Gallery Hours
24/7
Reception: September 17th, 5–7pm
The War Dept. was adapted from a music theater piece by Jim Bauer and Ruth Bauer that was commissioned by the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, as part of a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of American Civil War. The War Dept. (music and lyrics by Jim Bauer, script by Jim Bauer and Ruth Bauer) had a workshop performance at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in 2014. Blyth Hazen and Ruth Bauer collaborated on this adaptation, transforming some of the elements of The War Dept. into a stop action video using puppets and a miniature set.
Blyth Hazen makes things that move. Sometimes they are animations that appear to move on their own. Other times they need more assistance like a puppet, robot, or an automaton. She is a professor at Montserrat College of Art where she encourages her students to gesticulate and move around as much as possible. Examples of her sculptural, robotic and programmed animations can be seen at www.blythhazen.com.
Ruth Bauer loves to combine images with narrative in lots of different media, and now in a new fascination, with puppets and stop action video. She is the co-creator, with her husband composer Jim Bauer, of the theater productions The Blue Flower and The War Dept. Ruth believes as strongly in nurturing young artists as in making art, and is a faculty member and Chair of the Arts Department at Shore Country Day School in Beverly, Massachusetts. More information about her various projects can be found at www. ruthbauer.com
The War Dept. from Blyth Hazen on Vimeo.