An artwork by Pedro Lasch, Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts, and FHI Social Practice Lab, with Nate Koch as special project producer.

On Aug 2nd, 2018 (12:30-3:00pm) over 300 adults and 1,200 children ages 4-18 came together at Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts to produce an immersive art experience by and for each other. Spread across Usdan’s spectacular forest campus and architecture in Long Island, one map guided us all across more than 25 projects designed by the event’s participants and collaborators. It was impossible for anyone to see or hear it all, but we will soon begin to use the materials we produced that day to create a general picture of what happened. Ultimately, every experience was unique to the project we were each involved in, and the path we chose to follow as active audiences.

Opening in the amphitheater with a mysterious act involving leaf blowers, chess, mobile gardens, and chicken flying with the aid of balloons, the event ended with a spontaneous dance party at the same location. Along their path during The Big Plunge, people found themselves inside a school bus, surrounded by the movement of graceful dancers. We also witnessed a Chicken, a Tortoise, and a Bearded Dragon, posing for photographers and a live drawing session, accompanied by stories written with them as inspiration. We saw human nests and sculptures in the forest, heard a Forest Chorus, and music by the Scattered Ensemble emerging from cottages in the woods. We watched ballet dancers collaborate with Qudditch players, and went to a solar party that used the sun’s heat to melt chocolate and marshmallows. At the pool, Usdan’s youngest citizens turned themselves and others into a human whirlpool. There was also a mural stretched in the trees, a crime scene, digital facepainting, a hip hop circus at the tennis courts, and much more.

A special thanks to the tireless Usdan staff, Department Chairs, and instructors, without whom none of this would have been possible. We will soon post credits for each project at our Usdan page, including students, faculty and staff.

The Big Plunge was the 2018 component of a three-year long socially engaged artwork by Lasch and Usdan called ‘Dreaming in the Woods’ (2017-2019).