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Stephan Koplowitz: TaskForce
Commissioned by the Transatlantic Arts Consortium
All photos by Sherri Breyer, Steve Gunther, Scott Groller and S. Koplowitz

TaskForce is a new site-art dance
touring company that works on a
project to project basis. Fluid in it's
conception TaskForce is made up of
selected artists and performers drawn
from the cultural landscape of its host
city or region. It is a process oriented
performance laboratory where artists
are asked to draw inspiration from the
architecture, history, culture and
ecology of multiple sites within a single
geographic area all connected by a
common theme.

Working within an intensive time frame
(usually three weeks of rehearsal + one
week of performances) under the
direction of veteran site-artist Stephan
Koplowitz, each artist is given a
different creative \"task\" to be explored
and performed at the various sites. The
content of each performance is made
up of a combination of site-specific
choreography, site-adaptive material
and improvisational scores inspired by
each performance site.

The core of TaskForce is an ensemble
of eight highly trained dancers, a
composer/performer and a
documentary filmmaker. Bringing
together new partners and collaborating
artists for each location, TaskForce
builds creative networks that span the
globe. It made it’s debut in Idyllwild, CA
in June, 2008 (Mapping Idyllwild). It's
current project Liquid Landscapes is a
three year triptych based on the theme
of water beginning in Los Angeles,
California (2008) then traveling to
Dartington/Plymouth, UK (2009) and
then a site To Be Determined (2010).
TaskForce 2008-10 is funded by the Transatlantic
Arts Consortium (TAC).

After one day off, TaskForce begins a three week creation period for Liquid Landscapes in Los
Angeles. Liquid Landscapes postcard (front)

Stephan Koplowitz directs a second
site-specific short film revisiting locations
from the movie, Chinatown. Collaborates
with videographer
Ki Jin Kim, MFA2 film student at CalArts.
The films is titled: Chinatown: Watermark

On location at
Echo Park

DAY ONE: TaskForce’s first event was the premiere of their site/movie-
specific film, Chinatown: Watermark and then a full screening of the
original film Chinatown, as part of Grand Performances at Cal Plaza.
Sunday, June 30, 2008.

DAY TWO: Monday, July 1st , at noon and 5pm, TaskForce
premiered an hour long site-specific work made for the plaza
and fountains. It was seen by several hundred people at each
performance. The work used the entire plaza as its
stage in a 360º manner.

Day THREE: TaskForce performs at the historic Farmers Market at 3rd
and Fairfax. The performance consisted of a 90 minute installation inside
the food market followed by 45 minutes event outside on the Plaza
between the market and The Grove shopping mall. Tuesday, July 1, 2008

TaskForce composer/
musician Todd Reynolds with
dancer Storme Sundberg

DAY FOUR: TaskForce performed at LA’s premiere alternative
dance venue, the Open Space in an evening of site inspired dance
improvisation. It was a chance to share with an audience some of
the processes learned during the past six weeks of work.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

This concert featured both TaskForce composers, Paul Chavez and
Todd Reynolds

Day FIVE: TaskForce
partners with the
Community Arts Program
(CAP) at CalArts and the Dept.
of Cultural Affairs for a
special performance
at the Banning Center at
the Port of Los Angeles.
Guest artists included
ten eighth grade students
who created a special
visual art installation
on site at the port.
TaskForce created a
three part performance.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
BANNING’S LANDING COMMUNITY CULTURAL CENTER

Section two inside the Banning Center

Section three

Day SIX: TaskForce joins forces with the Los Angeles Urban Rangers, a
performance art group devoted to creative investigations of the urban
landscape. The Rangers collaborated with TaskForce on their Malibu
beach access lectures which help the general public understand the
legalities of public beach accessibility. Friday, July 4, 2008

Disgruntled Malibu beachfront home owners
attempt to vocally and physically disrupt the
performance claiming exclusive access to
the beach. Both invoke their “rights” on the
fourth of July, an ironic moment and one that
brought into focus the idea of art
and social activism.

Day SEVEN: TaskForce creates a three part site-specific event at Farmlab, a downtown
environmental arts center. The performances took place in and around water based
sculpture by artist Lauren Bon, Farmlab’s founder. July 5, 2008

Part Two

Part Three

Day EIGHT: In partnership with the Friends of the Los Angeles River (FOLAR), an
environmental organization dedicated to the preservation of the river, TaskForce created an
all day tour of the LA River. Audience members were able to take a bus (or drive on their
own) to four different locations on the LA River. (Executive Director of FOLAR Shelly Backlar
pictured at center.

This all day event featured four different site-specific performances at four points along the
river. Specially commissioned poems, read by the author, renowned LA poet Suzanne Lummis,
lectures on the history and use of the LA River by noted author and expert Jenny Price and live
music by TaskForce composer Todd Reynolds. July 6, 2008: 10am to 4pm

Within six weeks, TaskForce created two films, 13 different site-specific
creations (FREE TO THE PUBLIC), collaborated with 41 local artists and was
seen by over 3,000 people between Idyllwild and Los Angeles. In both Idyllwild
and Los Angeles, it garnered ample press and publicity and brought art
making and performance into the public arena.

The next stop in TaskForce’s Liquid Landscapes tour will take place in June, 2009. Performances will take place in
Plymouth UK are to be presented with Dartington Arts. The company will begin its residency June 1st with
performances from Jun 20 through 28. Stephan Koplowitz held auditions in London and hired six UK based
dancers and will bring two TaskForce members from the 2008 performances in California.

From the home of Sir Francis
Drake, the person responsible
for bringing water to the city
of Plymouth, to…

The the last spot the Mayflower Pilgrims walked before
embarking to the New World. TaskForce will
collaborate with a whole new set of artists and sites in
2009.

Stephan Koplowitz
skoplowitz@gmail.com
www.taskforceprojects.com