AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles announced their plans to cap off The Blue Hour, their first-ever drive-in experience, with a one-night only commissioned art installation by artists Mason Rothschild and Annie Sperling, in collaboration with world-renowned artist, Refik Anadol. Critically acclaimed opera director Peter Sellars is slated debut a section of his production of Mozart’s Idomeneo. The event – with a maximum attendance of 240 cars – will take place on October 10, 2020 from 6:00-8:30 PM PDT in the parking area next to the USS Iowa, a retired battleship-turned-museum moored on the San Pedro waterfront.
“The entertainment industry is one of the most powerful industries in the world, and when they speak out on an issue, people pay attention and listen,” said AltaSea CEO Tim McOsker. “These world-class artists, through their different mediums, will help amplify the important message that our oceans need our attention.”
The art installation will be projected onto the USS Iowa, the famous retired battleship residing in San Pedro, using technology called projection mapping, which will transform the retired battleship into a dynamic, interactive visual display. The installation, designed in totality by Sperling and Rothschild, will take viewers back through time to explore the evolution of ocean exploration.
Annie Sperling, an artist and set designer, has an extensive portfolio, spanning music videos, commercial and fine art projects, and commissioned murals. Sperling has served as production designer for many projects, working with global music stars Billie Eilish and Miley Cyrus, and world-renowned artists David LaChapelle and Ellen Von Unwerth.
Mason Rothschild is a multi-sensory installation artist, stage designer and inventor. The founder and creative director of Discordian Design, Rothschild has worked with many global brands, including Netflix, Buzzfeed, and TikTok.
Rothschild and Sperling, both veterans in the entertainment industry, used their time during the stay-at-home orders to explore new ways to talk about the importance of the ocean conservation. They have formed a new enterprise, BLUE MRKT, which aims to further these ideas, employing tactics from music, film, and pop stardom worlds to benefit ecological conservation.
“Annie and I were getting together on Zoom during the months of quarantine to brainstorm ideas, and one email from AltaSea transformed these brainstorm sessions into an installation that we’re excited to share with the world,” said Rothschild. “We’ve both worked with some pretty big names, but none as big as the ocean. We wanted to give the ‘popstar treatment’ to ecology.”
Refik Anadol, an award-winning Turkish media artist, director, and pioneer in the aesthetics of machine intelligence, is collaborating with Sperling and Rothschild for the installation. His work is known for expanding the possibilities of architecture by embedding media arts, and locating creativity at the intersection of humans and machines. Anadol, founder of Refik Anadol Studio, currently resides in Los Angeles and is a lecturer and visiting researcher at UCLA’s Department of Design Media Arts.
Award-winning opera director Peter Sellars will premiere a section of his latest opera – a production of prolific composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Idomeneo. This critically acclaimed production of Mozart’s opera opened the 2019 Salzburg Festival in Austria, and AltaSea’s event will serve as the US debut of Sellars’ production. The Los Angeles Times praised Sellars’ “new progressive approach to opera as an agent for societal transformation and environmental activism that goes far beyond the usual directorial updating of opera beloved in Europe, too often for little more than show-business pizzazz.”1
Sellars has gained international fame for his groundbreaking and transformative interpretations of artistic masterpieces, along with his unique collaborations on projects with a wide range of creative artists. Sellars is actively involved with growing the next generation of artists in his role as professor at UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance.
“Idomeneo gives us a chance to examine ourselves and our relationship with the ocean,” said Sellars. “The United States premiere of Idomeneo, one of Mozart’s most brilliant works and one of my favorite projects, is going to be a really, really special moment.”
Dame Helen Mirren is slated to open The Blue Hour with a special recorded message for AltaSea. The Academy Award winner and five-time Screen Actor Guild Award-winning actress is one of the best known and most respected actresses with an international career that spans stage, screen and television. She has won many awards for her powerful and versatile performances, including the Academy Award in 2007 for her performance in The Queen.
“Los Angeles is well known for two things – entertainment and the beautiful Pacific Ocean,” said McOsker. “And this experience is what AltaSea is all about: becoming a global beacon for economic recovery and growth by blending the Blue Economy with the creative economy.”
Tickets and more information on the event can be found at https://altasea-project-blue.org/project-blue-presents-2/.
About AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles
AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles is dedicated to accelerating scientific collaboration, advancing an emerging blue economy through business innovation and job creation, and inspiring the next generation, all for a more sustainable, just, and equitable world.
For more information on AltaSea, please see our website: https://altasea.org.
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