Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1999 - 12

The biennial USIIT Theatre Technology
Exposition features unique and creative
solutions to real-life technical problems.

USIIT's annual design
exhibition, Cover the Walls,
features design work from up
to ninety USIIT members. It is
an exciting forum for design
ideas, providing a catalyst for
introductions and discussions.

TECH EXPO
The USIIT Theatre Technology Exposition, dubbed Tech Expo,
offers an interesting counterpoint to the latest toys in the exhibitors' booths surrounding it at Stage Expo. Tech Expo is a
chance for USIIT members to display the ingenious solutions
they have devised to solve actual production problems. Featuring fully constructed pieces or working prototypes, the items
in this exhibit represent inspirations from costumers, technical directors, carpenters, electricians, sound technicians, and
the occasional computer geek.
There are usually one or two delightful items which demonstrate a quLxotic determination to save fifty doUars at the local hardware store by the expenditure of forty hours of labor
and a barrel fuU of parts from Uncle Wilbur's retired
Studebaker. Why buy a pneumatic cylinder when, with some
aluminum conduit and a lathe to make the oak piston, you can
build your own? Not surprisingly, many of these extraordinary
devices have their provenance in institutes of higher learning
and lower budgets. otwithstanding the temptations of free labor, there are no doubt real pedagogical benefits in requiring
students to re-inventthe wheel.
Most items, however, feature elegant solutions to ballling
problems and are not to be fOlll1d in stores, no maner what the
10

WIN T

E R

T2)&T

Costumes from the University
of Hawaii's Asian Theatre
Collection will be on display
in the Designs from Beijing
exhibition, including this pi or
robe, in pink silk with an
elaborate phoenix couched in
gold embroidery.

plice. Whether it is an Ethafoam rod splinel; a bleeding garone, or
a method of projecting a ghost upon the stage, many tllealJical essentials will alwa} require more ingenuity tllan money.
Tech Expo will also present you \vitll tllealJical possibilities
you had never before considered. Give yourself some time to
\~sitthis display of rampant ingenuity, where you will find gadgets and gewgaws to delight, bemuse, inlJigue, or even appall. In
the bargain, you might also find the answer to the impossible
task that awaits you at your next production meeting.

COVER THE WALLS
SlIT's annual unjuried design exhibition, Cover tlle Walls,
provides an opportunity for SlIT and CIIT members to
present their design work to their coUeagues. For a small payment, members are given a vertical fOUl~foot by eight-foot
panel to display their vision upon the walls.
The deadline for submissions is very close to the conference itself, so at tllis point we can only speculate upon what
surprises and delights may lie in wait for us.*:.
Palll COllrt is Promotions Coordinatorfor
USITT Conference & Stage E.\po.

the Toronto

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1999