Name: Umbrage Editions
Website: www.umbragebooks.com or www.umbragegallery.com
Hometown: New York, NY
Artistic Discipline: Literature & Multimedia
Fractured Atlas Member Since: November 2005
Fractured Atlas Services Used: Fiscal Sponsorship, Health Insurance, Marketing & Promotion

Today, we’re featuring Umbrage Editions, a Fractured Atlas organizational member led by Nan Richardson. Umbrage Editions is a New York-based multimedia organization specializing in visual books and exhibitions, web expressions, plays, and documentary films, often with a social and political edge. They run an art space, Umbrage Gallery, in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn and also a non-governmental organization on human rights, Speak Truth to Power.

We asked Umbrage Editions a few questions about their company and its work….

What/who are your biggest influences?
“We draw inspiration from so many sources and remarkable people and artists. It is impossible to single out one — each of our authors has galvanized us!”

What have been your greatest successes to date?
“If one measures success by people affected, Speak Truth to Power — which has grown from a book translated into seven languages, to four exhibitions on four continents, to a play performed before heads of state and world leaders in nine countries, to an educational curriculum distributed to tens of thousands via five languages in Europe, the U.S., Asia, and South Africa — is certainly a flag we are proud to fly! But, Pandemic: Facing AIDS [resulted in] an Emmy Award-winning HBO film, PSAs, a book, a music CD, theatre exhibits, and one million copies of curriculum… Journal, a breast cancer project with Annabel Clark and Lynn Redgrave has been very successful as well.”

Finish this sentence: The artist’s role in society is….
“…. to ignite.”

How can we see, experience, or learn more about your work?
You can visit either of Umbrage Editions’ two websites, as listed above. The images in this blog are representative works from their gallery.

“I see technology as a tool that can be integrated seamlessly with the human mind,” says Fractured Atlas member Treva Wurmfeld, a filmmaker, sculptor, and performance artist who was featured at the 2006 benefit. Her work explores the relationship between biology and technology and how human beings are adapting to a world in the midst of rapid change.

“As humans become more dependent on computers, it is important to explore the possibilities of the brain unmediated by technology,” says Treva of her work. “I spend a lot of time on sail boats where people are turning to electronic equipment for navigation, rather than using the natural elements.”

“Like being on a boat at sea, however, technology tends to isolate humans,” she continues. “It would seem as we grow more dependent on technological devices that mimic our own functions we grow lazier and less in touch with our own bio-feedback.”

Treva’s most recent project is the documentary Destination Therapy, in which she follows Dr. Howard “Bud” Frazier of the Texas Heart Institute as he designs and implements the next generation of Total Artificial Hearts. “It will completely replace the human heart and take over the functions of both ventricles,” she explains. “Patients on this device would not have a pulse. Rather, they would have blood flowing continuously through their circulatory system.”

The subject of the film mirrors the themes found in Treva’s other work. “The artificial heart is the scientific pursuit of mimicking anatomical function. It represents the anthropomorphizing of technology and how it integrates into natural systems.”

Treva is influenced by other artists who explore this issue. “I draw a lot of inspiration from Mary Shelley,” she says. “Shelley supposedly wrote Frankenstein in a waking dream state between consciousness and unconsciousness. The oscillation between reality and fantasy – a blurry space between night and day – is what truly inspires me as both an author and spectator.”

For more information on Destination Therapy visit www.destinationtherapy.org.

Several years ago, Fractured Atlas member Joshua Frankel was touring Northern Ireland. One of the stops on the tour was an attraction called the Peace Wall. “I expected some sort of wall covered in murals commemorating the peace process,” says Joshua. “In fact, the ‘Peace Wall’ is a twenty-five foot high wall topped with barbed wire that separates Protestant neighborhoods from Catholic neighborhoods. With no opportunity to meet each other, impressionable children believe hateful tales about their counterparts on the other side and lifelong prejudice takes root.”

Joshua’s experience inspired him to develop the video installation Looking Glasses as a way to counteract this phenomenon. Looking Glasses will consist of two identical installations, each containing a camera and a display. A base installation will remain in New York’s financial district, while a satellite installation travels around the world, connecting the neighborhood to physically and psychologically distant locations.

“The lives of average Americans are affected more than ever by the lives of those around the world, and vice-versa” explains Joshua. “But, with few exceptions, they never have a chance to stand face to face. The installation will allow viewers to look each other in the eye. There will be no audio link, making communication across the installation a kind of game. The geographically distant viewers will share an obstacle, and in doing so they will encounter their common humanity.”

Joshua’s project has attracted the attention of State Senator Tom Duane, who is helping Joshua navigate the logistical challenges related to permits and utilities.

“We are currently raising capital for the project. I’ve been utilizing Fractured Atlas’ programs to help with fundraising. Every step of the way has been very smooth, clear and precise.”

In the 1950’s, the writer Norman Corwin asked a little girl which she liked better, TV or radio. The little girl said she preferred radio “because the pictures are better.”

That girl has a kindred spirit in Fractured Atlas member Lance Roger Axt, the artistic director of Play it by Ear Productions. Play it by Ear is an audio theatre company devoted to the development and distribution of original plays for radio, the internet and compact disc.

Lance became interested in audio theatre when he was just a boy. “There was a station in San Francisco that played old radio shows,” he recalls. “I loved listening to these shows and the worlds they opened up for me.”

His childhood nostalgia and a desire to create his own work led Lance to explore audio theatre. He soon discovered a passion for the form that led him to found Play it by Ear and devote his time to producing original works.

“I’ll say it until the cows come home, audio theatre is the most challenging and creative form of theatre there is,” says Lance. “Unlike live theatre, the audience member is no longer an observer, but an active participant. They decide how the protagonist looks, what color the sky is, the size of the spaceship; audio is only limited by the power of the imagination.”

But audio theatre comes with its own unique set of challenges. “[It] is a laborious process: every minute that the listener hears equals a minimum of one hour of studio production time including voice-over sessions, a first edit, putting in the pre-recorded sound effects, live effects, music, and a final edit. Then it’s a matter of finding the outlet through which you want to distribute it.”

Fortunately, distribution in the digital age favors the self-produced. “There are more opportunities than ever. In addition to the radio stations that have aired the plays, they are available for MP3 download through SpokenNetwork.com, and they will be available for podcasts in the near future.”

For more information about Play It By Ear Productions, visit www.playitbyearproductions.org.