John Umphlett to Perform "Flipping One Over a Bush"
For the 25th anniversary of the North Bennington Outdoor Sculpture Show (NBOSS), Technical Instructor in Visual Arts John Umphlett MFA '99 will do a live performance, Flipping One Over a Bush, first performed 22 years ago at the third NBOSS in 2000.
Over the last 25 years, NBOSS has become one of the region’s premiere arts events of the summer/fall season, featuring work by some of the best artists from the Bennington area, the state of Vermont, and throughout the northeast region.
From Umphlett's artist statement for the Bennington Museum: "Flipping one over a Bush was conceived and made in the year 2000. Only a year out of receiving my MFA this work carried a very different meaning to me then as it does today. Most of the elements still exist as they did then physically as they did 22 years ago; however, the way I construct the thinking around the work today seems much slower in response. I feel when I was younger, I ran almost intuitively on instinct, while always there was a running critical thinking eye, then it seemed as if I would pause much further through the practice of making.
"So today I take a look at it. I respect the work then and its life; however, today I like to methodically break the work down further into categories. It has been interesting revisiting this work and deconstructing its parts. While most of the parts seem the same, everything has been reconsidered. The pathway, the manipulated living elements, the pause to this sandwich making second and questions left for open conversation."
Umphlett's performance will take place during the NBOSS at the Museum Anniversary Celebration from 4:00-5:00pm on August 25, and it will also include a screening of a short documentary film celebrating NBOSS’ past, present, and future.