ADRIANA KIDON

Special to The Denisonian

Tutti is an Italian, musical term meaning “everyone playing.” Students celebrated the collaborative and creative spirit of all disciplines across campus through the tiny Tutti tasting tour. It is a time conscious, inclusive celebration of all of the different arts.

From photographers and poets, to printmakers and bluegrass musicians, experimental drawers, computer musicians, cinema and theatre students, dancers, and rappers, any artist you could think of displayed their best pieces in a crowded, intimate space in the Denison museum.

The tiny Tutti tasting tour, hosted on February 26th in the Denison museum, displayed works of ‘fast’ art created by various paired off classes. These works were all created in about 6 days or less by students involved in music, dance, studio art, creative writing, cinema, theatre, and environmental studies.

Professor Ching-chu Hu, the director of the event, described it as “a week long celebration of fast art. Every two years, Denison hosts the official Tutti Festival, which is very well received among the Denison body.  Unfortunately, it is a bit too difficult to sustain year to year. The Tiny Tutti tasting tour was created as a scaled down version of the Tutti Festival. In the tasting tour, students have a limited time to collaborate, create, and showcase their work. Ultimately, it’s a way for students to explore their personal creative processes through small projects that won’t consume their whole semester.”

Hu explained the interesting collaboration and crossing the arts., saying, “We have a photography class taking photos and a poetry class responding to the images. The back and forth interaction between the classes is how this fast art is produced.”

In conjunction with the collaboration of students, guest visual artist Elizabeth Leister, Denison’s ensemble-in-residence ETHEL and Sandy Mather, part of the dance faculty, were among some of the talent.

After the reception, there was an open jam in the black box as well as a talkback with a conversational question and answer session. Hu stated, “Anyone who has the slightest urge to play or sing had the opportunity to during the open jam. The Q and A is a great way to interact with the visiting artists as well.”

In the end, the event was a great success and a wonderful way to condense the Tutti festival while still celebrating the arts.