pm. Play games like Redneck Golf y mas.

There will be a cash bar with beer and wine as well as a merchandise table with Gallery Night memorabilia. Newly added to the event is the Micallef Cigar Van selling their quality cigars.

All proceeds are for our art scholarships, art programs and art supplies for local schools.

MARFA – The CineMarfa film festival returns to Marfa for its eighth continuous year of innovative programming, dedicated to bringing rarely screened, artist-made cinema to light in Far West Texas.

This year’s festival will unfold over Cinco de Mayo weekend, May 3 – 6.

The theme of this year’s program takes its name from one of our featured films: STORYTELLING FOR EARTHLY SURVIVAL. Fabrizio Terranova’s newest film is a portrait of feminist cultural theorist Donna Haraway, whose influential ideas about gender, technology, ecology, and inter-species relations will resonate throughout the festival.

This year’s edition will kick-off with the beautifully shot experiential documentary KINGS OF NOWHERE by Betzabé García. It portrays remarkable human resistance of three families living in a village partially submerged by water in Northwestern Mexico.

Ecosexual artists and activists Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens will appear in person for the Texas Premiere of their new feature WATER MAKES US WET, Frederick Wiseman’s classic 1974 documentary PRIMATE will be presented by Light Industry’s Thomas Beard, and Sky Hopinka will screen a selection of his short films exploring the languages and landscapes of indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest. Marfa resident David Fenster will also be present to share his newest feature OPUNTIA, an essayistic documentary that engages the myth of Cabeza De Vaca. Along with OPUNTIA, Travis Walker’s short WE DANCED WITH THE DEVIL will screen.

Other highlights of the festival include Ulrike Ottinger’s exuberant feminist adventure JOHANNA D’ARC OF MONGOLIA, METAPHORS ON VISION by Stan Brakhage (book signing and screening with Thomas Beard and Marfa Book Co.) and JOURNEY TO SEVEN LIGHT BAY by artist Mariko Mori

All information about the schedule film list, location maps and archives: cinemarfa.org.

Ballroom Marfa’s Stone Circle artist rendering

MARFA – Ballroom Marfa is pleased to announce stone circle by Haroon Mirza.

The stone circle will open during the full moon on Sunday, April 29 and remain in the landscape for five years.

According to a Ballroom news release, sunset will occur at 20.33 (8:33pm) with activation at 21.03 (9:03pm). The location is 30°20’11.9″ N – 103°59’37.4″ W, the end of FM 1112, also known as Golf Course Road.

Inspired by ancient megaliths, this large-scale outdoor sculpture will be open to the public in the high desert grasslands east of Marfa. This project is a continuation of Ballroom’s signature practice of commissioning site-specific artworks and installations, and is our most ambitious public commission since Elmgreen & Dragset’s Prada Marfa was completed in 2005.

Mirza’s stone circle refers to prehistoric monuments such as Stonehenge and Nine Ladies, megaliths erected by humans and used for mysterious practices related to communion with the Earth.

The work features black marble boulders that produce patterns of electronic sound and light from energy generated by solar panels. Each of the eight stones in the circle is carved to integrate LEDs and speakers. The ninth stone, the “mother” stone, sits outside the circle. The mother stone’s solar panels charge a bank of batteries that will power a sound and light score that we will activate with each full moon. The stone circle is the second movement from Mirza’s Solar Symphonies series of artworks.

Ballroom Marfa is working with the artist to develop a calendar of dance, music, and performance events where artists will engage with and interpret the sculpture. This includes reprogramming the stones with a series of commissioned full moon compositions that will change the sculpture’s sonic presence over time. Additionally, Ballroom is developing a broad slate of supplementary programs, using education and multidisciplinary collaboration to expand on the stone circle’s ability to spark conversation and contemplation.

The stone circle’s impact also extends to our local community through initiatives with project partners Freedom Solar, the largest solar energy provider in Texas. Ballroom Marfa and Freedom Solar are hosting community forums on solar power, planning a hands-on solar education workshop at Marfa Independent School District, and creating opportunities for Far West Texas residents and business owners to switch to solar power. Freedom Solar has made a commitment to donate a solar power system to the City of Marfa’s Volunteer Fire Department in 2018.

Haroon Mirza was born in London in 1977 where he lives and works. He has a BA in Painting from Winchester School of Art, an MA in Design Critical Practice and Theory from Goldsmiths College (2006) and an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art and Design (2007).

Jack of All Trades, etching, Chessney Sevier

ALPINE – The Best of the West will be housed under one roof as the Museum of the Big Bend celebrates the 32nd annual Trappings of Texas today through Saturday in Alpine.

“Join us as we celebrate 32 years of bringing together custom cowboy gear and western art in Alpine,” said Mary Bones, Museum of the Big Bend interim director. “Trappings’ opening weekend showcases the creations of the finest artists and gearmakers both locally and from around the world, accompanied by outstanding dining and beautiful music.”

All proceeds benefit the artists, Trappings of Texas and the Museum of the Big Bend on the Sul Ross State University campus.

The Trappings exhibit will be on display in the Museum gallery through May 27.

Events include:

Today: Preview Party at the Museum from 5-7 p.m., followed by the After-Preview Party sponsored by the Century Bar and Grill from 6-8 p.m. Live music performed by Hogan & Moss. Tickets are $50 per person.

Friday: Meet the Artists luncheon at Come & Take It BBQ, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., with live music performed by Bake Turner. Tickets are $35 per person. That evening, back to the Museum of the Big Bend for the Grand Opening Exhibit, Sale and Reception from 6-9 p.m. Works in the show may be purchased. Heavy appetizers will be served, along with Big Bend Brewing Company beer and wine, underwritten by Robie Golden and Sam Saenz. Tickets are $50 per person. The evening is not over! Ole Crystal is hosting New Mexico trio, hONEyhoUSe, sponsored by Vaughn & Tex Gross and Capital Street Commerce LLC. No cover charge and open to the public.

Saturday: Big Bend Saddlery will host a chuck wagon breakfast starting at 8 a.m., Free, but reservations are required. Then, Trappings of Texas opens to the public at 9 a.m. at no charge. Spradley Hats will host a calf fry lunch, noon-1:30 p.m., or “until we run out, whichever comes first.”

The grand finale, Saturday night’s fourth annual Ranch Round Up party, sponsored by the Trappings of Texas Premier Sponsors Bonnie and John Korbell at the 101 Ranch is SOLD OUT, Bones said.

The event includes live music by Craig Carter and catered by the Gage Hotel. The event also includes a silent auction and is underwritten by Gage Hotel, Kay and Don Green, Murphy Street Mercado, Poco Reata Properties, LLC and Texas Disposal Systems.

For more information, visit www.museumofthebigbend.com or call (432) 837-8143.

MIDLAND – Watercolors and paintings by Carol H. Fairlie, Sul Ross State University professor of Art, will be on display through June 30 at the Sibley Nature Center, 1307 E. Wadley Ave., Midland. The Sibley Nature Center is open 9am-6pm Monday-Friday and 9am-4pm Saturdays.

Fairlie has had numerous solo exhibitions and exhibits her work in many national juried shows. She holds Signature status in the Watercolor Honor Society and Elite Signature status in the Watercolor Society of Houston. Currently, she serves on the board of directors of the Texas Association of Schools of Art and is a past president.

In 2008, she received the Outstanding Teaching Award from Sul Ross and in 2003, the Honored Alumni Award from the University of North Texas, School of Visual Arts.

For more information on the exhibition, contact the Sibley Nature Center, (432) 837-6827.

FORT DAVIS – The Friends of the Jeff Davis County Library is pleased to host a book signing featuring local writer Lonn Taylor who will speak about his newest publication, Marfa for the Perplexed.

On Tuesday, April 17 at 6pm there will be a reception with light refreshments to welcome the author followed by a discussion of his work at 6:30pm.

The book is a compilation of historical essays that are factual, entertaining, and witty in Lonn’s unique style. Published by Marfa Book Company, this book shows a classic Marfa street scene cover design and illustrations by Alpine artist Avram Dumitrescu who will also be present for the event.  Books will be available for purchase at the event and signing.

Everyone is invited to attend this free program sponsored by the Friends of the Library in Fort Davis and all proceeds from the sale of the books will go to the Nancy Robinson and Bryan Woolley Memorial Scholarship Funds.