Cleveland artist Melissa Daubert brings 1,839 sculptures to life in ‘OM’ at kids’ fest Parenthood Ideas

Cleveland artist Melissa Daubert brings 1,839 sculptures to life in ‘OM’ at kids’ fest

May 3, 2011 – 8:00 am

Cleveland artist Melissa Daubert brings 1,839 sculptures to life in ‘OM’ at kids’ fest

Enlarge Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer Workers install Melissa Daubert’s “OM” at PlayhouseSquare’s Allen Theatre. “OM” is part of the International Children’s Festival, which runs May 2-7. “OM” combines art and audio technology, and is an interactive art experience representing the population of the world’s children. Getting to ‘OM’ at International Children’s Festival gallery (5 photos) CLEVELAND, Ohio — Melissa Daubert, an experienced “experience artist” who lives in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, made 1,839 children’s sculptures for the free interactive art installation, “OM,” at the International Children’s Festival running through Saturday at PlayhouseSquare.

In addition to the sculptures, she’s particularly proud of the accompanying “OM” soundtrack: chords she composed with input from School of Rock musicians — all under 15 — who sang in original tracks. She recorded the students in Rocky River, then edited the sounds digitally. (Listen below)

The figures’ heads are made of coconut hair wrapped in wire. The bodies have foam carpet underneath, and they’re dressed in recycled cloth. Daubert had to run the wire holding them together through the gas burner on her stove so that the wire would match the coconut hair.

We asked her a few questions this week while she waited for groups of school kids to come through the exhibit at the festival.

How did you create so many of those figures for “OM”?

I committed to do 20 kids each day. Some days it was really hard to do 20. I’d get up at 6, make 20 kids and get them done before 3 p.m. My assistant, Walley Two Hawks, would help by making the heads when I couldn’t. … It took about 4 months.

What are the kids’ reactions? Are they ever frightened?

I noticed a lot of times kids come in and they’re really high-energy, but [here] the kids seem much more contemplative They see one they like and they want to touch it.

They’re not running all over screaming, so I guess they’re more thoughtful about it somehow. They’re calmer than with a lot of the other things I do.

The sound hasn’t frightened them. But they’ve cried because it can be an emotional experience. Sound can really affect how you feel. And we naturally tend to pick up the vibrations that are around us, so I think it’s a little bit of physics. Humans are similar and sound in general has that ability to transfer to humans.

It’s about the idea that if everybody in the world were thinking and feeling the same way, what would that be like? What would that be like if we all sang with the same voice?

Have any of the kids picked up any of the figures?

They’re screwed in so they can’t pick them up. But they look for ones they can identify with. They definitely want to touch them. A lot of kids are trying to figure out where the sound is coming from.

How does this project fit in with the festival?

The theme is celebrating the world we share. It teaches kids a lot about, ‘Hey look at how many people are on your land masses as opposed to the other land masses.’ It helps them understand their world through art.

How do parents view the installation?
The parents are holding onto the kids’ hands so they don’t go all over the place, but I think it’s a similar reaction for parents and kids. I think it’s relevant for any age. ‘Om’ transcends your race and your species.

What I like best is the look on people’s faces, it’s all about the visitor for me.

After all the work and the sweating and turmoil, it’s really great to kick back and see the people come and see what you’ve done. That’s the one thing that keeps me going.

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