Selections from the Installation Art

The installation artwork of The Archives of Asterion manifest in mixed media objects and ephemera collected in and around a series of 144 apothecary drawers. Materials include wax, filament, metal, paper, string, resin, plant and animal remains (no-harm, sustainably harvested), glue, fibers, plastic, glass, wood, and paint.

The Archives of Asterion is a multimedia artwork that synthesizes other expressions and iterations of the core IP of Ikaros and Asterion created by Tom Pearson between 2019 and 2023. The work also serves as a model for a larger, future immersive experience. Within the Archives is contained all the physical objects, ephemera, artwork, set and costume pieces, digital and analog filmic components, a virtual reality demo, music, and all the scraps of photographs, relics, and writing that comprise the written and voiced components of the poetry books and audio.

Film Components

Film components of The Archives of Asterion consist of abstract and surreal imagery that is projected onto surfaces, as well as tucked into drawers as micro analog flip books, still frame files, and installation components. Many of the object that exist in the films are also replicated in miniature throughout the installation.

Google Cardboard Mailed VR Experience

VR Experience Demo Developed at Olin College of Engineering During Pandemic Quarantine

Below are some screen grabs from the experience:

The Archives of Asterion Beta-Test
DEMO for Google Cardboard and desktop

A VR Demo was created by students at the Olin College of Engineering, in an independent study group with Tom Pearson during Spring semester 2020. The project was a response to the physical work we planned to do together and to the early 2020 COVID closure of the school and the onset of remote learning during the months of social distancing and quarantine. The themes of Archives of Asterion and all subsequent creations have been greatly informed by this process and its imprint on the total work.

The virtual reality experience ran approximately 15:00-20:00, depending on individual navigation, and digitally replicated aspects of the physical installation, music, performance, ephemera, and poetry through a simple graphic interface.

A New Interactive Installation Artwork & Performance Activation

 CREATIVE TEAM

Concept, Poetry, Art, & Performance Created by Tom Pearson

Art and costumes created while in-residence at Olin College of Engineering, in collaboration with Thought and Creative Partners: Lauren Anfenson, Jonathan Adler, Julia Benton, Jasper Katzban, Arwen Sadler, Bennett C. Taylor

Films Written, Directed, Choreographed, Photographed, and Edited by: Tom Pearson

Film Sequences Feature Performances by:
Andrew Broaddus, Justin Lynch, Marta Luné, Mary Madsen
Filmed in: Portofino, Ventimiglia, and Bogliasco, Italy; San Diego, CA; and during Artist Residency at Ace Hotel New York.

WRITTEN WORK

All written material is from Tom Pearson’s poetry collection Still, the Sky, from Ransom Poet Publishers, © 2022. All rights reserved. And from Eppure, Il Cielo, Interno Poesia Editore, Italy © 2023. All rights reserved.

PRODUCTION

Created and Produced by: Tom Pearson
Production Support (Italy): Maví Dagnino
Production Support (United States): The Creative Teams

VIRTUAL REALITY DEMO

Conceived, Written, and Directed by
Tom Pearson

VR Development by
Jasper Katzban, Arwen Sadler, Bennett C. Taylor

Created in collaboration with
Jonathan Adler, Julia Benton, Lauren Anfenson

Original Music by
Sean Hagerty

Voice Over by
Tom Pearson

PROJECT SUPPORT

COMMISSION & FUNDING

Archives of Asterion is produced by Ransom Poet Publishers and co-presented by Third Rail Projects and Olin College of Engineering in Needham, MA as part of the Sketch Model Creative In Reference program. Archives of Asterion has also received development support, in part, from: Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, where Tom Pearson was a Creative Campus Fellow in Theater in 2018–19, a residency which was part of Wesleyan’s Creative Campus Initiative and supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; from the Bogliasco Foundation in Liguria, Italy with a Residency Fellowship in Theatre; and as an Artist-in-Residence in 2019 at the Ace Hotel New York. Archives of Asterion is also made possible by the production of Ikaros, commissioned and presented by La Jolla Playhouse as part of the 2019 Without Walls Festival and supported by New Music USA.

Tom Pearson was the second Creative in Reference at Olin College of Engineering in 2019-2020.

Olin College Creative In Reference: 

The creative-in-reference at Olin College is a position established as part of a multistep $900,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation designed to better integrate the arts and humanities within a STEM education. The term “creative-in-reference” was developed at Olin to signify a variation on the traditional residency model, one in which residents foster a more community-facing role emphasizing inherently social and collaborative projects.

“I am thrilled by this opportunity to help foster a space where artistic inquiry and engineering can meet, influence, and challenge together in a shared creative practice,” said Pearson. “Olin College is a perfect incubator for experience design and the way we think about innovating along the lines of audience and user interactivity as well as ethics and responsibility.”

Read About Olin and Ikaros.

Tom Pearson is an artist working in an array of diverse media. He is best known for his original works for theater, including the long-running immersive theater hit Then She Fell, as co-artistic director of Third Rail Projects, and as the director of the Global Performance Studio, an international program for cultural listening and exchange. His work draws from depth and scientific psychology, archetypal studies, dream practices, and ritual experience.  He was recently named among the 100 most influential people in Brooklyn culture by Brooklyn Magazine and awarded artist fellowships in Russia, Italy, and in the U.S to develop Archives of Asterion, Ikaros, and other projects.