'8 Step Revival' tonight in Bloomington

If you’re looking for the eight secrets to happiness, come to the SoFA Gallery

By Ryan Piurek

Call it what you will, performance art or audience participation, IU’s Stuart Hyatt has set the stage with a little bit of everything, including what may be one of the Midwest’s largest spittoons.

Hyatt, a native of Indianapolis who is studying sculpture in IU’s Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts in Bloomington, has done just about everything possible to prepare for what he’s calling The 8 Step Revival, an arts extravaganza featuring live music, dancing, athletic demonstrations and viewer participation that has been on display at the IU School of Fine Arts (SoFA) Gallery this week and will culminate tonight (Jan. 17) with a gala. SoFA doors open at 7 p.m., with the free performance at 8 p.m. and a reception afterward.

“My goal is to do something no one has ever done before,” Hyatt said. “For me, there’s nothing more exciting than having hundreds of people climbing all over your art instead of just viewing it in a gallery.”

The event has been a massive undertaking for Hyatt, and he hasn’t done it alone. Nearly 100 volunteers, primarily IU students, have helped transform the gallery into a 3,000-square-foot performance space, complete with Astroturf, stadium-style bleachers, large movable structures, a digging pit with 4,000 pounds of black dirt, special-effects lighting and sound, video monitors, an electric car and what may be one of the Midwest’s largest spittoons.

The 8 Step Revival is meant to bridge the gap between serious artist and audience, to generate excitement about the possibilities of contemporary visual art, and to serve as a metaphor for contemporary culture, he explained.

The eight steps, which are intended to lead the viewer to the secrets of happiness, are represented by objects—a block, ball, rake, basket, pole, cup, rope and “goo.” Each object, Hyatt said, symbolizes a part of life. For example, the rope represents connections with others as well as a need for possessions. The “goo” symbolizes evolution and adaptability; the rake, a thirst for discovery. Viewers play catch, climb blocks, dig for treasures, spit into a “cup of life” and ride around in an electric car.

“The best art provides someone with something that they didn’t know they needed, that touches them in a way they may not be able to verbalize,” Hyatt said.

He is grateful for the support of the SoFA Gallery, which, he said, has trusted him ever since he presented a proposal for the event more than a year ago.

“Stuart is immensely talented in so many ways, and when he came to us with this proposal, we had to go for it,” said Betsy Stirratt, director of the SoFA Gallery. “I knew that The 8 Step Revival was going to be unique, and as construction has proceeded on the dirt pit and the Astroturf is rolled out, I can see that I am right. It’s exciting to see the gallery transformed so completely.”

Making the gallery’s decision easier was Hyatt’s impressive track record of pulling off similarly challenging projects. A 1997 graduate of Eckerd College, he was one of four principal designers of the COSI Columbus Project, a $125 million interactive science and technology museum that now graces the riverfront in Columbus, Ohio.

Shortly after arriving at IU to pursue a master of fine arts degree in sculpture, he teamed up with a classmate to open the Fuller Projects, a 700-square-foot alternative arts exhibition space located in a building that once housed McCalla Elementary School; it provides student artists and community members a place to showcase their creative works.

Last winter, he found himself in a much hairier project.

His “Mustaches for Kids” charity event, in which about 20 Bloomington males grew and maintained mustaches in exchange for pledge money, raised $6,000 for the Indiana Children’s Wish Fund. He also designed and sold T-shirts, buttons and posters for the charity event.

Hyatt said he’s willing to do what it takes to attract people to his exhibits, whether it’s growing a mustache, shoveling dirt or laying down Astroturf. To reach his goal of 1,000 viewers, he has contacted most area schoolteachers and urged them to bring their students. He has recorded an album of original songs named after each of the eight steps and is planning the release of a DVD. He also has enlisted the support of several IU singers, dancers, musicians, athletes and martial arts experts who have showcased their talents during the extravaganza.

Hyatt wants to take The 8 Step Revival on the road when his academic career is over, and he hopes viewers will take the next step and continue to interact with the arts.

“You have to understand that you’re asking a lot of someone to come out on a Friday night when they could be spending it with their family,” he said. “They’re trusting you to deliver for them. The artist needs to step up and deliver.”
http://www.8steprevival.com