Freak March, a DIY puppet parade held by “Freak Nature Puppets,” an LA-based self-taught puppetry and art collective, appeared on campus Wednesday afternoon in a joint collaboration between Visions and Voices, Roski and the School of Dramatic Arts.
According to their website, the Freak Nature Puppets work towards creating dreamlike worlds through giant puppetry, physical theater, music and performance.
“Our mission is to show everybody that they could make art out of garbage, and to get people to stop doubting themselves about whether or not they’re an artist,” said Matthew Sater, a member of Freak Nature.
Sater mentioned that art can become overly complicated when you strive to make the perfect piece.
“It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that everything you do has to be complete and perfect,” said Sater, “and making puppets, especially with cardboard and cheap materials, is such an imperfect art by design that you start to see the value in making things that don’t have to have a beautiful final product.”
Sater also shared their mission to release creatives from this trap, and foster a “teach yourself to do it and great things will happen” mindset.
“It’s just fun to make puppets and make people laugh,” said Freak Nature member Bobby Bergin. “We’re gonna have a marching band of people that don’t really know their instruments too well, and a bunch of garbage puppets that fall apart. It’s just gonna be a big ride and a lot of fun.”
The exhibition caught the attention of many students on campus, like Alice Branicio, a senior studying art history, who decided to stop by with a friend and match the parade’s freak.
“We’re both making eyeballs, and then later today we’re gonna march with them,” Branicio said.
David Delgado, the event organizer and a member of USC Visions and Voices, teased the chaotic creative energy that the parade will bring to campus by listing some of the featured artwork: “miniature floats, massive installations, puppets, noisemakers – really anything that creativity inspires.”
Edited By Leo Li and Fashion Castillo