Weird Winter by Austin-based artist Steve Parker is a joyful, offbeat holiday-inspired display in two spaces at the Blanton.
The Check-In mezzanine features snow globes dancing to music from the Nutcracker, festive garlands and twisted trumpets emerging from suitcases, and motors and pulleys that bring tree branches to life. In The Lookout, reclaimed brass instruments appear to float in space, playing a funky musical score composed by Parker for 5 minutes on the half hour.
Weird Winter is organized by the Blanton Museum of Art. Included with museum admission and Second Saturdays admission. Located in the Blanton’s Check-In mezzanine and The Lookout.
About the Artist
Steve Parker is a musician, artist, and curator who creates communal, democratic work to examine history, systems, and behavior. His projects include elaborate civic rituals for humans, animals, and machines; listening sculptures made from salvaged marching band instruments that are modeled after obsolete WWII acoustic locators; and cathartic transportation symphonies for operators of cars, pedicabs, and bicycles. He is the recipient of the 2021 Rome Prize, the 2020 Ashurst Prize (UK), and the 2018 Tito’s Prize, as well as multiple grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is also a 2023 McKnight Visiting Composer with the American Composers Forum.
