"SKY" By Melted Everything

TO ASCEND IS TO ALIGHT

“SKY” Provides a Softening of the Self, Leading to a Shift in How One Views Life

The Vanderbilt Republic proudly invites you to experience “SKY” by Melted Everything, a curated interactive event created by Marquina Iliev-Piselli that includes Emmy award- winning artist and musician Rick Midler, noted choreographer and dancer Jessica Harris, sound designer and world-renowned deejay Adrian Yin Michna (“Michna”), and host and word artist Mizz Cannon.

The experience — a celebration of New York City’s designers, architects, dancers, poets, and alchemists of the unseen – with creative/technical direction and projection design by George Del Barrio – happens between 7pm and 10pm Saturday, April 13th at The Bellewether, a project space in Midtown Manhattan dedicated to site- specific installation/performance immersions and photo/film production. This will be Ms. Iliev-Piselli’s 1st production at the Bellewether.

Inspired by Detroit’s dance parties and its downtown anti-club art scene, SKY explores an upscale, professional live event infused with off-center and mystical art, music, and movement. Iliev-Piselli’s production offers a new perspective: the individual’s journey to the highest self and purpose ascends skyward literally and figuratively. As one moves towards the sky, everything that no longer serves – illusions, the weight of the world, old beliefs – melts away. “New Yorkers live and work with heads down,” Marquina stated, “We need a break from our realities, and can go to the clouds where our imaginations live. That imaginary realm is SKY.”

The curated experience consists of four unique, yet interwoven, acts. It begins with tasting Brooklyn micro- brews and the gift of new names, which will melt worn, stale identities. Guests enter the Bellewether’s Cathedral, where Michna builds the night with sound as he transitions from abstract ambient sounds to up-tempo disco, house, and beyond. Oracles from the future, known as Starbellas, flutter through the crowd and answer questions through movement and written response. Ancient Greek oracles, the sibyls of Rome, and starman David Bowie are this act’s influencers. The experience ends with non-idiomatic improvisation and the automatic drawing method explored by Hilma af Klint, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, and André Breton: Midler will paint a 15-foot canvas and reflect the participants’ ascension to SKY, a destination that exists on a higher plane of their collective consciousness. Michna’s DJ set will feed off the audience’s response to Midler’s work; Midler’s painting will feed off the audience’s reaction to Michna’s sounds. The Oracles will feed off everyone’s vibrations.

Art, movement, music, and the mystical loop and melt together, allowing for the shedding of preconceived notions and creating a truly memorable experience.

“SKY” happens from 7PM-10PM, Saturday April 13th at The Bellewether (222 East 46th Street NYC). Participation is by reservation only, and tickets are available now via Eventbrite.

ABOUT THE VANDERBILT REPUBLIC The Vanderbilt Republic (VR, est. 2008) is a creative/production agency formed to catalyze the impact of artistic expression in all modes. Based in Manhattan and Brooklyn, VR sees artists as leaders, activists, and agents for positive change. Through our work with the creative diaspora, the agency offers boutique solutions in transmedia creative production, design & direction, artist representation, and landscape projection design. George Del Barrio is VR’s Creative Director × Executive Producer. — vanderbiltrepublic.com

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ABOUT MARQUINA ILIEV-PISELLI Marquina Iliev-Piselli is Facemelter-in-Chief at Melted Everything and organized La Bibliotheque & Afternoon Dance Party. She is the Digital Marketing Director of Next Big Idea Club, an internationally competitive air guitarist, and the master of melting faces & making impossible ideas possible. — meltedeverything.com

ABOUT RICK MIDLER Rick Midler is a Brooklyn-based artist, creative director, and musician. He received an Emmy for his collaborations with HBO and has exhibited and sold work throughout the U.S. and Canada. His recent show “Clouds and Trees” included over 50 pieces created between 2017 and 2018 was held at Automatic Studios in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Although mostly self-taught, he studied art at the School of Visual Arts and the Art Students League of New York. Rick is dedicated to using improvisational methods of creating art, both live and in the studio. — rickmidler.com

ABOUT JESSICA HARRIS Jessica Harris founded Oracle Acts in 2017 and shares wisdom at parties, events, and with the public. She is a founding member of Shen Wei Dance Arts and danced with the company for more than ten years around the world including in performance at Lincoln Center Festival, Kennedy Center, Sydney Opera House, Het Musiztheater, Hong Kong Grand Theater, and Sadler’s Wells. In 2008, Jessica joined Shen Wei to choreograph material for the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. She has worked with Marina Abramovic and Anna Deavere Smith. — oracleacts.com

ABOUT MICHNA Adrian Yin Michna has performed as a DJ on four of the world's seven continents. In 2015, he collaborated with Yuri Suzuki & Yuka Honda on a two-day Sound Design Interaction Studio at MoMA. He has produced more than nine albums, with solo highlights released on Ghostly International. His original compositions can be heard on HBO's "Silicon Valley,” Sony Playstation's "Hohokum," and Nike’s LeBron campaigns. He received a BA in music from University of Miami's Frost School of Music. — ghostly.com/artists/michna