Wild Space Presents ‘By Accident and Necessity’

From a candy storeof delectable aphorisms offered by Milwaukeephotographer Tom Bamberger for this article, my favorite is: “Our brains wantto know; if it were up to our brains, we would have no present.” This is a goodintroduction to his time-bending new artwork, which he calls “photos with timeor movies without time.”

After viewing a53-second sequence on a computer screen, during which I was aware of a subtle,unidentifiable change in the photographic image, I was shaken to learn that thefirst and last pictures were radically different. They shared a subjectascattering of twigs and leaves against concretebut it was as if, while staringat a single spot, I had walked across town!

ChoreographerDebra Loewen of Wild Space Dance Companyhad invited me to see the work at Bamberger’s studio, sinceplease notewordscan’t do it justice. Months ago, Bamberger had invited her over for thatpurpose.

“I had beenhibernating from my career,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was doing; this wasan innocent exploration.”

Loewen proposed acollaboration, which she has taken the initiative to produce, in which time andseeing itself are the subjects.

“By Accident andNecessity” will happen twice, on Friday, Jan. 29, and Saturday, Jan. 30, from8-11 p.m., in an easy-to-find warehouse just south of Pittsburgh Street and west of the river.Audiences may arrive and depart at will, and are free to move and conversethroughout.

Bamberger’sinterrelated movies will play continuously on three 16-by-9-foot screensbetween 8 and 11 p.m., while 11 dancers, including a guest appearance by YukiClark, on loan from Milwaukee Ballet, perform Loewen’s dances at intervals.This is important, risk-taking work from some of our finest artists.

For more information, visit www.wildspacedance.org