Pageant puppetry and processional art
In 1998, Kahn and his partner, Sophia Michahelles, brought together an ensemble of artists, puppeteers, theatrical technicians, and performers to design the annual performances that lead New York's Village Halloween Parade. Originally named "Superior Concept Monsters", the group was incorporated as a non-profit in 2005 and renamed Processional Arts Workshop with a mission to create site-specific community-built processions, parades, and other open-space performances. These works are often developed through open community workshops that bring hundreds of volunteers together to build, rehearse, and ultimately perform cyclical pieces specifically for the parade. The performances typically incorporate elements of puppetry, sound, dance, costume/mask, lighting/projection and mobile architecture, an amalgam of mediums Kahn dubbed "processional art". In addition to leading New York's Village Halloween Parade each year, Kahn's creations have appeared in venues nationally and internationally. His work, Metamorphosis, involving 20' tall pupating luna moths, officially opened the 2000 Henson International Festival of Puppet Theatre. In 2002, he and Michahelles initiated a midsummer pageant project in the Italian Alps village of Morinesio, drawing on local folklore and oral history to create a unique site-specific pageant. Inspired by the success of the now-annual tradition, they have seeded similar projects in diverse locales in Ukraine, Turkey, Italy, Texas, New York, and elsewhere. In 2006, Kahn was awarded aOther works
Kahn has maintained an independent practice as a theatrical designer, printmaker, installation artist, and teacher. His interdisciplinary approach was strongly influenced by his experience as technical director of the Kitchen Performance Center during the 1990s. During this time he created lighting, objects, and effects for performance artists including John Jesurun ("Chang in a Void Moon"), Mikel Rouse ("Failing Kansas"), Roseanne Spradlin,References
* "The Greatest Free Show on Earth: Carnival from Trinidad to Brazil, Cape Town to New Orleans" Claire Tancons. From exhibition catalogue for "Prospect 1: New Orleans" (PictureBox, 2008) * ''Puppetry International: Mega-Puppets Issue'' (Fall/Winter 2007-8) – "Greenwich Village Halloween" article by Rolande DuPree. * ''Trinidad Guardian'' (4/25/06) – “Puppeteers Find That Cultural Link” by Kayode James * ''La Guida'' (6/13/03) – “I Puppazzi gigante di Morinesio” by Massimiliano Cavallo * ''Middletown Times Herald-Record'' (2/23/03) – “It Takes a Community to Build a Puppet” by Deborah J. Botti * ''Harvard Magazine'' (Jan/Feb 03) – “Community Puppeteer” by Ellenor J. Honig * ''Art New England'' (Feb/March 2) – “Light Upon Light: Towers of Remembrance” by Chris Thompson * ''Portland Phoenix'' (10/26/00) – “Gathering Intelligence” by Chris Thompson * ''Teokikixtli - Mexican Review of Puppet Arts'' (July 1) – ”The Mysterious Life of Giant Puppets” by Sophia Michahelles * ''New York Times'' (11/1/ 00) – “Night of the Living Dot-Com” by Shaila Dewan * ''NyTeknik'' (11/00) – “Halloween årets rysare” by Jan Aschan. Swedish technical journal – feature article on puppetry works * ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (8/19/00) – “Artists Create Show at Refusalon’s ‘1:1’ ” review by Kenneth Baker * ''Chronogram'' (September 00) – “Pulling Strings: Hudson Valley Puppetry Renaissance” by Pauline Uchmanowicz * ''New York Times'' (11/1/98) – photo from performance workExternal links