On Site: Methods for Site-Specific Performance Creation

A few words from Stephan: 

“My book was inspired by my 30-plus years of experience producing and creating site-specific performance works and my desire to empower others with tools and strategies for making art outside of conventional (and sometimes costly) venues. The first section of the book started to take shape in Bellagio.”

Quote from On Site: 

“Artists tend to seek new challenges. As an artist, I often start a work by asking, “What if . . . ?” Site work consistently poses that question and promises tantalizing new opportunities. Creating a site work requires overlaying a new reality on reality — like a palimpsest placing a fictional space over a real space. Rather than creating a world in what theater director Peter Brook called “an empty space,” site artists find the subject matter of the work itself in the real, physical world of the actual place.”

Synopsis:

“On Site: Methods for Site-Specific Performance Creation” is a practical book for artists and students at all levels who create or are learning to create sited performance based works. Author Stephan Koplowitz covers specific, hands-on strategies for an array of issues to consider before, during, and after embarking upon a project, including site selection, procuring permits, designing the audience experience, researching and exploring a site for inspiration and content, differences in urban and natural environments, definitions of key production roles, building effective collaborations with artists, and techniques to generate site-inspired production elements such as sound/music, costumes, lighting, and media. He also offers helpful chapters on project budgeting, contract negotiation, fundraising, marketing, documentation, and assessment. Based on the author’s career spanning over 30 years of site-specific creation, the book also includes the voices of over 24 other artists, producers, and writers who share their perspectives and experiences on the many topics covered. A guide designed to make site work practical, intentional, and attainable, “On Site” will become a well-worn reference for anyone interested in the creative process and discovering the power of site-specific works.