Portland local Samuel Eisen-Meyers latest is an immersive, multimedia installation that walks viewers through a meditation on the psychology and deception of United States domestic imperialism.
Everyday in Oregon, we inhabit imperialism. In “Walking the World with this Fire,” (short films, physical installation, large scale painting, light and sound design, 3D fabrication) E-M provides space to reflect on our condition and reality. Visuals, like a painting of Christopher Columbus adorned in police regalia, suggest how explicit imperialism has adapted and morphed over the centuries.
“Art and music are the tools that I have, and that my community has, to communicate and impact systemic change.”
Samuel Eisen-Meyers, Artist/Creator
SAMUEL EISEN-MEYERS: A Note From The Creator
I began to see the connection between art, politics, resistance, revolution, and community at a young age. I also saw the impact, importance, and necessity to pass on the support my community afforded me wherever, and whenever I could. I began writing music at the age of 12. I was performing in some of Portland’s oldest, and now mostly shuttered, Blues clubs at the age of 13. Simultaneously I was painting. I have never been able to focus on just one medium, or one outlet. Music and material arts are both pieces of me. They draw from each other.
I have been working on this exhibit for almost two years. All of my work up until this point of my life has informed my current practice and my abilities to cross-pollinate with different mediums. Short films, scaled productions, concert tours, event planning, music production, community organizing; they inform the entirety of the scope of this project. They enable me to tie together all the mediums I have been using since I was a teenager. Art and music are the tools that I have, and that my community has, to communicate and impact change. Art will always have a large part in changing an individual’s intellectual headspace and our collective social fabric and creative will.
“Art and music are the tools that I have, and that my community has, to communicate and impact systemic change.”
CoHo Productions and Samuel Eisen-Meyers are thrilled to bring this exhibit to the theatre, completely free of charge. Donations towards this project are gratefully accepted in advance or at the door. All funds received are tax-deductible and will be split 50/50 between the artist and CoHo. Funds will be used to support independently produced art, ensuring living wages for the artist and staff, and preserving the longevity and sustainability of this project.
Feel like lending your support? Donate today!
WALKING THE WORLD WITH THIS FIRE
Gallery open to the public from January 5th – 15th between 4 – 9 PM
CREATIVE TEAM
Samuel Eisen-Meyers…………………..Artist/Creator/Producer/Director
Phil Johnson………………………………..Executive Producer/Light Tech
Twixx Williams…………………………….Director of Photography/Creative Video Editing
Samir Khurshid……………………………Asst. Art Director and Artist Mentor
Matthew Morgan……………………….Sound Design Mixing and Mastering
Ashley Walters…………………………….Social and Marketing Photography
Hafsa Aden………………………………..Asst. DP and Production Assistance
Miguel Rodriguez………………………Asst. DP and Producing Assistance
Skylor Young……………………………..Production Assistant
Clifton Holznagel………………………Projector Tech/Support
Simon Davis – Cohen………………….Artist Communications
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
No Limits PDX…………………………..Vinyl Cut Out/Install
Deuja…………………………………………Embroidery
Tap Plastics……………………………….Acrylic Fabrication
Julia Ford………………………………….Moving/Install
Justin Ford……………………………….Moving/Install
Eisen-Meyers Compound…………Moving/Install
Josh Heumann………………………….Install
Nick Hamel……………………………….Install
COHO STAFF
Phil Johnson………………………………….Producing Artistic Associate
Morgan Clark-Gaynor…………………….Operations Manager
Laurel Wilde Daniel……………………….Communications Manager
SPECIAL THANKS
To my Portland family, friends and community who continuously show up and support my journey, artistic endeavors and dreams.
ARTIST BIO
SAMUEL EISEN-MEYERS (b. 1990, Portland, Oregon) worked on this installation while co-founding an arts coalition founded on the principles to bring power, autonomy and resources to independent artists and works, producing music and engaging politically, including via a “We are the Dream: Spring Break Out” community conversation hosted by Don’t Shoot Portland. He is a conceptual and multidisciplinary artist focusing on themes related to perspective, media, popular culture, love and social transformation.
Through collaboration, music, filmmaking, painting, video, community art projects and dance, Samuel has engaged Portland’s community, worked in schools and been featured in concert halls, theaters, museums and galleries. He works full time as an artist, creative entrepreneur, composer, performing artist, small business facilitator and community organizer.