Features Artist Interviews Festival Files Electric Forest Livening Up Electric Forest 2012
Livening Up Electric Forest 2012
- By Nick Rhodes
- Published on May 16, 2012
 |
| Electric Forest 2011 - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
The magic of Sherwood Forest in Rothbury, Michigan is perhaps the one universally agreed upon concept in the jam band and electronica communities.
After two wildly successful years, the Rothbury festival took a hiatus in 2010, leaving fans of the event to continue to expound upon its lore and sensationalize the mystifying nature of the storied forest.
String Cheese Incident, who reunited after a hiatus of their own on the Rothbury stage in 2009, must have also felt that immense magic when they decided to bring music back to the Double J Ranch in 2011 for the first-ever Electric Forest.
Now entering its second year, the festival has gained considerable traction with a moniker based entirely on that special wooded area.
[BUY tickets and find more information on Electric Forest 2012 on the festival's official website.]
 |
| Electric Forest 2011 - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
But while the lineup speaks for itself, it’s really the subtle nuances and dedication to the experience that sets Electric Forest apart from other events. From costumed acrobats to fire-breathing men on stilts, organizers want to make Electric Forest an unforgettable experience that assaults all your senses.
We chatted with Electric Forest art director Tia Christiansen, who also worked on both Rothburys and EF last year, about their lofty goals for year two, the many art installations and events they have planned and how fans may run into a Yeti and Abe Lincoln talking about modern politics.
--
Headstash Magazine: What’s your role with Electric Forest and what are your primary responsibilities?
Tia Christiansen: I coordinate all of the visual art and performance art for the event. I’m also in charge of any installations over in the Tripoli area of the festival. In Rothbury [2008], we had the monkeys that everyone remembers and some amazing stretch fabric installations.
All of those things I'm involved with overseeing and coordinating as well as scouting for visual artists and reviewing their proposals and pulling it together so that selections can be made by the promoters and the artistic director.
I'm also part of the team of three that oversees Sherwood Forest. We all have specific little things that we do in the forest, but we work as a team to try and make that a really unique, interactive, vibrant experience.
[Another member of the team], Andy Carroll, being a lighting designer and having worked with The String Cheese Incident for many years, has a very unique skill-set that he can bring to really highlight the visual aspect with regard to lighting in that area.
[The forest installations] are going to be iconic. They're going to be the type of thing that people are going to talk about for a number of years.
HM: Beyond everything about the amazing music, it seems like the Rothbury festivals and now Electric Forest are seen as so special because of the work you guys do with the forest and the art installations. Are you surprised at the overwhelmingly positive reaction and feedback?
TC: I don't think it really struck me that people were really engaged with what was happening until I saw things online. It was one of those “seeing the forest through the trees” kind of moments.
You're doing everything you can to pull together unique experiences with visual and performance art. We're having that conversation all the time and I think it took a couple of festivals for it to really sink in that the people were talking about it a lot.
HM: What’s the overarching goal when you sit down and begin planning art for the festival? Do you have one theme or mantra in mind? Give us your thought process.
TC: I think the first thing we do, especially with Electric Forest, is make it so it doesn’t just feel like Rothbury. We try to find its unique identity. We also did a lot of brainstorming with organizers about the direction they wanted to take the festival and its aesthetic.
We try to be aware of what's going on in the art scene right now and how we can bring together a little bit from the variety of areas and locales.
 |
| Electric Forest 2011 - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
[FOLLOW Electric Forest on Facebook.]
How can we bring together these very interesting things that are going on in these very different artistic communities and bring them all together so they create an eclectic mix?
From a performance art perspective, we joke around about creating a scene where people are walking around and they're talking to their friends and say, “I just had the craziest experience. There was a Yeti talking to Abe Lincoln, having a discussion about modern politics at the bar I just got my drink at. That is the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life.”
Then, there could be a contortionist who jumps on the bar and does some crazy things and then an aerialist drops down from a tree.
Looking at creating a way for people to walk away from the experience being wowed and knowing that regardless who's booked and what's going on, they know they want to return next year. They're ready for the overall experience because they know that the event is going to be amazing.
We’ve changed the look of the Forest Stage every year, but it always functions as a place to have music, performance art, burlesque, theater shows, dance shows and some surprise guests. We want to create an overall, well-rounded experience so that people know every year is going to be amazing and they keep coming back regardless of who’s booked.
HM: You know you’re getting a few nights of String Cheese and their LD is obviously involved, but how much does the rest of the lineup influence what you guys do for the festival?
TC: It’s not what I hang my hat on, but it's one ingredient that I use to take a look at the overall experience. Back to the shift from Rothbury to Electric Forest, we had a more of our DJ and electronic community come into play last year. So when it came time to look at what I was going to do with the Forest Stage, I really tried to find out what speaks to that community from a visual standpoint.
It goes back to the question of what is Electric Forest? What does it mean for us and what do we want to present to people? I think this year we really fine-tuned its identity and it has become a really nice mix of different elements that fans of jam and electronic music enjoy.
You can’t go wrong when it comes to bright, moving lights. Everybody likes that.
HM: Talk a little more about what you have in store for this year that you’re excited about.
TC: We have some truly amazing installations that are going to be put in Sherwood Forest. I won't tip my hat to what they are because they're going to be iconic. They're going to be the type of thing that people are going to talk about for a number of years.
 |
| Electric Forest 2011 - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
[FIND complete lineups, ticketing information and analysis of all your favorite festivals via our 2012 Festival Guide.]
Both of the performance troupes have really worked to reinvent what they normally do for a stage show so that it fits within the small, intimate Forest Stage and the area. We can take their stage shows and turn them on their head and engage the entire area.
The other performance art troupe that we have is a group called Quixotic.I think they're some of the freshest stuff out there right now. Every time I see something they're doing I'm just blown away.
We will also have a number of performance platforms in the forest – some of them will be a little bit more hidden than others. People should expect an alien dancing with a ballerina or something crazy like that.
HM: So what’s the number one thing you’re excited about for the festival?
TC: It's hard for me to pick one. We have so many surprises in store visually and from a performing artist perspective that I just really encourage people to keep their eyes wide open, be ready to participate and go exploring.
We're going to have a magic circus band called Environmental Encroachment out of the Chicago area and they're going to be roving around the site probably causing mayhem and sharing fun. They're going to be sort of like our house band.
[FOLLOW Headstash on Facebook.]
There's a little theatrical person that lives inside all of us and maybe somebody bumps into one of our performing artists who's in character or doing something fun and they're able to engage with them and allow their little theater person to come out and play. It can change them and help with their own personal development.
HM: Really looking forward to checking out all the stuff you guys have going on. Thanks for the time, Tia.
TC: Thank you. We have a great team. It doesn't work without a whole team of people.
 |
| Electric Forest 2011 - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
 |
| Electric Forest 2011 - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
 |
| Electric Forest 2011 - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
--
Electric Forest takes place June 28 to July 1 in Rothbury, Michigan with String Cheese Incident, STS9, Girl Talk, Santigold, Thievery Corporation, Ghostland Observatory, Bassnectar, Keller Williams and many more scheduled to appear. For more information and ticketing prices, check out the festival's official website or our 2012 Festival Guide.
Who are you most excited to see at Electric Forest 2012 and why? Let us know in the comments below.
