Deke Weaver
Interdisciplinary Art
Champaign-Urbana, IL
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Deke Weaver is a writer-performer and media artist. Experimental theater, film/video, dance, and solo performance venues have presented Weaver’s interdisciplinary performances and videos in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe, Russia and the United States.
A resident at Yaddo, a three-time resident of Ucross, a five-time fellow at the MacDowell Colony, a three-time recipient of NEA regional film/video grants, a 2009 Creative Capital grantee, and a 2014-15 Guggenheim Fellow, his work, described as “explosive” (San Francisco Weekly) and “brilliant” (The Village Voice) has “handcuffed a secure storytelling knack to a performance style that pushes the energy envelope toward hyperventilating madness” (Sidewalk.com).
From 1999-2005 he was the Senior Animator for the Showtime Networks’ Broadcast Design Group. He is currently an associate professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with appointments in the Department of Theatre and the School of Art and Design's New Media Program.
Featured Work
WOLF (2013) was the 3rd performance in The Unreliable Bestiary (a life-long project presenting a performance for each letter of the alphabet, each letter represented by an endangered animal or habitat. unreliablebestiary.org for more info) This video document is 139 minutes long. There are three different segments in the show. The Bus (0min-45min), the Woods (45min-1hr 5min), the Barn (1hr 5min - the end). codirector, producer, writer, video design - Deke Weaver codirected, choreographer,- Jennifer Allen sound design/composer - Chris Peck lighting design - Valerie Oliveiro costume design - Susan Becker environmental design - Grant Bowen dramaturg - Jayne Wenger Rangers - Aaron Landsman, Deke Weaver Wolf Dancers - Jennifer Allen, Nico Brown, Laura Chiaramonte, Jessica Cornish, Niall Jones, Angie Pittman Assistant Rangers - David Hays, elizaBeth Simpson Junior-Assistant Rangers - Joe Coyle, Jenelle Davis, Ellen Hartman, Mary McCormack Installation Artists - Maria Lux, Nicki Werner Installation Art Team - Ben Barber, Daniella Birch, Jessica Kiel-Wornson, Katie Latona, JR Lill, Hali Linn, Jenelle Davis, Jason Patterson, Kelsey Reed, Alex Schutz, Sean Tierney Map Drawing - Krystal Harper Stage Manager - Nicki Werner Audio Systems/Board Op - Bradford Chapin Video Systems - Damon Loren Baker Light Board Op - Hali Linn Ax Folk - Grant Bowen, Samantha Persons, Rebecca Bedinger eDREAM/Space Animation - Jeffrey Carpenter, AJ Christensen, Donna Cox, Stuart Levy, Robert Patterson Wolf Medallions - Andrew Quitmeyer Carcass Design - Kim Curtis Costume Design Assistants - Rose Kaczmarowski, Rachel Suntop Photo Documentation - Valerie Oliveiro Video Documentation - Shatterglass Studios Shatterglass Video Producer - Brett Hays Director of Video Shoot - Luke Boyce Lead Video Camera - Myles Beeson Camera - Barrett Nicol, Thomas Nicol, Andrew Stengele Camera Sync Editor - Alison Greenwood Editor - Deke Weaver Audio Edit/Sweetening - Chris Peck WOLF was supported by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and residencies at Ucross and Isle Royale National Park. The units from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign that supported the project included the Campus Research Board, Center for Advanced Study, College of Fine & Applied Arts, Krannert Center for Performing Arts, eDREAM, School of Music, and the School of Art & Design. This program was partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. And many many Kickstarter friends!