Stretch the limits of your creativity at the Moab Art and Recreation Center’s newest workshop series, held by its Re-Use Residency artist-in-residence, Justin Tyler Tate. The details of the workshop—both the subject and the materials—will be announced to participants only when the session begins.
The title? “Fake It Till You Make It.”
“Fake It Till You Make It is a series of workshops for those curious individuals looking to broaden their experience and skillset,” Tate described the event. “It is the purpose of the workshop to learn new things for the sake of learning.”
Each session of the workshop will be on a different subject—subjects could include construction skills, baking, electronics, mechanics, cooking, jewelry-making or other creative techniques. Participants will be provided with all materials during the workshop.
The first session will take place on Monday, July 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the MARC (111 E. 100 N.). Pre-registration isn’t required and there’s no fee, but participants are asked to pay what they can.
Tate has been hosting Fake It Till You Make It sessions since 2011. Past projects included creating inflatable sculptures made of plastic and aluminum foil; cooking samosas; learning the basics of structural engineering; making tea, smoothies, and sushi out of foraged nettle; creating coconut oil from coconuts; and creating a terrarium in a bottle with an LED grow-light.
The workshops put people outside of their comfort zones into areas where they must ‘fake it,’ exploring the “idea that someone can achieve their desires simply by pretending to do so,” as Tate wrote about the philosophy behind the workshop.
“It sounds like a negative endeavor, like a lie, but really it’s a journey to become better not only through external means but by attempting to re-hardwire one’s internal circuitry,” he wrote.
While the workshop is partially focused on expanding creativity by learning something new, it also focuses on the social aspect: workshop participants have to work together and inspire each other, Tate said.
As this year’s Re-Use Residency artist, Tate is spending the month of July in Moab. His goal is first, to create an interactive installation using only materials sourced from Moab’s waste stream, and second, to host workshop events like this one for the Moab community.
The interactive piece will be installed at Lion’s Park at the end of July—its concept is “play as power,” and the final sculpture will be able to “light up the night and charge devices,” according to the MARC.
Future sessions will be announced on the MARC’s website.
