A note from DATMA’s Executive Director, Lindsay Mis
When re-calibrating our 2020 summer exhibitions, the DATMA Program Committee and Board of Directors knew that our audience reach would be quite limited. But with museums and galleries closed around the world, our community needed some sort of respite more than ever before. We felt that could be through art. How to do it though? We worked with our artists to exhibit that artwork in a way that was accessible and could easily be seen from a car, sidewalk, or bike. More importantly, we made sure you could see the artwork online from wherever you were. Still, there was something missing- the story of the process of making the artwork itself. Thank you to The Herald News for helping to share the newly released short film, VESSELS- Mini Documentary, created by MASARY Studios.
‘Vessels’ mini documentary now available for viewing online
From the Fall River Herald News:
NEW BEDFORD — “Vessels,” a mini documentary about the “Vessels” art piece that was presented in New Bedford last summer is now viewable on the following platforms:
Instagram @masary_studios via IGTV
Created by MASARY Studios, the art piece “Vessels” was presented to the public June to August 2020 and was reflective of the contemporary and historical fishing industry of the port community in New Bedford.
The three-part video and sound artwork explored the ships of New Bedford as characters in the community’s rich history. It was displayed at three locations on Union Street, projected on building facades every night over the course of the six weeks.
Responding to the site and fishing community, “Vessels” was sculpted into a media poem consisting of an arch centered around the character, folklore, history, and people in and around fishing vessels.
The project was presented by Massachusetts Design, Art and Technology Institute (DATMA) and in cooperation with the Fishing Heritage Center, and many members of the fishing community at large.
About VESSELS Mini Documentary:
The viewer will be immersed into the poetry and strength of the fishing industry and New Bedford. They will understand how both the site and community were able to inspire site specific public artwork created by Masary studios. They will be introduced to DATMA, a public art presenter at the vanguard of contemporary art curation and presentation. The video interviews fisherman, fishing industry matriarchs, the DATMA founders, MASARY principal artists, and public viewers. The mini documentary is dedicated to Roger Mandle, founder and board chair of DATMA, who passed away late November 2020.
About MASARY Studios:
MASARY Studios is an interdisciplinary artist collective reconsidering environments through site-specific installations using sound, light, interactivity, and performance. Based in Boston, the studio’s practice includes live percussion performance, electronic music and production, facade projection-mapped video, artistic research, technology and materials fabrication, and the expansive use of animation. The studio is artist-owned and managed and was founded in 2015.
About (Massachusetts Design, Art and Technology Institute (DATMA):
Founded in 2016, DATMA was founded to enhance the evolving dynamic cultural and economic life of Southcoast Massachusetts. Identified as the Commonwealth’s most creative economies by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and was presented with the “Commonwealth Award,” DATMA is committed to bringing world-renowned art, design, and technology exhibitions, programs, and initiatives to the visitors and citizens of New Bedford and the region. As a non-collecting museum, DATMA will collaborate with the business and education sectors of the region to bring artists into area schools and expand public awareness, bring in new cultural assets into the mix as well as create exhibitions and programs that show the impact of new technologies on design and art.