As with her previous moving-image works, handmade props and primary colors will be central to Stalk. She told me she was thinking about abrupt changes in her soundtrackвЂ™s tempo, which is almost entirely percussion, as analogous to the hard cuts that are hallmarks in her films. Her films greatly rely on her skillful and rhythmic editing, as well as her signature use of in-camera effects-unlike most artists today, she still shoots exclusively on celluloid-and animation.

(Beckman fans might recognize Kalweit from the artistвЂ™s 1986 film Cinderella, arguably her magnum opus.)Д«eckman has given significant thought to how she might make a live performance a bit more like a filmic work beyond simply merging the mediums.

The artist was graceful and firm-she knew what she wanted, but she also welcomed feedback and improvisation from her trusted collaborators, like performer Kalweit and composer Brooke Halprin, both of whom have worked with Beckman in the past. вЂњI didnвЂ™t want to hire a cameraperson and have to translate my ideas.вЂќ In watching the rehearsal for Stalk, it became obvious that sheвЂ™s a deft director. вЂњI wanted to get behind the camera,вЂќ she said. In the early 1980s, Beckman-who took John BaldessariвЂ™s famed post-studio course at CalArts with the likes of Tony Oursler, John Miller, and Mike Kelley-made the decision to pivot away from performing in her art and toward directing instead. Courtesy Philip Martin Gallery Los Angeles View of Ericka BeckmanвЂ™s film Reach Capacity, 2020, at Museum Leuven, Belgium. She told me, вЂњI still want Stalk to feel like a community play, like itвЂ™s local folks getting together to put on a show.вЂќ But she also edited it in such a way that allows a little room for her collaborators to improvise. Does he actually care about them, or is he trying to rip them off with false promises and a shady investment deal so he can climb to new heights?Д«eckman made a video that will serve as the playвЂ™s backdrop, and she watched it on a laptop while the dancers and musicians rehearsed. Eventually, the farmers begin to distrust his allegiances. He climbs the beanstalk to liaise between the workers down below and the corporate clouds above. She paints Jack as less of a hero or innocent mamaвЂ™s boy than a middleman. ItвЂ™s not always wise to risk it all to get rich quick, and few tellings of the story adequately warn that those who tell you otherwise tend to have their own agendas. Rather, she uses it as an archetype to challenge its moral. Beckman doesnвЂ™t rehash the well-known tale. In Stalk, investing in stocks (and stalks, as it were) is the game of chance at hand. Ericka Beckman rehearsals Stalk, 2021, for the Performa

Calarts percussion studio