Visual Artists/Designers (or if you're not one, please forward)-

This is an extremely strange offer, I know, since the last
thing artists want is an invitation to do something for free.
Nevertheless...

I'm looking for talented visual artists to spend a couple of
hours of your life tossing out design ideas - sets, costumes, or
puppets - which you then need have no further responsibility for. A
tiny bit of involvement, or a lot. This is an experiment.

In May, The Independent Eye is producing (in Sebastopol, CA)
a puppet/mask adaptation of the Sumerian "Inanna" myths entitled
DESCENT OF THE GODDESS INANNA, TRENTON, NJ, 5:42 P.M. It jumps
between myth and present-day reality- Well, I'll tell you more if
you're interested. To get the story on us, visit
.

I'm directing, designing and building the piece. What I'd
welcome enormously is input from other visual artists, stage
designers, costumers, or puppeteers as part of the evolution of this
work over the span of January and February, when it needs to start
taking form.

As a director, I've worked for the past 39 years with a
collaborative ensemble process, the actors offering vast input. As a
designer, it's a much lonelier road, and that's why I'm reaching out.
You might offer just an hour of brainstorming, a few quick sketches,
or a more ongoing dialogue - whatever you're moved to. Often, even
the most off-the-wall ideas bear good fruit, or sometimes it's just a
matter of someone saying the overlooked obvious. I have strong ideas
of my own, so i find lots of amps are generated by other insights
cutting across my own magnetic field. No obligation involved, just
creative juice.

What I can offer is a dvd of the final production, program
acknowledgement, and an interesting experience. I can also
reciprocate, for what it's worth, if you might find a similar
dialogue useful at some point. Sorry we can pay nothing: entire
budget is for equipment, materials, & promotion, with actors
receiving a small % of the gate. The production will run in
Sebastopol May 9-24, and we expect to tour it thereafter.

If you'd like to consider this:

1. First, visit our website. Check out who we are - the
chronicle history'll tell you more than you ever wanted to know -
then go to http://www.independenteye.org/plays/inanna.html. This has
info on our previous staging: the text, the audio version we did for
public radio, and photos from the 1999 staging - though the new piece
will be entirely redesigned.

2. Drop me a note, including something about your own work.
I'll then send you a short summary of our production parameters, and
we can decide how to interface. If you're long distance, by email or
Skype; if you're in the Bay Area, could be face-to-face.

As I said, this is an experiment.

Peace & joy-

Conrad Bishop
The Independent Eye, Ltd.