A Film by Esteban del Valle
Island Presents: “The revolt that gives life its value”
A film by Esteban del Valle, Hill House Writer-in-Residence
Monday August 23 at 8 p.m.
Jordan River Arts Council, East Jordan
ISLAND (Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design) began the Hill House artist residency program in May 2010, providing dedicated time and space for talented emerging songwriters and writers at any stage in their career. Esteban del Valle is the eighth resident at the Hill House.
About Esteban: Esteban del Valle was born and raised in Chicago, IL. He completed his BFA at Southern Illinois University where he received a 2007 REACH Creativity Award, and became a McNair Scholar. He completed his MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2009, where he received a Presidential Scholarship and the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship. Esteban has produced murals throughout various parts of the USA and has also been a part of various exhibitions including the 2009 New Insight exhibition at Art Chicago, Geography of Imagination curated by Phong Bui in New York City, and the East/West 2009: Emerging Artist Exchange at the CoCA in Seattle. He recently completed a yearlong residency at the Hub-Bub Artist in Residence Program in Spartanburg, SC, where he performed in and produced a short silent film, which he wrote and directed. Esteban will be an artist in residence at Djerassi in September 2010.
About the Film: The Preemptive Collapse of an Arduous Revolt Against Lunar Aspirations or "That revolt gives life its value."
In an attempt to critically reflect on his role as an artist in the fight for justice and equality, Esteban has begun incorporating the artist as actor within the context of his work. In his recent silent film project, he immersed himself in the role of both creator and character. With a focus on the legacy of leadership, the piece follows the rise and fall of one man’s attempt to start a revolution against the moon. As an academic with lofty understandings of struggle, the main character is unable to formulate an original thought and appropriates the words of previous scholars and activists. In direct reference to the career of Charlie Chaplin and the various motifs of his work during the Great Depression, this piece attempts to take a comical approach to evaluating the role of the political artist in the pursuit of social change. The film utilizes Chaplinesque silent movie conventions to point out the historical similarities between current and past political and economic events. Influenced by Augusto Boal’s book, Theatre of the Oppressed, Esteban aimed to explore art not as a stage for the revolutionary action in and of itself, but rather a space for the rehearsal of revolutionary thoughts.
For more information call 231-480-4515 or email elly@ARTmeetsEARTH.org.
