SUMMER & AUTUMN 2022

• Rosa Parks Circle, downtown Grand Rapids, MI
• Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ah-Nab-Awen Indian Burial Grounds Park, Grand Rapids, MI
• Grand Rapids Ballet, Grand Rapids, MI

Draper’s work in ballet, and his network in technology come together in his installations, machinery and projection imagery. In 2021, Draper flew a pair of aerostats at the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum, and Rosa Parks Circle, a Maya Lin installation. They were crafted with steel towers, timber masts, and the ability to shade and record performances below and around them.

The aerostats themselves are heavy, able to sustain interaction with public crowds, constructed of 8 oz. kevlar fabric with handmade fins of ripstop nylon. When aloft, the are highly reflective cinema screens looming over the public space. Beneath this, was the Grand Rapids Ballet performing live.

To communicate the idea, Draper created a signature “silent libretto”. The influence of early multimedia artists is clear in the adoption timeline techniques. Drawings are generated on ipads, corrupted on a journey through multiple apps and packaged as projection settings of 25 feet in height to 40 feet in width, and move gently.

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