OTHER PEOPLE'S INK
OTHER PEOPLE’S INK ran “urban field trips” from 2018-2020 and inspired in part our current “Psychogeographies projects”
2018 - 2020
Rorschach Theatre’s aesthetic is a unique blend of dark magic, bold use of space and a signature fierce performance style. What other artists, in other mediums speak to this aesthetic?
The Rorschach team organized monthly events where our artists and audience come together to explore art galleries, cinema, author events and other adventures that feature work with a Rorschach flavor: Other People’s Ink.
So what is this thing?
Rorschach Theatre’s aesthetic is a unique blend of dark magic, bold use of space and a signature fierce performance style. What other artists, in other mediums speak to this aesthetic? The Rorschach Team organized monthly events where our artists and audience can come together to explore art galleries, cinema, author events and other adventures that feature work with a Rorschach flavor.
Do I have to pay to be a part of this?
Nope. There’s no membership fee or sign-up. Some events we select will be free, others may involve purchasing at ticket or entrance fee. You’re responsible for purchasing your own tickets from the movie theater, museum etc, but that’s it!
Are you going to ask me for money or a donation when I get there?
Nope. We’ll never say no to your donation if you wish to make one, but there’s not going to be any contribution forms, meaningful speeches or passing of the hat at these things. It’s really just a chance to hang out and do some fun things with other cool people.
Can I bring friends or family?
Yes! Bring whoever you like. We’ll let you if there’s ever an attendance cap on an event, but generally everybody’s welcome anytime. [note: Like most Rorschach shows, some events will be kid-friendly, some not-so-much. Ask us if you want some insight on any particular event.]
Who from Rorschach is going to be there and how will I find them?
The attendees will change from month to month probably, but you’ll usually find Artistic Directors Randy Baker and Jenny McConnell Frederick as well as Associate Producer Jonelle Walker and any number of other Rorschach friends and company members. At least a few of us will be wearing the Rorschach inkblot buttons. Come up and say hi. We’ll hook you guys up with an inkblot button too if you want one.
So what do I get out of this?
Well, probably a button for starters, beyond that you might make some new friends and at the very least you’ll see something cool you might not have thought to check out otherwise.
What if I don't like the movie/music/art I see in this program?
Better luck next time! We’ll do our best to come up with things we think are related to Rorschach’s aesthetic, but we’ll be experiencing many of these things ourselves for the first time too, so who knows. Rorschach bares no responsibility for accidentally inviting you to something that turns out to suck.
I'm looking for a soulmate. Will I find them here?
While this is in no way the agenda of this program, Rorschach does have a very successful and largely unheralded track record for unintentional matchmaking in both our audiences and our artists. So anything’s possible!
SAMPLE EVENTS
PARALLEL UNIVERSE @ ARTECHAUS
Monday, February 19th at 730pm
An immersive Visual Arts experience at ARTECHOUSE
1238 Maryland Ave SW, Washington DC 20024
Join us at 730pm for an After Hours (21+) visit to the latest exhibit at ARTECHOUSE, including immersion in the 3D motion-mapped light installations and “Augmented Reality Cocktails” activated by the ARTECHOUSE app (available on Google Play and iTunes).
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT
Visually and aurally mesmerizing, Parallel Universe is the first solo retrospective exhibit for an internationally acclaimed Turkish art studio Ouchhh. Comprised of four installations, three world traveled and one created in collaboration with ARTECHOUSE specially for this show, it is a hypnotic and immersive experience unlike anything. The exhibition blurs the boundaries between visual, acoustic and tactile experiences, encouraging a multi-sensory approach to art appreciation.
THE ART OF BURNING MAN
No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man
Renwick Gallery
(Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street NW)
June 23 at 11am
.. Each year in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, a city of more than 75,000 people rises out of the dust for a single week …
That’s not the opening stage direction for our next show; it’s a description of the annual Burning Man Festival! Join us this month for a stroll through the No Spectators exhibit at the Renwick, displaying the installations of Burning Man. Additionally – in an especially Rorschach twist – the exhibit expands outside the walls of the gallery and throughout the Golden Triangle neighborhood. We’ll begin on a walking tour of the outdoor installations and then move inside for more art (and A/C).
FORT RENO SUMMER CONCERT SERIES
With Small Dad, Cave Baby, and The NRIs
July 23 from 7-9:30pm
Fugazi … Q and Not U … Ted Leo & the Pharmacists … Over the past 50 years, some of the most legendary bands in DC history have played the Fort Reno Summer Concert Series. Join Rorschach for a concert of future DC legends: Small Dad, Cave Baby and The NRIs. We’re especially excited by the Rorschach flavor of the NRIs’ latest Herman Hesse-inspired album, An Echo for Each of Us. Local DC artists, a totally unique space, and literary references? It doesn’t get more Rorschach than this.
ESME PATTERSON @ SONGBYRD
Songbyrd Music House and Record Café
2477 18th St NW Washington, DC 20009
Past the sun’s great western gate,
Past the land of dreams
Where the heroes and the noble hearts
Rest their feet beneath the poplar trees
– “Elysium,” Esme Patterson
In Sing To Me Now, Callie looks on in frustration as humanity struggles to create in a world that seems to be falling apart. We think she would be pleased by singer-songwriter Esmé Patterson, whose ethereal voice and cheeky lyrics are like bottled sunshine floating down the river of dreams. Join us as we see her live in concert at the Songbyrd Music House and Record Café in Adams Morgan, a restaurant/coffee shop/record store/music venue with a whimsical attitude that sings out “Rorschach Theatre.”
“Esmé Patterson is one of several young women — others include Frances Quinlan of Hop Along, Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield, and Julien Baker — making music that could be called synapse-rock…The reconnaissance missions into desire and reconciliation that fill [We Were Wild] show Patterson examining the minutiae of her own responses; her melodies jump and scatter, her voice pulling at the meanings her verses put forth, as she hones in on those moments when the heart falls apart and reassembles itself.” – npr.org
PECHAKUCHA: THE EDGE OF REALITY
1 Veterans Plaza, Silver Spring MD 20910
“There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.”
– Douglas H. Everett
How do you view reality? What is reality? PechaKucha Nights are informal and fun gatherings where creative people get together and share their ideas in the PechaKucha 20×20 format. This simple presentation format pioneered by Tokyo architects in 2003 features a slate of speakers who each show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. The images advance automatically and they talk along to the images. February’s event will be on the subject of “Reality” – a delightful accompaniment to mysterious world of REYKJAVIK)
For more about the phenomenon of PechaKucha, visit their FAQ page here.
RORSCHACH GOES TO THE PLANETARIUM
Curious about your place in the universe? Want to get a closer look at the stars? Suspicious that the girl with great hair in your grade might actually be an intergalactic super computer and you need answers? Then have we got the Other People’s Ink for you!
Join Rorschach as we celebrate the Vernal Equinox (aka the first day of spring) at the Montgomery College Planetarium on Wednesday, March 20th at 7pm.
Science North (SN)
7600 Takoma Avenue
Takoma Park MD 20912
THE RORSCHACH BOOK CLUB:
FUN HOME By Alison Bechdel
Wednesday, November 6, 2019 6-8PM at Solid State Books
Join Rorschach Theatre as we discuss Allison Bechdel’s darkly funny family tale FUN HOME.
In this graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father. Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the Fun Home. It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve.
The selection of FUN HOME was inspired by SHE KILLS MONSTERS’s themes of grief after loss, sexual identity, and coming to terms with reality through fiction.
A NEW COAST
A conversation with environmental writer Jeffrey Peterson
Sunday, February 23 @ 5pm (after THE TOXIC AVENGER matinee)
The Silver Spring Black Box
In Rorschach Theatre’s smash-hit THE TOXIC AVENGER, our hero sets out to clean up the environment and make the world a better place. However, details on what exactly that means are pretty scant. Interested in learning more about the environment than a musical based on an 80’s B-movie can teach you?
Following the 3PM matinee for THE TOXIC AVENGER, join us for a conversation with coastal resiliency expert Jeff Peterson as he talks about his recently published book A New Coast: Strategies for Responding to Devastating Storms and Rising Seas (Island Press, 2019). Drawing on four decades of experience at the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Senate, Jeff will talk about the science behind predictions for coastal impacts, where policies fall short today, and what can be done to prepare us for the future.
