Dry ice fog, candles reminiscent of a séance and costumed individuals howling to the moon greeted students who attended Creative Campus All Hallows Happening Tuesday at the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum.
“Our goal was to put on an event that blended art and life so people aren’t necessarily coming to a performance and passively watching,” Summer Upchurch, director of All Hallows Happening, said.
Happenings were commonplace during the 1960s and are most often associated with drugs, alcohol or political movements, Upchurch said. A happening is a gathering of individuals coming together to make art, specifically performance art, and to commit to being open with each other through anonymity. To encourage attendees to be open with each other, guests were told to wear costumes and were given masks upon entering.
“The idea was for people to come and feel like a different person so they would feel more comfortable participating,” Upchurch said.
Prompts were also given at the entrance, giving guests a task to do at some point during the night. The tasks ranged from asking someone to be his or her new best friend to howling at the moon. The event fostered honesty by having attendees place wishes and secrets into a box, and their entries were acted out throughout the event.
“I’ve never done anything like this. This is pretty bizarre, pretty unusual,” Susannah Robichaux, a senior majoring in economics and a Creative Campus intern, said. “The point of it is to try and be a part of an artistic expression because that’s what’s going on all around us. This is a chance to experience that in a different way and let go of how we identify ourselves.”
Part of the event included the destroying of a homemade box city and having a moment of silence for the city. Allyson Mabry, a senior majoring in graphic design and printmakingwho arrived at the event adorned in a shark suit with rainbow tights, worked to create the city and performed for All Hallows Happening. Mabry said sometimes people need to simply relish in not knowing what’s going on.
“We’re trying to expose people to this weird, uncomfortable performance installation art, blurring the lines between art and real life,” she said.
To tie the event back to Halloween, Creative Campus workers gave out candy, and Mabry said they did all they could to add a spooky element. Maddy Lewis, a freshman dressed as the “Grumpy Cat” meme, found out about All Hallows Happening through a flier.
“We kind of went into this blind, I guess, Lewis said “It’s a very neat idea. It’s a nice way to start [Halloween week]. It’s just a bunch of goofy kids.”
The planners of All Hallows Happening are looking to host more happenings this year, though likely not this semester.
“The core of this is you don’t always need to know what’s going on, Robichaux said “You don’t need to be so formal with yourself and other. You can let loose and be weird and have fun.”
