UCM Gallery of Art & Design, Warrensburg, MO 2011 - Jaimie Warren

WHOOP DEE
DOO !!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeremy Mikolajczak
Director & Chief Curator, UCM Gallery of Art & Design
Featuring all things related to the frozen tundra, Whoop Dee Doo’s Underwater Icy Freezing Cold Watery Extravaganza!!! was
composed of various vignettes that culminated into one colossal installation at the UCM Gallery of Art & Design. Opening
January 13th and continuing for seven snow-laden weeks (including the blizzard of 2011), the main gallery was transformed into
an equally frigid arctic landscape. The installation, created by Kansas City based performance/installation artist group Whoop
Dee Doo, submerged viewers into an otherworldly experience that chilled to the bone and burst with laughter.
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On view through February 18, the exhibition
included an interactive sea monster disaster
scene, icy treasure maze, abandoned submarine
control room, deadly igloo, whale carcass video
viewing rooms, and a large performance and
video projection ice cave. Imbedded within the
massive installation, Whoop Dee Doo exhibited
six looped videos from past performances
including their recent performance at the Smart
Museum of Art at the University of Chicago.
The exhibition at the UCM Gallery of Art &
Design was Whoop Dee Doo’s first complete
exhibit-style installation and allowed viewers
to enter into their phantasmagorical world and
presented what they do best - play.
Established in 2006 by friends Jaimie Warren
and Matt Roche, Whoop Dee Doo started out
as a kid-friendly faux public access traveling
television show featuring pre-planned
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performances accompanied by live audience
participation. Based in Kansas City and now
a 501c(3) nonprofit organization, Whoop Dee
Doo calls their studio/performance space in the
Crossroads Arts Districts home. Comprised
of more than 25 artists and volunteers, Whoop
Dee Doo strives to be an all-inclusive artists
collaborative that works with a diverse array of
performers and visual artists.
With past performances at major art
institutions in Chicago, New York, Sweden,
and upcoming engagements in Portland and
Philadelphia, Whoop Dee Doo continues
to expand their vision while understanding
the importance of the local community.
In addition to their artistic endeavors,
they are committed to arts education for
underprivileged youth in Kansas City and
provide workshops for organizations such
as “Operation Breakthrough,” a family
service center located in east Kansas City.
Whoop Dee Doo consistently challenges the
division between art and entertainment. They
demanded “no boundaries” when it came to
creating the entire installation and experience
of the Underwater Icy Freezing Cold Watery
Extravaganza!!!. Taking more than seven days
to complete, the installation was a 24 hour
construction site and included the ideas and
skills of 13 UCM Department of Art & Design
students. Reinforcing the collaborative process,
UCM students worked with Whoop Dee Doo
members prior to construction for ideas and
location of materials. “Trash to treasure,” a
common theme within Whoop Dee Doos’
aesthetic, resulted in 80 percent recycled or
found materials in creating their eccentric
environment.

On Saturday, February 5, in partnership with
the UCM Performing Arts Series, Whoop Dee
Doo presented their interactive performance art
experience. A three-hour long series of games,
skits and contests, the performance centered
around an “arctic” theme with members and
volunteers dressed up as fishermen, cavemen,
blue creatures and explorers. With games such
as “finger or a carrot,” “drink the brown water”
and “screaming contest,” audience members
experienced the live participation advantages
to Whoop Dee Doos’ strength as artistic
experience. The kid-centered event attracted
more than 150 attendees with participants
groaning, cheering, screaming, laughing, and
shouting as part of the fun.
Whoop Dee Doo’s Underwater Icy Freezing
Cold Watery Extravaganza!!! exhibition and
performance at the UCM Gallery of Art &
Design was the first full-scale installation and
performance in UCM’s gallery programming
history. It presented one example of the
paradoxical shift in contemporary art discourse
from single “artist” as the authoritative voice in
the creative process and end result, to “artist”
as collaborator in a democratic process in
achieving a collective end result. Whoop Dee
Doo’s strength thrives in its ability to partner
unlikely performers and volunteers and engage
audiences of all ages and cultural backgrounds
in their stylistic vision and chaotic, circus-like
variety show. Past performances have partnered
opposite: just a small portion of
Whoop Dee Doo’s show installation
right, below: Whoop Dee Doo
performs in the UCM Gallery
local celebrities with church group choirs,
senior citizen dance troupes with drag queen
performances, and an aspiring kid rapper with a
professional body builder, all while maintaining
a strict, kid-friendly environment and diverse
vision.
Enhanced by the all-encompassing collaborative
process, Whoop Dee Doo’s Underwater Icy
Freezing Cold Watery Extravaganza!!! left a
positive impression on the students of the
UCM Department of Art & Design and the
community of Warrensburg. It presented an
extraordinary level of creative inventiveness
and the establishment of a cross-generational
experience that left viewers with a childlike
bewilderment. Whoop Dee Doo’s chilly
installation and hilarious performance
exemplified that art does not always have to
be such a serious matter and it can encompass
what we all like to do best - play.
To learn more about the UCM Gallery of
Art & Design, visit www.ucmo.edu/gallery or
ucmartgallery.blogspot.com
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