Ypsilanti's Winter Shadow Art Fair to bring dancing gorillas, reindeer poop

By Christine Laughren
Dec. 3, 2009    ·    12:23 p.m.

What: The Shadow Art Fair
When: From noon- midnight, Saturday
Where: The Corner Brewery

He specializes in protecting people from the constant bombardment from unsavory mind-altering forces. He is “Spaced Out Haberdashery,” and he stands out in the crowd packed around the bar.

Dick Ball, the designer of fashionable aluminum foil hats, said the idea came to him after a brief hiatus from the Shadow Art Fair. With a rakish tilt to his tin foil fedora, Ball – formerly president of the Atomic Art Collective – explained he has had a table at the Shadow Art Fair in past years and missed not having one the last time he attended.

“So I tried to think of something I could do, and then I got abducted by aliens and they damaged my electronic music gear, and so I opted to make a tin foil hat and I don’t ever have a not fashionable hat so I had to make a fashionable one, and then I thought ‘this isn’t too difficult, maybe I should make them for the next Shadow Art Fair,’ ” he said in one quick ramble.

Ball is one of nearly 40 vendors at the Winter Shadow Art Fair this year. He joined other vendors, volunteers and organizers for a pre-Shadow party Wednesday evening at Frenchie’s in Depot Town.

The Shadow Art Fair has quickly become an Ypsilanti staple in the four years since it was first established. But Mark Maynard, a member of the Michigan Design Militia – the group that organizes the event every year – said the concept of the Shadow Art Fair has remained the same.

“There’s been a conscious effort on the five of us that organize it to try to do something experimental,” Maynard said Wednesday night. “I just got an email today that a primatologist is going to be bringing these gorillas to the Shadow Art Fair and they have the tops of their heads removed and they’ve got all these brain probes in their brains and they dance.”

As he described the dancing primates, Jennifer Albaum, another member of the MIDMI, approached Maynard with photos of her “reindeer poop,” which she will be selling Saturday. The stream of thought for her chocolate cake creations came from “art on a stick.”

“Then I thought poop on a stick, but then – because it’s Christmas – reindeer poop on a stick,” Albaum said browsing through the “poop” photos on her phone.

Another interactive display at Shadow this year is Andy Claydon’s bike-powered films. Although, as of Wednesday the product had not been tested, Claydon explained participants should be able to pedal-power a laptop displaying a winter commute through Ypsilanti.

Claydon, an active member of Bike Ypsi, an ad-hoc group of local bicyclists, said he was intrigued by the idea of bike-powered films when the suggestion came up on Maynard’s blog nearly two years ago. Although the initial idea calls for approximately eight bicycles to power a projector and other equipment, Claydon hopes more interest and funding for the project will be generated by showing what one bike can do.

In addition to the range of artists inside the Corner Brewery Saturday, there will be two performances of “A Puppet History of Ypsilanti” at the Dreamland Theater in Downtown Ypsilanti. At 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. the puppet troupe will unveil their newest creations, and present a local narrative beginning with the formation of the Great Lakes and touching on Ypsilanti’s finest throughout history such as Elijah McCoy.

The Performance was created with the help of a $750 grant, awarded by the MIDMI and both showings Saturday will be free, with live music playing after both plays until midnight. A “Shadow Shuttle” will also be available between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. for ease of travel between the art fair and the Dreamland Theater.

Finally, for those hoping to stock up of some unique gifts for friends and family members, the Shadow Art Fair will still feature the one-of-a-kind work of graphic artists, work from artist collectives, soaps, jewelry and much more.

Overall, “this year is pretty good year,” for the Shadow Art Fair according to Maynard. “We just have a lot of stuff happening."

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On the Web
To learn more about the Shadow Art Fair and the MIDMI click here.
To learn more about the Dreamland Theater including the puppet shows and other performances scheduled for Saturday click here.
For more information on events scheduled in the community for Saturday and throughout the holiday season visit our Community Calendar.