Mark Evans, a graduate student studying art and design, poses with members of the cast of “One Tree Hill” while on set for the filming of the season four finale. " />
Contributed by Mark Evans
Mark Evans, a graduate student studying art and design, poses with members of the cast of “One Tree Hill” while on set for the filming of the season four finale.
Wearing an unseasonably dark shirt, Mark Evans blends into the background of the coffee shop. Adjusting his sleeves, he prepares to take a bite of an unassuming treat: zucchini bread. What seems to be a slow start to the morning is purely a pause in a life that’s constantly on the go.
While he may walk amid a sea of younger students, he holds several lifetimes’ worth of experiences. After years of working professionally in the entertainment industry, Evans decided to pursue a graduate degree in art and design.
“I have met people who have enriched my personal lens,” Evans said. “From developing close working relationships inside and outside the program to developing friendships within the program, I wouldn’t trade my experience for anything. It’s never too late to write a new life chapter.”
As an undergrad, Evans studied journalism at the UNC-Chapel Hill, finding refuge in its vibrant art scene. After graduating, he landed a position with the “Good Morning America” show in New York City.
“I worked as an assistant writer for Joel Siegel,” Evans said. “I’d create a first draft for on-air reviews for him at NBC and create first drafts for on-air.”
After a year, Evans grew sick of writing, realizing he no longer wanted to wake up before the crack of dawn.
“I woke up at ridiculously early hours — 3 or 4 a.m. — and, if Joel was in a good mood, would be done around 3 o’clock in the afternoon,” Evans said. “But, I loved it because the real reason I went to New York was to dance. Working what my parents considered, at the time, to be a legitimate job, was a ruse; I just wanted to audition.”
At age 13, Evans found inspiration in Christina Williams, a former dancer for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. According to Evans, Williams was a huge influence on his life.
“She opened the Ballet Arts Workshop,” Evans said. “This was a legit ballet school, not the typical recital-based dance school. She would bring in principle dancers from the North Carolina School of the Arts, and we would make up the corps [corps de ballet].”
Evans landed a multitude of performances, in productions such as “Chicago the Musical,” “Victor” and “Fosse.” In “The Will Rogers Follies,” Evans depicted Will Rogers, an iconic vaudeville performer and humorist, through acting, singing and dance.
After dancing in New York, Evans decided to expand on his dancing in Los Angeles.
“You know the saying, the grass is always greener,” Evans said. “I lived in New York for a long time, but I was more of a contemporary lyrical dancer and, at the time, New York was the spot for it, so I looked west to LA.”
Absorbing the new city, Evans began working on corporate shows and focused on staying in the studio to create. However, the primary hurdle was the lack of public transportation in LA compared to New York.
Evans lived in LA off-and-on for about five years, sporadically working on commercials, films, performances and corporate gigs.
Weaving through the creative realm, Evans collaborated on Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, MTV Music Awards and NFL and NHL events. Unexpectedly, he was called back to North Carolina to choreograph for “One Tree Hill” in Wilmington. In addition, he’s worked on 13 Super Bowl halftime shows.
For Super Bowl 50, he worked alongside Chris Martin, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars. The performance had several moving parts, with homage to artists who had done the show before them.
“The message was about coming together in honor of peace and love; our world needs more love,” Evans said. “It wasn’t just a concert that happened to be in the middle of a football game; it was a show with a timely message.”
Aside from choreographing, Evans spends his time as a co-owner and creative director of Edge Cheer and Dance, the official cheerleading camp of NC State.
“On my bucket list was to take a deeper dive into motion graphics and design theory in a Master’s degree program,” Evans said. “With so much of my life devoted to movement and dance, I began to work as a freelance graphic designer and editor. For me, moving pixels around is the same as moving bodies around; it’s choreographing pixels.”
According to Mark Russo, a professor in art and design, Evans is “an amazing artist and designer.”
“His work and passion for creating are inspiring,” Russo said. “It is just wonderful to bounce ideas off of him and watch how he takes those thoughts, makes them his own, and integrates them into the work he is producing.”
Though Evans still travels for his undertakings, what ultimately led him back to North Carolina was 9/11, when he was in his office in the World Financial Center. For his final project, Evans is curating a surround-sound experience based on his experience during 9/11.
“Sound, for me, as a dancer, a choreographer, a creator, is the most important sensory driver,” Evans said. “On 9/11, my senses reacted to sound. When I finally got out my building, I heard pieces of paper, small pieces of debris embers that were falling. Sounds were hyper-sensitized; yet, I didn’t hear the siren in front of me.”
The first installation will be in the Teaching and Visualization Lab in Hunt Library this fall. The audience will stand in the center, and the projection will take the audience from the morning Evans left for work to the point of him leaving by ferry. The experience will be immersive, capturing the lurid details of the day.
“There will be a prologue with thematic footage and music, which fades to a black room,” Evans said. “In the darkness, the audience will listen to a compressed timeline of the events the days. The composition will include raw sound files, voicemails, original music and sound effects that help to conjure up an individual’s pre-existing image bank from 9/11. I don’t need to recreate the visuals; we already have them. I am conveying my experience through sound.”
Following the darkness, there will be an epilogue in which the same footage reappears, but in black and white and without music, only a breeze. According to Evans, it’ll eventually saturate to full color again, symbolizing how “we, as a people, country and society,” acknowledge tragedy for a moment and then move on.
“[Evans is] focused on his audience and is constantly considering what he is trying to communicate, but he also follows his passion and allows his story to be the root of his work,” Russo said. “He is not afraid to be vulnerable and expose himself and his story in an attempt to tell a more universal story that connects with everyone.”
Evans is working with Hunt Library to do a preview of the audio portion only to be revealed Sept. 11 of this year. Evans said he suspects the completed project to premiere late October.
A version of this article appeared in print on July 14, 2016 on page 8, with the headline: “Grad student dabbles in art avenues.”