Permanence of Change

About the Project

“Permanence of Change'' investigates the transitory nature of human interactions with time, space, and energy. The work uncovers the legacy of late modernity through the lenses of five collaborating artists—all transplants to the region—who are multi- and transdisciplinary in their practices. Using panoramic stop-motion photography, digital manipulation, live video projection mixing, and performance activation, each artist contributes a unique perspective as curious “outsiders” to the St. Louis area.

transi(en)t

(2023) a short collaborative film by Audrey Simes, Dr. Bill Russell, erika harano, and Kevin de Miranda

The Artists

Audrey Simes

Audrey Nicole Simes is a transdisciplinary artist whose immersive work blurs the lines between installation art, performance, and everyday life. The resulting works highlight her broad interests in family narrative and cultural memory, woman as subject matter, individual agency and social control, militarization, surveillance, and environmental disaster. Simes is co-director of Flo Art Collective, an art and dance theater collective based in St. Louis. Her independent works and performances have been showcased at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, the Grandel, Saint Louis International Film Festival, Regional Arts Commission, Hoffman LaChance Contemporary, Mad Art Gallery, Kranzberg Arts Center, Saint Lou Fringe, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, Artica, and Copenhagen Artists in Residence. Simes was selected as St. Louis Post Dispatch’s Arts and Theater Rising Star in 2016 for “Tributary,” which shed light on the nuclear waste contamination at Coldwater Creek in North St. Louis, and was awarded the Regional Arts Commission’s Artist Fellowship in 2019.

Dr. Bill Russell

Artist. Architect. Musician. Physician.

Dr. Bill Russell’s work is a collection of stories, guerilla art, experimental architecture, wearable garments, digital media, and large-scale fiber art installations.  Inspired by Dadaism, Hilla and Bernd Becher, and I M Pei, Dr. Bill examines the subtle changes in architecture and environments to reveal the hidden infrastructures of American consumerism and social inequality. Personal narratives and historical references are enmeshed to create a new mythology of a given place and time. Dr. Bill holds advanced degrees in physical medicine, acupuncture, and the fine arts including a BFA in Ceramics and Printmaking and an MA in Weaving from Pittsburg State University and an MFA in Multimedia from Washington University. Additionally, he studied dance with Katherine Dunham and DeBorah Ahmed, contact improvisation with Sarah Shelton Mann, West African percussion with Mor Thiam, and toured internationally with Gash/Voigt Dance Theater as an installation artist, videographer, and physician.

erika harano

erika is a body-based, mixed-discipline artist working across performance, choreography, installation, time-based media, emergent media, printmaking, language, and experience design. in her latest work, she explores multisensory relationships to intimacy, recognition, and surface/tension through the curation of hybrid, kinetic, non-linear, inquiry-based encounters. erika has produced works as an artist-in-residence with Monson Arts, Ox-Bow School of Art, Resilience Dance Company, and Lake Studios Berlin.

Kevin de Miranda

Weaving image, sound, and story is an artistic passion of St. Louis based cinematographer and producer Kevin de Miranda.  His work spans a variety of genres, including music, films, documentary, commercial, and narrative. A classically trained musician, de Miranda developed his cinematography skills through intensive self-study, mentorship, and the completion of hundreds of commercial projects in a variety of industries including city development, weddings, manufacturing, restaurant, and e-commerce. Kevin de Miranda works thoughtfully, with an attention to pre-production that yields efficient shoots, quick edits and an artistic focus on narrative. Kevin has a Master’s degree in classical guitar performance from University of Denver, and until 2020 had an active career teaching and performing in China. He uses his abilities as a musician to produce film soundtracks, and his musical perspective inspires his storytelling

Zlatko Ćosić

Zlatko Ćosić is a video artist born in Yugoslavia whose work includes short films, video installations, theater and architectural projections, and audio-visual performances. Ćosić’s experience as a refugee influenced and shaped the content of his early artistic practice. His work began with the challenges of immigration and shifting identities, evolving to socio-political issues related to injustice, consumerism, and climate crisis. Ćosić's artwork has been shown in over fifty countries in exhibitions such as the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Video Vortex XI at Kochi-Muzeris Biennale, ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, St. Louis International Film Festival, Torrance Art Museum, Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, /si:n/ Video Art and Performance Biennale, Institut Für Alles Mögliche, The Pulitzer Arts Foundation, Kunstverein Kärnten, Art Speaks Out at UN Climate Change Conference, and the Research Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale. He has received grants including the WaveMaker Grants at Locust Projects, a Kranzberg Grant from Laumeier Sculpture Park, and the Regional Arts Commission Artist Fellowship.