Putting the Art in Performing Arts: Steve Parker
Bringing Larger-than-Life Musical Art to Center Stage
Words by Tejal Thakkar Photos Courtesy of Steve Parker
Imagine walking up to your local park and finding a piece of art, made from salvaged materials, that you can walk through and that emits sounds reminiscent of seafaring communication, such as foghorns and cannons. Listen deliberately, as if you put a conch shell up to your ear. Steve Parker’s “Foghorn Elegy” purposely invites viewers to experience his interactive exhibit.
As a trained musician and performer with a desire to continue learning and creating, it was only natural that Steve Parker found himself in Austin to pursue his doctorate degree in musical arts at the Butler School of Music. Over time, he grew to love Austin and its supportive art community which proved to be the perfect space for him to grow artistically.
Today, Steve is on the faculty at UT San Antonio and occasionally performs his original compositions but prefers to spend the majority of his time working on his various art installations and shows in galleries and museums across the state. In these exhibits, he works with objects, such as salvaged musical instruments, marching bands, and pedicab fleets, to “facilitate performances with viewers that live on beyond a temporary performance.” Through interactive installations, Steve “finds ways to involve viewers or listeners in performances in more meaningful ways.” This drive is what led him to create objects that facilitate performances with viewers, both in public spaces and in gallery museum contexts. His work includes pieces such as his sculpture “Foreign Body” (located at the Ivester Gallery in Austin), an oversized sculpture of a head that viewers can walk inside and interact with to create various sounds by pulling different levers located within the head.
Steve says many of his projects “involve working with communities that don’t necessarily consider themselves to be performers or artists in their own work,” and he works to “place them in a new context to illuminate the creative, expressive, and virtuosic aspects of the work that they do everyday.”
Led by a desire to make an impact on people’s lives through performance art, he loves witnessing the “very palpable sense of electricity and excitement and return to a childlike sense of creativity when people engage in performative acts,” and his passion for creating these experiences is tangible when interacting with each of his pieces.
Contact:
steven.c.parker@gmail.com
steve-parker.net
