Recommended Digital Arts & Education Resources for Parents

By Steven McIntosh, BAM’s Director of Education and Family Programming

While they’re not a perfect solution, I’ve come to better accept the necessity of screens as a way to maintain some of our humanity during this particularly isolating crisis, and have come to terms with the important ways they can bring the arts to families in the absence of in-person arts education and live performance. (Watching almost every aspect of my kids' lives become screen-based has helped.) With that in mind, here are a few BAM-approved selections to get you started or add to your arts resource list.

In Context: Mementos Mori

Combining analog craftsmanship and digital dexterity, the Chicago-based performance collective Manual Cinema engineers a live movie before the audience’s eyes in Mementos Mori, a meditation on death and ephemerality. Context is everything, so get even closer to the production with this curated selection of related articles and videos. After you've attended the show, let us know what you thought by posting in the comments below and on social media using #BAMNextWave.

Memory Rings—A Giving Tree

Photo: Sierra Urich

By Robert Jackson Wood

The world’s oldest tree is a 5,062-year-old Bristlecone Pine located somewhere—only scientists know exactly where—in California’s White Mountains. The world’s oldest account of deforestation is perhaps in the Epic of Gilgamesh, a 4,100-year-old tale of a man who, among other things, levels acres of cedar trees on his quest for fame.

If the tree could talk, then, it wouldn't tell stories about the good old days. But it might complain about how much worse things had gotten. How to understand exactly what has changed?

It's just one of the questions obliquely posed by Memory Rings (coming to the BAM Harvey Theater, Nov 17—20), the newest work from Phantom Limb Company, led by Erik Sanko and Jessica Grindstaff.

Delicate, Controlled Manipulation: An Interview with Nufonia Must Fall's Puppeteers

Kid Koala's Nufonia Must Fall at the Noorderzon Festival in 2014.

A tone-deaf robot, fearful of his growing obsolescence, tries to woo an office worker with his love songs in prolific producer and turntablist Kid Koala’s bold adaptation of his tender, and entirely wordless, 2003 graphic novel Nufonia Must Fall—coming to the BAM Harvey Theater September 17—20. Collaborating with Oscar-nominated production designer K.K. Barrett, Kid Koala enlists a team of puppeteers to stage the circuit-bent amoré as camera crews edit the footage in real time, resulting in a live silent film. To better understand this unique performance event, we spoke with three of the show's puppeteers (Clea Minaker, Felix Boisvert, and Karina Bleau) about the various mechanisms underpinning such a hyper-hybrid work of art.

BAM Blog Questionnaire: Zvi Sahar of Salt of the Earth

Zvi Sahar is an actor, director, and puppeteer living and working in Israel. He comes to the BAM Fisher Oct 28—Nov 1 with Salt of the Earth, a story told with puppetry and hand-painted miniature sets combined with live film-making, projected video, and a thousand pounds of salt. Sahar’s creative company, PuppetCinema, investigates the relationship between puppetry and live-action film-making.

Which artist do you admire from a field other than your own?
David Bowie, William Kentridge, Quay brothers.

Which artist do you steal from most often?
Ayah, my 3 year old daughter

Any advice you've gotten and ignored?
“Don’t touch that!”

What's the biggest risk you've taken?
Left an active career as an actor in Israel and came to NYC for three years to explore puppetry. Those were probably the most productive and interesting years I've spent as an artist in my career. Scary as hell, but worth it. The next biggest risk was moving back to Israel.

What food are you looking forward to eating while in Brooklyn?
Ribs at Fette Sau, and a lemon tart and coffee at Colson Patisserie in Park Slope.

What ritual or superstition do you have on performance days?
I used to have a few... Today, I have none and feel much more free. So I guess...having no ritual is my ritual.

What inspired you to create Salt of the Earth?
One day my wife, Daphna, came home with a small blue book and said: “You have to read this.” The book was The Road to Ein Harod and, in a way, I’ve been reading it for the last two years.

Puppets on Film 2014: The Dark Crystal Legacy

Next Friday marks the opening of BAMcinématek’s fourth annual collaboration with the Jim Henson Foundation on the ever-popular Puppets on Film, and we’re kicking off the festivities with an epic Dark Crystal fan fest extravaganza showcasing some of the film’s collaborators (the celebrated conceptual designers Brian and Wendy Froud) and the work of a few very talented fans.

Earlier this year, DarkCrystal.com and the Jim Henson Company held two contests celebrating the film’s legacy: the “Create a Dark Crystal Creature” Contest for puppet designers and “Author Quest” for fiction writers. The winners of both contests will present their work at the fan fest, and we spoke to both of them about the experience of creating their entries.

Create a Dark Crystal Creature winner Jeff Brown

When I first heard about the contest, I was very excited to try my hand at it. The first few weeks were just spent watching the movie at any chance possible, listening to the soundtrack every day on repeat, and reading all The Dark Crystal books ever written.  I began building the creature and his story in my head.  I didn't actually start working on the physical sculpture until a week before the deadline.

Talk to the Hand: Actor Papa Cloudy on BAMkids Film Festival

by Tamar MacKay and Akiko McQuerrey

This weekend, BAMkids, in association with the International Children's Media Center and curator Nicole Dreiske, will present the 16th annual BAMkids Film Festival, a weekend of fun, flipbooks, and films. We were lucky enough to catch up with Papa Cloudy, star of Papa Cloudy's Restaurant that will be featured in the shorts program Recipe for Love.

Photo: Akiko McQuerrey

Papa Cloudy, thank you so much for meeting with us today! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? What kind of puppet are you?
Thanks for having me! It is really wonderful to be here. First of all―I will say that the title of your post, Talk to the Hand, is, in this case, inaccurate!  I am a stop motion puppet, and we have a very different structure to, lets say, a stuffed animal or hand puppet. The most important characteristic of a stop motion puppet is being able to bend and stay in the shape on our own―we don’t have a puppeteer. I am one of the many stop motion puppets that will be included in the film festival, which includes hedgehogs in Hedgehogs in the City and a chicken in Miriam's Kite!

Talk to the Hand: Dr. Shep Sheepish on Puppets on Film

This weekend, BAMcinématek partners with the Jim Henson Foundation to present the return of the annual program Puppets on Film. We recently checked in with our resident expert in the illustrious fields of Puppetology and Puppet Studies, Dr. Shep Sheepish, to discuss the epistemology, puppetology, sockology, and general awesomeness of this year’s festival.

By Jessica Goldschmidt and Tamar MacKay

A Portrait of Dr. Sheepish. Photo: Ben Cohen

BAM: Thank you so much for meeting with us, Dr. Sheepish. You’re looking great, by the way.

Dr. Shep Sheepish: Oh, shucks.

BAM: Oh dear, I didn’t mean to make you blush!

Dr. Shep Sheepish:  Oh, no I’m sorry! It happens so easily for me. It’s a little embaaaa-rrassing.

BAM: That’s really okay. It’s thrilling to have a real expert here in the BAM Rose Cinemas. Can you tell us a little bit more about what you’re looking forward to most in the lineup?

Dr. Shep Sheepish: Ah. Yes. Well, at the risk of jumping the proverbial fence, I’m inclined to say this might just be the best year ever for this festival. And I mean ever! Oh, my, I think I’m getting carried away….what I’m saying is that there is a great variety of programs.

BAM: Anything in particular that intrigues you professionally? I know that you're the best in your field, both literally and figuratively.

Dr. Shep Sheepish: The Little Shop of Horrors Sing-Along should prove very informative as a subject example of puppet/human relations turned a little … well, ram-bunctious. I’m quite shy and don’t usually like to sing in public, plus it’s past my bedtime, but this is such an exciting event that I will be attending.