HOWBOWT festival celebrates creativity in art, music

Creative collaboration, pre-fabricated architecture and horse feathers. Welcome to Vassar's first experimental organic arts festival. HOWBOWT, a festival organized by Harry Kelly '09 and Noah Chilton '11, will invade the South Commons lawn on Friday, April 24, from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and will continue in Matthew's Mug from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

HOWBOWT will celebrate the material, musical and dance talents of both external and student artists. "We are attempting to encourage personal creative pursuits that would normally occur on campus but might lose vitality without a venue such as the one we are providing," said Chilton. "We want to see how they change in conjunction with other pursuits."

The concept of an arts festival is  to present an experience in which the line between artist and audience is effectively challenged. "We are unsettling the normal art show or exhibition and urging people to re-evaluate their place in this type of setting," explained Kelly.

Integral to this "unsettling" is the event's nontraditional organization. With no stage and no moveable elements, HOWBOWT's setting emphasizes the creativity of both the artists and attendees. "We took the traditional concert venue and stage and tried to explode it.
The stage becomes different platforms that can be condensed, as they might be for a band, or separated for dancing, standing or sitting," said Kelly. There will be no stage at some points and the mobile platforms will be accented by vertically placed dowels, which will serve as a respite for interactive ribbon draping.

This revolutionary architectural approach to an arts festival is the brainchild (and thesis) of art major Samantha Stein '09. "The design is based on the mentality of the festival—to fracture what the notion of the stage is," said Stein.

Stein's thesis is about pre-fabrication architecture, which suits HOWBOWT's location in the South Commons. "There is a transportable ease that comes with prefabrication. The design is haphazard, so you'll have to move around to really explore the show," Stein added.

Musically, the festival will feature headlining performances by Horse Feathers (presented by the Vassar Greens), Revision (presented by Vassar College Entertainment Jazz),These United States, Tussle (in conjunction with WVKR) and Small Sur.

Horse Feathers, a folk quartet from Portland, Ore., will come to Vassar on the eve of their national tour. "It took a lot of negotiation, but they were willing to accommodate for HOWBOWT," said Chilton. Indie Music review Web site Tiny Mix Tape Reviews praised the band's sound as "gorgeous folk" that "can elicit overwhelming nostalgia."

This will not be the first time Small Sur's front man, Bob Keel, will play at Vassar. "He has come to Vassar once before and played for our friends. He will exchange a free performance for a good meal—he represents this festival," explained Chilton.

Vassar musicians performing include Buffalo Drive, Three Dee Chicks, Sir Saturn and the Neptunes, Josh Sturm '11, Charlie Warren '10 and Lucy Clark '09. "Contained improvised dance jams" will come from Camilla Kelsoe '10 and Leah Wilks '09 with additional dance performances from belly dancers.

Unlike most Vassar festivals, HOWBOWT is not a Vassar-specific event. "Wesleyan is also a part of this—the same event will happen there the following day," explained Chilton. "There are so many creative people at liberal arts colleges, this is an attempt to bridge the creative pursuits at two of these places."

Chilton and Kelly said that HOWBOWT's philosophy  lies in "room Joss 119 last year," a room that became a comfortable respite for the collaborative creativity of a group of friends. "The room started this excitement for change that was always greater through collaboration. This group was tiny, only 12 kids, and we had the idea of extending that collaboration to campuses," said Chilton.

The festival's moniker comes from this desire for collectivity and inclusivity. "It's called HOWBOWT because it's fairly democratic. Anyone can bring their idea to the floor," explained Kelly. The event's mission statement reads, "So HOWBOWT on this April 24 you join us at Vassar to watch, respond, participate; to recognize a piece, or take in the whole; to find yourself a part of something that has existed all along."

Although the festival is only a two-day endeavor, Chilton and Kelly stressed that the ideals behind HOWBOWT are timeless. "The biggest part of this is recognizing that HOWBOWT does not end on April 25—it is a representation of all the creative minds and a celebration of movement," said Kelly.

"We've created this space. Now it's ready to be occupied," said Chilton.