Voting for ArtPrize was supposed to end today. But the website has been down on and off throughout the day. So voting to narrow down the “top ten” continues until tomorrow at 4p.m.
There are a lot more ‘sound’ and ‘performance’ art in ArtPrize this year. I highlight ‘sound’ last week, so over the weekend I caught River City Improv’s performance called “Congratulations”.
The set-up
"It's going to be a positive, improvised event to celebrate the good things in people's lives," said Rick Treur '93, who co-founded River City Improv. The cheer-ers will form two lines on the Blue Bridge facing each other with an aisle in between. Whoever wants to be cheered will run down between the lines of cheering people, holding up a sign explaining why they're running. People can participate in the event by either cheering or being cheered for. Treur is hoping this event will showcase the good things happening among the people of West Michigan: "Lately, I feel like in some ways the world is going to explode: earthquakes, tsunamis, the economy, people losing their jobs. We need to take time to remember the positive things that are happening all around us."
The Blue Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that’s been used for an ArtPrize venue every year. The artists that snag that venue are lucky; there must be thousands of people that walk across that bridge on a Saturday during ArtPrize.
Here’s my take. I’m no professional, but I did have a lot of fun.
