Stranded installation is an interdisciplinary collaboration between Cory Lawson, Garret Lee Milton, and Hillary Erin Russell. The “Stranded” exhibition explores isolation and its depths. The viewer enters a strange land, confronted by familiar but somewhat unfamiliar sights and sounds. They are invited to interact with various components of the exhibition and leave their mark on the space. The installation consists of interactive stations, videos produced by Hillary Erin Russell, and the script ‘Stranded’ written by Garret Lee Milton deconstructed than assembled on the gallery wall. Audience members were invited to take a message from a bottle and leave a message. The exhibition began with messages written by Garret Lee Milton but by the end of the night they consisted of messages from audience participants. To compose their messages the audience were prompted to sit down at a typewriter. The sound of typewriter filled the space, along with the sound of sand scraping across the floor and the audio composed by Hillary Erin Russell that accompanied the videos. There was also an interactive sound piece developed between Cory Lawson and Hillary Erin Russell. A speaker was placed into a tin can and audio instructing/directing the listeners to perform different acts. The were invited to become actors as Cory directed them with the audio narration.
Stranded evolved with another interactive exhibition in the Studio D gallery, a Texas Tech University School of Art gallery space. Playwright Garret Lee Milton writes monologues for audience members to perform in the world of Stranded in-between the performances from Stranded the play by actors Randall Rapstine, Stetson Smith, and Sarah Midgley. The audience is also encouraged to take part in mixing sound and producing new sound elements for the space. The sounds were provided by students from Seth Warren-Crow’s sound design course. Seth Warren-Crow is an Assistant Professor in Sound Design and Associate Head of Design at the School of Theater and Dance at TTU. Contribution sound artist’s include Rafael (Rafi) E. Aviles -lighting designer and B.F.A. Student in Theatrical Design and Technology at the School of Theatre and Dance, Justin Mckean - Theater Artist and MFA Student in Performance and Pedagogy at the School of Theater and Dance, Ryan Fay - Theater Artist and MFA Student in Performance and Pedagogy at the School of Theater and Dance, Stephen (Trey) Tucker – Designer and B.F.A. student in Theatrical Design and Technology at the School of Theatre and Dance with a specification in technical direction, Kaitlyn (Katy) Mitchell - Costume Designer and B.F.A Theatrical Design and Technology at the School of Theatre and Dance, Cameron Brooke Martin - B.A. student in Electronic Media and Communications (minor in General Theater), Matthew (Moshi) Mosher - Theater Designer and B.F.A. Student in Theatrical Design and Technology with a specification in Production and Stage Management at the School of Theatre and Dance, and Hillary Erin Russell - Sound/intermedia artist and Ph.D. Fine Arts Student at the School of Art
The final evolution of Stranded took place in Studio D. The play which each interactive installation was based off was performed featuring Randall Rapstine, Sarah Midgley and Stetson Smith. Play written by Garret Lee Milton and directed by Cory Lawson.
