The catastrophic storm that destroys a boat and strands its occupants on an enchanted island in Shakespeare’s famous play “The Tempest” could easily be interpreted as the playwright’s fanciful creation.
But through an unusual collaboration with Joseph Golden, a storm scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an artistic team at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival has gained a whole new understanding of the work.
“From what Shakespeare says happens, it’s very clear to Joe Golden that this couldn’t have been a hurricane,” said Richard Devin, the festival’s producing artistic director. “It had to have been one of these ocean-born tornadoes called a water spout.”
Such a merger of art and science lies at the core of EcoArts, an 11-day multidisciplinary festival that begins Thursday and incorporates more than 40 activities ranging from a tour of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden to a performance of Terry Riley’s “Sun Rings.”
Other events include “Confluence,” a series of outdoor artworks along the Cherry Creek bike trail near Confluence Park, performances in Denver and Boulder by the dance duo Eiko & Koma, and an array of panels and discussions bringing together scientists and artists.
For great Renaissance thinkers such as Leonardo da Vinci, art and science were natural partners that not only harmoniously co-existed but fed off each other in extraordinarily creative ways.
But with the gigantic leaps in research and technology in subsequent centuries, the two fields have grown so far apart they often seem almost in opposition to each other.
That must change, says Marda Kirn, founder and former artistic director of the now-defunct Colorado Dance Festival.
She sees global warming as a challenge that should spur the reunion of art and science.
“Could we bring together the cognitive power of impeccable science with the affective power of extraordinary art and then have action steps that were provided by environmental groups and businesses that were not partisan in anyway but were just practical? Could we close the loop between awareness and action?” Kirn said.
To that end, she conceived EcoArts several years ago and began organizing the event in 2005, collaborating with various area organizations and obtaining support from the Compton Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts, among others.
The festival coincides with “Solar 2006,” a national conference on renewable energy and climate recovery sponsored by the American Solar Energy Society. It takes place Friday through July 13 at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in downtown Denver. Some of its offerings are open to the public.
One of Kirn’s first ideas for the festival was the presentation of Riley’s “Sun Rings,” a 90-minute multimedia work commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration with music performed by the pioneering Kronos Quartet.
She proposed the idea to the Boulder-based Colorado Music Festival, and soon a collaboration was born between it and the American Solar Energy Society. A performance was set for July 11 in the Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder.
“That was the beginning of it, that was the kernel,” Kirn said. “And then I went to all these different organizations and asked them to take part.”
While many of the EcoArts activitees were conceived especially for the festival, others, such as “The Tempest,” were already scheduled and happened to fit the theme. But in most cases, corollary activities were added to cement the tie between science and art.
In conjunction with Thursday’s preview performance of the play, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival is presenting a discussion titled “Theater, Storms & Climate Change,” with “Tempest” director Patrick Kelly and NOAA’s Golden.
After all, if a playwright could so accurately describe a water spout that an expert could recognize what it was more than 450 years later, artists and scientists alive at the same time surely can find common ground.
That, in essence, is what EcoArts is all about.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
“Theater, Storms & Climate Change”
Discussion of “The Tempest” with stage director Patrick Kelly and storm scientist Joseph Golden
Colorado Shakespeare Festival, University of Colorado at Boulder, in tent on the green near University Theatre; 7 p.m. Thursday|FREE| 303- 492-0554 or coloradoshakes.org.
“The Climate & Hollywood”
Film discussion, including critic Howie Movshovitz and astrobiologist David Grinspoon
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St.; 7:30 p.m. Friday|FREE|303-443-2122 or bmoca.org.
Terry Riley’s “Sun Rings”
Kronos Quartet and Ars Nova Singers
Chautauqua Auditorium, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder; 7:30 p.m. July 11|$11.50-$38|303-440-7666 or coloradomusicfest.org.
“River”
Dance innovators Eiko & Koma
South Platte River, Confluence Park, near 15th and Platte streets; 8:45 p.m. Saturday|FREE 303-298-7554 or mcartdenver.org.
“Confluence”
Outdoor art exhibition with site-specific works by six Colorado artists
Along the Cherry Creek bike path from near Delgany Street to the South Platte River; Saturday through July 28|FREE|303-298-7554 or mcartdenver.org.
For overall information on EcoArts: 303-325-5637 or ecoartsonline.org.
