2021 MICROCOSMOS PROJECT

MICROCOSMS PROJECT
2020 - 2021

Microcosms was a project that we began in 2020 that led to a bicycle-tour to an artist residency in 2021.

While this project was extremely fruitful in refining our company's membership, values and creative process, ultimately the COVID-19 pandemic made touring our work impossible.

From July 2020 -May 2021, we met twice a month on zoom to share creative offerings. Staring with the prompt, "What have you been thinking about?" our work touched on many topics and themes, before circling in on world right outside and underneath our feet.

A compilation of our "zoom" work

COLLABORATORS

Miguel Alejandro Castillo

Sam Cordes

Selena Feliciano

Jaren Feeley

Kean Haunt

Kendrick Haunt

Jenny Hipscher

Lexy Ho-Tai

Cameron Nielson

John Paul Olsen

Jackie Rivera

Rose Schwietz

Dara Silverman

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In June 2021, twelve Rascals from all over the United States and beyond, made their way to Great Barrington, MA. Some of us were old friends, while others had never met in real life before.

After getting our bicycles set up, swapping stories and bungee cords, and debating the exact right number of socks to bring, we took off for a week long bike ride up to Stockbridge, VT.

For three weeks we created in near isolation at The Sable Project, an off the grid farm and Artist's Residency.

Our residency culminated in a small sharing of our work-in-progress, at Sable's Food and Art Friday event.

After, we got back on our bicycles and

made our way back down to Great Barrington

once again.

The play that began emerging moved the spotlight from the human world and zoomed in on the natural world and the structures that coexist alongside our fragile and breaking systems. Incorporating puppetry, masks, movement and music, we aimed to understand what could be learned from exploring the vast microcosms around us.

In addition, this project was an opportunity to revisit and revise the ways that we bicycle tour, share space and care for one another. On the road, it's imperative that everyone is safe—their equipment well-maintained, their load manageable, and their bodies well-rested. As collaborators who share close quarters for weeks at a time, it's so important that we divide up the labor, create a clear division between work and leisure time, and respect each other's personal boundaries. And as a company, we are constantly examining the ways we create our community culture— how to create trust and intimacy, give and receive feedback, and discuss issues of privilege and equity through a spectrum of lenses.