Author Archive
The troupe
Two heads are better than one. But the eleven heads of Twinhead Theatre really know best. Eli Banks, James Yates, Laura Krueger, Diana Brown, Molly Kristyn, Cherry DelRosario, Bobby Andrews, Stephanie Rucker, Krista Carothers, Rob Bullard and Ben Bowlin are into something good.
This renegade crew got their start in 2003 at Georgia State in an effort to create a home to experimental and avant-garde theatre. Not too soon after, Georgia State dropped the Bachelor’s of Theatre Arts degree, which widened the thespian creative gap. Thankfully, the Georgia State student founders had already ensured an outlet for the theatre community.
In talking with the Twinhead troupe members, they agreed that theatre is an art form that is underappreciated especially for their generational counterparts. “Most of my friends have never been to a theatre performance other than a Twinhead show,” one troupe member remarked. The troupe focuses on bringing the theatre art form to audiences who may not have had prior exposure or even interest in theatre performance. Keep the stage alive, Twinhead!
The process
They’re not only actors, but also the members of Twinhead Theatre write more than 80% of their productions. Oftentimes, Twinhead’s creative process stems from a film that a troupe member envisions as a stage production. Each member has an opportunity to take the lead on a production and collaborate with others. Twinhead has experimented with shows that exhibit video as well as live stage performances.
Past shows have included creative stage productions written by Twinhead playwrights as well as humorous adaptations of classics, like inserting zombies in Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard or manipulating the effects of illicit substances in Shakespeare’s soliloquies. Twinhead recently released a full-length film, Loaded Guns: The Movie, on DVD and even hosted a cake site in which audience members concurrently sat upon cakes. The troupe is currently working on a web series in hopes of reaching a wider audience.
The community
Twinhead admits to being on the fringe of the mainstream Atlanta theatre scene, which makes them perfect candidates to advocate to bring the famed Fringe Festival to Atlanta. The Fringe Festival began in 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland
as a showcase for independent, original, and otherwise unrepresented theater companies, amateurs, and professionals. Since then the Fringe Festival has grown immensely and is hosted in cities around the globe such as Prague and Minneapolis. The New York City Fringe Festival is the largest multi-arts festival in North America. Twinhead Theater has been working with other local theatres to add Atlanta to the list of international hosts of the Fringe Festival.
Between writing and performing, launching a new web series and bringing the Fringe Festival to Atlanta, Twinhead Theatre certainly has their work cut out for them. But given the abounding energy of this group, I think that is just the way they like it.
Check out Twinhead Theatre online at: www.twinheadtheatre.org. Better yet, see Twinhead in action during the Drive-By Theatre Festival on July 17 at 7 Stages theatre.
Photo Credit: Laura Polmear
You may have seen it gracing Atlanta’s warehouse facades, stuck to flagpoles and auto bumpers, stenciled on a wooden block in someone’s palm — the angular, robotic face, the trademark of Atlanta urban artist Evereman.
Recently, I had an opportunity to sit down with Evereman and talk about his art form and other artistic transactions.
Unlike the stark face of his signature alias, Evereman’s expression was soft and open as he explained why his art is important both to him and the community. Listening to Evereman describe the history and trajectory of his art evokes a refreshing simplicity. As Evereman’s biographical sketch on streetela.com describes:
Born In NC. Wrote Poetry. Moved to Atlanta to seek FAME and Fortune. Cut stencils of poems and spray-painted them on the streets. Began Billboard manipulations and street installations. Self published book of poetry. Opened Atlanta’s first “roll em in front of you” Burrito joint, which became a gathering place for Artists and Musicians. Married. Became a father. Began making furniture. Pinned a drawing (which had been used as a pattern to carve the face of a small sculpture) on shop wall. After studying the drawing several months, realized it would make a nice stencil. Began cutting stencils, painting EVEREMAN and placing it around Atlanta. [sic]
Evereman designs items such as wooden blocks or magnets with his signature robot face stencil and distributes them around Atlanta. Each item is imprinted with the date and “4U” denoting that his art is for public consumption beyond traditional visual consumption. Evereman states, “I am able to have these communications and contact with people, randomly somehow, and for the most part have a positive effect.”
The walls of Evereman’s home are adorned with other local artists’ work, and his custom crafted furniture is proudly displayed. In his studio we looked at the original drawing for the robot face that is the most recognizable Evereman image. It still hangs from the shop wall as an homage to the Evereman impetus.
We see the small scale furniture models that he developed to launch a DIY furniture building kit. Each kit would come with raw materials and instructions for building the piece yourself. Evereman describes a certain ownership that prides a furniture crafter. His furniture kits would allow others to build a quality functional item.
We see his newest creation, the “crackhead.” This prototype is similar to the wooden block with the robot face but with a crack slicing through the 3D object. These crack derive from the wood’s close proximity to the pith, or core of what was once a tree. When other wood carvers and crafters see waste material, Evereman breathes life into these discarded scraps.
But before the name Evereman, the robot face and all the crafted chairs and tables, it seems there was an exact moment of epiphany — a would-be artist’s aha moment. This minute in time would be when Evereman looked at the now iconic 1946 Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair and saw art. That chair was designed after the bended plywood medical casts of World War II. For Evereman it meant that function can be an aesthetic art. Skip ahead many years, and now we are at the cusp of Evereman art as a geospatial commodity.
“I think about what I do as art for all, in terms of doing this artwork and placing it in the environment. It’s street art. That’s where art for all exists. These pieces… nearly 100% are in place with magnets or gravity, they are there to be taken,” says Evereman describing how his art is becoming a social experiment.
However, Evereman’s art is not the only form to interact directly with the public. Catlanta, another Atlanta art movement, encourages people to take and trade colored cardboard cats from various Catlanta boxes around the city.
“The point is about giving as opposed to taking. It’s very much in the sense of cooperating as opposed to competing. It just seems like fun,” says Evereman about his art. And Atlanta thinks so too.
See Evereman art in action at Streetela’s exhibition and launch party on April 9, 2011 from 8-11:30 p.m. at 900 Dekalb Ave.
Until then, whet your appetite here: www.evereman.com
Photo Credit: Tim Song
The grace of coffee has resurfaced, Atlanta. The countess of fine beans, Condesa Coffee, has arrived just in time to soothe gourmet winter throats. Now open for business, Condesa’s corner façade on the corner of Boulevard and John Wesley Dobbs exudes superior quality un-snobbery. With the close of Danneman’s Coffee in the Old Fourth Ward, Condesa Coffee may not only be a rising hot spot but the coffee revolution that its crowned young insurgent on the marketing materials suggests.
Condesa derives its name from the Colonia Condesa neighborhood in Mexico City, a bohemian area long know to welcome artists, intellectuals, and fine dining to its wide tree-lined streets. The spirit of this vibrant neighborhood is brought to life amid the brushed steel and earth toned interior. A café and espresso bar, Condesa’s menu is packed with European and Latin delights. The bocatas, a Spanish style sandwich, are inspiring and filled with excellent flavor combinations such as chorizo, manchego cheese, and roasted piquillo peppers. Rounding out the menu are soups, salads, fritattas, and unique European desserts. Coconut bread, anyone?! The sophisticated gourmet’s dream menu is here.
The brainchild of Deke Phillips, Condesa Coffee was conceived out of necessity. The business plan was a cure-all for both the lack of unpretentious gourmet coffee in Atlanta and Phillips’ restlessness to dive into entrepreneurship. Relying on his extensive travels throughout Europe and South America as well as his extensive knowledge of Latin history, Phillips has created the best of faraway places on an Atlanta street corner. A longtime Old Fourth Ward resident himself, Phillips hopes to contribute a unique flavor to the neighborhood. Sipping my hot coffee while watching the sun rise over the downtown skyline, I think Condesa Coffee may be into something good.
Viva la Condesa.
Condesa Coffee is located on the corner of Boulevard and Freedom Parkway at the bottom of the Tribute Lofts complex.
480 John Wesley Dobbs Ave. NE
Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30312
Savor a hot aromatic coffee and a palette-pleaser Monday through Thursday 7 a.m.- 9 p.m., Friday 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m.-10 p.m., and Sunday 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
Photo Credit: Laura Polmear
I hear the rumble. Glancing down at my watch, it’s nearly noon on a Friday afternoon. A large blue truck drives past and I remain uncertain as to the source of the echoing noise. An imminent scream from my stomach or the motor of the colorful elusive truck? I am not the only person who ponders this question as I am quickly joined by two police officers, Georgia Tech students, and corporate executives. This sidewalk corner of Tech Square is the location of choice to divulge our anticipatory appetites. The truck parks and props open its side panels. It’s 12:10 p.m. and Yumbii is open for business.
Korean BBQ Tacos hog the limelight of Yumbii’s menu and at $2 they are affordable flavors. Burritos, Quesdillas, and Pulled Pork Sliders round out the menu heralded from the kitchen of Tomas Lee of Hankook Taqueria, a West Midtown establishment. Grounded no longer, Lee’s fusion flavors have collided with social media. Enter, Yumbii, Atlanta’s first gourmet mobile food truck.
The brains behind the food truck frenzy? Meet Carson Young. A dynamic young entrepreneur, Young is no stranger to the trying life of a pioneer. The first deaf graduate of Woodward Academy in Atlanta, Young went on to study business at the University of Mississippi. With a heightened perception for observing the world around him, Young keenly tracks the trends of social media. A passion for food and self-taught culinary skills round out Young’s expertise.
The idea for Yumbii came to Young when he accompanied his mother on a business trip to Los Angeles. While his mother sought business opportunities for her Atlanta retail boutique, Carson sought lunch and became immediately enthralled by the food trucks dotting the streets of LA.
The dream shortly manifested into a concrete business operation when a truck was driven from LA to Atlanta and with the help of a Georgia Tech business-marketing group, Yumbii was born. True to Yumbii’s twitter biography, this food truck is “not your average taco truck”. Combining food industry elements with social media know-how, the Yumbii name is a fusion of the “yum” of delicious cuisine and “bii” indicating social media interaction, similar in name to the Nintendo Wii gaming system. Even though Yumbii is a self-described “gourmet restaurant on wheels”, Young considers himself to be in the business of social media rather than a restaurateur. True to the fluid nature of social media, Yumbii’s location on any given day is determined by requests from customers via Twitter. Tech Square is soon becoming popular enough for a permanent weekly slot.
Yumbii is currently one of nine vendors of the Atlanta Street Food Coalition, a member community organization advocating for safe, affordable, and legal access to Atlanta Street Food. Yet, Yumbii is a step ahead boasting a 95% rating from the Fulton Country Health Department, while most Atlanta restaurants hover around the 80% mark. And Yumbii will keep pressing forward into advocating for increased street food availability. There is talk of franchising the Yumbii brand and opening up new opportunities for food trucks to offer eclectic meal options. New trucks would address the lack of variety in current lunch options for Atlantans especially office building workers. Also in the pipeline are potential collaborations with the King of Pops, an Atlanta mobile gourmet popsicle stand.
Talking a break to indulge in the plat-du-jour, a Korean chicken bbq taco, I take my first bite of Yumbii. The tender meat is topped with sesame salad, delivering a satisfying crunch. “Too spicy?” a concerned Young inquires. I shake my head before polishing off the savory meat. Just right.
“One last question,” I prodded Carson, “What is your favorite Wii game?”
Carson gave his thoughtful pause, “Tennis,” he replied, pantomiming a racquet swing. I smiled at the lurking metaphor. Young does have a killer serve, expertly dishing out delicious morsels, and dashing the court to serve his customers wherever they happen to be.
It’s an exciting time to be a famished foodie wandering the streets of Atlanta. But better yet to be a satiated follower of Yumbii’s explosive flavors coming to a street near you. Tweet that, Atlanta!
To catch the Yumbii truck follow Carson’s tweets on twitter@yumbii. Get involved with the Atlanta Street Food Coalition at: www.atlantastreetfood.com or follow the coalition on twitter@ATLStreetFood. Eat up, Atlanta!
Photo Credit: April Leigh