Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

My Bumbershoot: Audience is big part of creativity

Artistic director of MASS Ensemble

Editor's Note: For the past four days, Bumbershoot artists have sent in dispatches about their festival experiences. We've heard from singer-songwriter Vienna Teng, musician Robyn Hitchcock, comedian Fred Armisen, actress Sarah Rudinoff, filmmaker Joshua Seftel, The Vera Project's James Keblas, United State of Electronica and Dave Dederer, of the band The Presidents of the United States of America.

Getting the audience involved in the creative process has always been a very important aspect of the work that I create, so I am fascinated by other art experiences that create a similar process.

My first experience at Bumbershoot involved the visual art of painting. Organizers set up a giant sculptural picture frame roughly 50 feet long and 20 feet high. It was an empty frame waiting to be filled.

In a nearby tent, participants were given the outline of a section of a well-known painting and asked to paint it in their own way. The sections were then brought together to create a giant version of the famous painting, which was then displayed on the huge picture frame. The result is fascinating.

On our stage we also brought forth an interactive element. After each of our performances, we invited audience members up to play our newest giant instrument: the Drum Orb, a large sphere of drums.

People were so excited to be involved and playing music together.

Another interactive art element was the Junk Chime sound sculpture. People explored the sounds of junk — discarded objects that were brought back to life within this fabulous sculpture.