Get Curious with the Flobots at the DAM

"The curiosity package is only for the extra bold, with extra time, at no extra cost. The black cats don’t have answers, but they know where the questions are…." Curious? Good. That’s just the way the Flobots want it. The band is the latest Creative-in-Residence at the Denver Art Museum. Their residency, which runs May 2−May 29, will feature a “curiosity package” with installed elements and live programming to create a dialogue between visitors, artwork, and each other.

Power & Curiosity to the People

“For us, as a band, the primary thrust is to point to people’s power, so we wanted to point to people who work here, the staff, visitors, and their power they have in the experience of viewing the artwork here,” said Stephen Brackett, aka Brer Rabbit. “We made a point to talk to people here, and the one response that we kept hearing was that the people who ‘do’ the museum right every time are kids. They’re unafraid to be curious and to ask questions. We hope the curiosity package will help adults get back to that mindset.”

The above riddle about black cats appears on signage about the curiosity package. Ask at a welcome desk on level one of the Hamilton Building or the North Building to get directions for where to pick one up.

Call & Response Event

The Flobots’ residency kicks off on May 2 at 2−4 pm with Call and Response, a participatory experience during which they will teach visitors movement songs and encourage singing in the museum’s galleries. (May 2 is a Free First Saturday.)

“We all have a role in making the world a better place but we’re taught not to raise our voices, which is a problem in a democracy,” said Jamie Laurie, aka Jonny 5. “We have to become more comfortable with raising our voices.”

“We’re trying to get a document of the emotions people feel when they look at the different pieces, and use that to make an album of this experience,” Brackett said. “During the call and response event we will be creating 16 new songs with our audiences, so at a bare minimum we will come out of this residency with 16 new tracks. We are working with nine composers who are writing music of different emotions. Our music is not about us. What happens when you open it up to your audiences? It’s like having a whole other set of colors to paint with.”

“We want to write songs that can be used by social movements, not just about them,” Laurie said. “We want you to value your emotional experiences at the DAM, and we invite you to share it with us. When we all learn together it feels liberating.”

“Office Hours” & Final Performance

The Flobots also will be hosting “office hours” at the DAM on Wednesdays, May 13—27, 10 am—noon where museum visitors also can contribute. They will end their residency with a final performance at Untitled Final Fridays: Some Assembly Required.

Learn More

Visit Artists at Work or the official blog of the creative-in-residence program. Or follow the hashtags #creativitypackage #DAMFlobots or #creativeinresidence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.