From "Days of Heaven"
From "Picnic at Hanging Rock"
From "Bilitis"
From UK Vogue, 1981
A more modern version
White Nightgown World
The idea of White Nightgown World is taking me back to my teenage obsession with Victorian dress and custom. I used to read Victoria Magazine and swoon over the soft-focus romantic photography.
From "Days of Heaven"
From "Picnic at Hanging Rock"
From "Bilitis"
From UK Vogue, 1981
A more modern version
From "Days of Heaven"
From "Picnic at Hanging Rock"
From "Bilitis"
From UK Vogue, 1981
A more modern version
Hide and Seek
Here's the song we worked on the other day with lyrics. I'd love to write some harmonies for this eventually.
Text-to-Voice translator
Automated text2speech translation to be featured in Marc's etude tonight! Here are some links to different sites that allow you to hear text spoken. They each have multiple options for the speaker. We can layer on some effects as well to create crazy pan-Latino robots reading Proust in space.
http://text-to-speech.imtranslator.net/
http://www2.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php
http://www.cepstral.com/demos/
http://text-to-speech.imtranslator.net/
http://www2.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php
http://www.cepstral.com/demos/
Free Sounds!
Hey everyone, here is the link to the website with free sounds to download:
http://www.freesound.org/index.php
http://www.freesound.org/index.php
Fever Ray
I've been meaning to post these for a while. They're definitely still in the creepy, menacing, uncanny vein, but they do it so damn well. Both of these videos start outdoors and then move indoors where it seems as though something has gone or is about to go very very wrong.
"If I Had a Heart"
Note the dog.
"If I Had a Heart"
Note the dog.
"Stranger Than Kindness"
I love the look of all those lamps juxtaposed with the lasers.
Alternate worlds?
If we were to create alternate worlds quickly on stage, there is an unbelievable number of ways to create winter/snow, jungle and even desert, for all sizes of budgets. Lets look a bit deeper... plus a shot of fashion week to get us going.
Costumes?
Exciting talk with Kyoko about costumes today. Here's some images from the world at large.
Like the underlayers alot and the hazmat yellow down below (minus helmets and gloves) is hot. The model runway shot is "a big f&*&ing deal" too.
Questions (On a New World)
Questions
What do you see?
Have you been here before?
What does the air smell like?
Can you smell anything else?
What does that smell remind you of?
Can you see anything now?
What do you want to do?
Do you want to be somewhere else?
What does this place remind you of?
What does your skin feel like?
Do you like this feeling?
Have you felt like this before?
What do you hear?
Do you like the sound?
Can you see what's making the sound?
Where do you wish you were?
Is it dark outside?
Where are you? What's beneath your feet?
Tell me what you hear.
Can anyone see you?
Can you hear the wind? What's it saying?
Are you happy where you are?
What do you feel against your skin?
What do you see in front of you?
What do you taste inside your mouth?
What do you hear?
What do you smell?
What are you remembering?
What do you see when you close your eyes?
How does the air feel against your nostrils?
Describe the sensation on the back of your hand.
Where does that sound take you?
Why are you afraid to open your eyes?
Can you feel any sounds? Pulsations?
Can you move your body? Your hands? Can you smile?
What tension is it creating?
Can you leave?
Are you alone?
Describe your emotions. Are you frightened? Anxious?
What colors are present? What shapes?
Can you see any symmetries?
What is in the distance?
Can you see the color of the objects around you?
Does your body feel strong?
What can you taste in the air around you?
Are there smells there? Are they familiar?
Can you feel the surface around you?
What is the sound that you are hearing?
Where is it coming from?
Is it triggering a reaction in you?
How do you feel your weight?
Can you breathe deeply?
What does your pulse feel like as it passes through you?
Can you feel what is behind you?
How far can you see through the dark?
I Remember
“I Remember”
It's cool and the air smells like ocean. The moon is shining and everything is cool and beautiful. I can feel the sand on my feet. I shine a light on the sand and suddenly I can see tiny crabs everywhere- they move out of the way so quickly you almost can't see them. They are surrounding me on the beach.
I'm standing on grass and its nighttime. I can hear the crickets and sounds of dishes softly clinking. People washing up. There's a tiny window of light and everyone looks so calm and happy in there. No one knows I'm standing here. The wind is warm, the air is thick and dark and silent.
I remember the tree outside my house. It was a magnolia. And the blossoms were so fragrant that you could smell them inside the house.
I remember eating push ups from the 7-11. They would melt so fast that I had to lick the ice cream off my arm.
I remember my grandmother's funeral. Mom made me kiss her dead body in the casket. Her skin felt like paper on my lips.
I remember her swimming in the public pool and then getting into the hot car and sweating.
I remember hiding behind the big chair in the living room and eating dog treats. They were crunchy and salty.
I remember biting my arm until I left a mark. It felt good to my jaw.
I remember the plastic animal toys that grandpa would buy me at the zoo. They came out of the machine so hot that you had to hold them with a napkin.
I remember getting sick on the drive to the mountains. I would lay in the back seat and pray for it to be over.
Turning over the pillow to the cold side. It's against August and the air is thick with insects, even in the middle of the night.
Waking up before dawn and walking to the ocean. The sand cold beneath my feet, and the salt of the air stings my eyes and leaves a residue inside my mouth.
Sitting under the honey suckle bush in the front yard. When the flowers were looming I would let the bees crawl over my arms and face. Their tiny legs on my lips.
I remember the sun, shining, striking my face and body. Yellow beams, flowing energy.
I remember the song, the playing. Dancing people singing with me and around me. Everyone together I did not feel alone.
I remember running, playing, teams, a ball. Green grass and mud. Laughter, sweat. I remember the pure joy of fatigue.
I remember the sticker burrs, jammed into the sides of my feet after walking barefoot in the grass.
I remember the sound of the locust during the hottest part of the day. Coming from the trees in the front yard.
I remember chasing lizards into the hillsides where they lived under the green plants. Catching them when they were warming themselves in the sun.
I remember eating home made ice cream just after the lid was taken off. And my teeth aching, rushing to eat it before it melted to slush.
I remember walking in the forest on a cold fall day and a trough of running water. Drinking the cold water with my hands.
I remember falling off a wagon, in the Pioneer Village, I skinned my knee, completely clean. My mother held a wet paper towel to it and I would alternate between cool relief and burning pain.
I remember creosote after the rain. A city of concrete and glass and metal, momentarily transformed back again to the open desert.
I remember waking in the middle of the night. Charging down the long hallway to my mother. An impossible distance to close; with my nightmares streaming along behind me.
Afrofuturism
In doing some research on Afrofuturism today I found this website (with an incredible graphic on the splash page).
It's got links to audio samples and some history of afrofuturism.
This got me thinking I should look into the music of George Clinton / Parliament, Grace Jones and our old friend Sun Ra (remember Julie's Space is the Place etude back in Project X days???).
So here are some of the fruits of my labors:
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Mothership Connection:
This is the video for Grace Jones' Corporate Cannibal, pretty trippy:
And... uh, here is Grace Jones singing Little Drummer Boy on PeeWee's Playhouse. Yes.
Sun Ra, Space is the Place -- I cannot explain this video but you should watch it:
Ok, just have one more...
Wu Tang Clan's Killer Bees video:
It's got links to audio samples and some history of afrofuturism.
This got me thinking I should look into the music of George Clinton / Parliament, Grace Jones and our old friend Sun Ra (remember Julie's Space is the Place etude back in Project X days???).
So here are some of the fruits of my labors:
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Mothership Connection:
This is the video for Grace Jones' Corporate Cannibal, pretty trippy:
"I'm a man eating machine. You won't hear me laughing as I terminate your day. You can't trace my footsteps as I walk the other way. I'm a man eating machine. A man, man eating machine."
And... uh, here is Grace Jones singing Little Drummer Boy on PeeWee's Playhouse. Yes.
Sun Ra, Space is the Place -- I cannot explain this video but you should watch it:
Ok, just have one more...
Wu Tang Clan's Killer Bees video:
More Maya Deren
Thanks for bringing Maya Deren into the conversation, Jules. I also love Ritual in Transfigured Time. The first section is very "domestic surreal" with that crazy yarn. And I also love the stops and starts she puts into the party scene. The gestural choreography of that sequence is just so damn sensual, all the social touching.
Meshes of the Afternoon
I can't believe I keep forgetting to bring this in!
This is one of my absolute favorite movies and gets right at the heart of shifting perspectives/transforming time. She is really a pioneer of the possibilites of film and what editing can do for (non)narrative narration. If you are not already obsessed with Maya Deren, please get ready for it to begin.
Note the twin images!
Maya Deren also made some amazing films of Haitian ritual dancing, but that may be for another show....
This is one of my absolute favorite movies and gets right at the heart of shifting perspectives/transforming time. She is really a pioneer of the possibilites of film and what editing can do for (non)narrative narration. If you are not already obsessed with Maya Deren, please get ready for it to begin.
Note the twin images!
Maya Deren also made some amazing films of Haitian ritual dancing, but that may be for another show....
french fries / caterpillars
This is dumb... but it caught my eye. I love the the NY Times food blog, Bitten, and this phrase about french fries caught my eye:
The fact that this is his way of describing the process of slow-cooking french fries makes it even more fascinating/disturbing.
I cannot help thinking of the nightmarish way a caterpillar liquefies in its cocoon before emerging as a butterfly.
The fact that this is his way of describing the process of slow-cooking french fries makes it even more fascinating/disturbing.
tark text from rehearsal~
What's your name?
I don't know anymore.
But of course you don't understand.
I dreamt of familiar surroundings.
Where are you from?
I don't know anymore.
And you're here by yourself?
My mother couldn't come.
But of course you don't understand.
I remember my mom's daphne.
That is NOSTALGIA you are experiencing, but of course you don't understand.
What's your name?
All: I have forgotten.
I don't know anymore.
But of course you don't understand.
I dreamt of familiar surroundings.
Where are you from?
I don't know anymore.
And you're here by yourself?
My mother couldn't come.
But of course you don't understand.
I remember my mom's daphne.
That is NOSTALGIA you are experiencing, but of course you don't understand.
What's your name?
All: I have forgotten.
musical collaborators - aim high
Who are our DREAM musical collaborators? Seriously, no limits. Who wouldn't want the opportunity to write a sci-fopera?
Add to the comment thread with ideas.
Add to the comment thread with ideas.
The Color of Pomegranates
I've been hesitating to bring in Sergei Parajanov's film "The Color of Pomegrates" as we are fairly seeped in high-art and delicously slow images. But! I can't get some of his strange images and tableaux-vivant out of my head and I thought to share. One thing I like about Parajanov, and this film in particular, is what comes across as an odd sense of humour, born I imagine, from his inspiration of illuminated Armenian miniatures. He wrote: "I wanted to create that inner dynamic that comes from inside the picture, the forms and the dramaturgy of colour."
Despite the often very long takes, there is a quickness to his ideas; it seems he felt very comfortable putting a many small ideas into a picture, which opposes nicely to Tarkovsky who felt very comfortable exploring a single idea for a very long time.
Please note the chicken.
This has loads of images but not the real soundtrack. PLEASE turn off the sound and put on anything else, or nothing at all.
Despite the often very long takes, there is a quickness to his ideas; it seems he felt very comfortable putting a many small ideas into a picture, which opposes nicely to Tarkovsky who felt very comfortable exploring a single idea for a very long time.
Please note the chicken.
This has loads of images but not the real soundtrack. PLEASE turn off the sound and put on anything else, or nothing at all.
The Neverending Story
So, last night as we were talking about sources I suddenly realized a great source from my childhood: The Neverending Story.
I saw it first when I was seven. My mom took my friend Aaron and I to the movies, and he was so scared he ran out of the movie theater and we had to leave.
Here's the clip where they first explain The Nothing and that the Empress is dying.
At 6:13 in that clip you can see the horrible creature with the green eyes roaring in his cave. That's the point when Aaron ran out of the theater.
This next clip starts with the most heartbreaking scene of all time -- when Atreyu's horse Artax gives up and sinks into the deadly swamp of sadness. Damn. I just cried again, watching it.
And you can also watch the MUSIC VIDEO that was made from the title song, it's pretty amazing too.
I saw it first when I was seven. My mom took my friend Aaron and I to the movies, and he was so scared he ran out of the movie theater and we had to leave.
Here's the clip where they first explain The Nothing and that the Empress is dying.
There just might be one chance! The plains people who hunt the purple buffalo have among them a great warrior, and he alone has a chance to fight The Nothing and save us. He is our only hope. His name is Atreyu.
At 6:13 in that clip you can see the horrible creature with the green eyes roaring in his cave. That's the point when Aaron ran out of the theater.
This next clip starts with the most heartbreaking scene of all time -- when Atreyu's horse Artax gives up and sinks into the deadly swamp of sadness. Damn. I just cried again, watching it.
And you can also watch the MUSIC VIDEO that was made from the title song, it's pretty amazing too.
March 16 Rehearsal Notes
Space Project
March 16th Rehearsal
MilePost 5
Jonathan, Faith, Julie, Scott, Jerry, Liz
March 16th Rehearsal
MilePost 5
Jonathan, Faith, Julie, Scott, Jerry, Liz
To Do List:
- Ripping of DVD to .avi's. (or stack of DVD's?)
- Binder for show material
- Look on Craigslist for mic stands,
- Notetakers...post Etudes, try and capture text, reference what text used/notations
- RCA Small Wonder, download sound codecs
- Printer PAPER!
- Multiple copies of text
Rehearsal Schedule:
7:00 - Revisit Etudes
8:15 - Break
8:30 - Review Source Material
9:00 - New Etudes
9:30 - Review Sequences (Notes from Movement Sequences)
- Focus on Blocking Notes, way things were done
- What material Jonathan can access regularly. Video, RCA Small Wonder clips, clips from movies
Our Little Iceberg
Maybe this isn't the look we want to go for, but maybe it is....
After we take down a polar bear, we can all sit around and drink hot coco before returning to the space pod. Just an everyday afternoon in 4-D.
After we take down a polar bear, we can all sit around and drink hot coco before returning to the space pod. Just an everyday afternoon in 4-D.
Space Project Rehearsal Notes 3.11.10
Space Project Rehearsal
March 11th, 2010
Milepost 5
Jonathan, Liz, Faith, Maesie, Marc, Julie, Scott, Nick
Movement Sequences:
a) "TURN FACE PULL" Two or more people stand facing back wall. Unison slow look over left shoulder toward the house. Turn back to face wall. Unison slow turn to face house. Unison raise right hand, touch face, brush hand down face all the way to side. Hand goes to forehead pulls back on forehead. Open mouth deep breath.
b) "HIGH FIVE KISS" 1 moves DC. Holds up right hand. 2 moves up to the right from behind. Raises left hand. On contact the 1 turns and rubs their face into the palm of 2. 1 kisses the palm 2 slowly backs away. First person turns swiftly to face second. They hold out their hands towards each other.
c) "CRAWL IT OUT" A slow, unison crawl. (Arm followed by opposite leg, sinking low to the ground) across the stage.
d) "STOOL WORSHIP" Person sits in chair UC. One person approaches, strokes seated person's hair. Two people approach from downstage corners of the stage. Three people kneel at foot of person in the chair (they each kneel on their own beat. The movement is sudden and quick, as if a video were suddenly being fast-forwarded for a moment). They nuzzle up against seated person (eyes closed). Seated person stands, quickly breaks from the group and walks DC.
e) "SIT AND SPIN" 2 or more people seated in chairs placed in a row facing out. Lift left leg and rotate until back is to the house and legs are draped over the back of the chair.
f) "SILENT MOUTHING" 1 stands DR mouthing words silently. 2 stands UL, moves to 1 stands at their right arm joins their gaze and then turns, facing them. Mouths words silently. 3 enters stands Ul (where 2 previously was) facing out. 1 moves to 3 (walk downstage until past 3 and then turn up) and joins her gaze before turning back to her. Mouths words silently. 2 moves to UR facing off right. 1 and 3 sink to the ground (3 moves first). 2 sinks to the ground.
March 11th, 2010
Milepost 5
Jonathan, Liz, Faith, Maesie, Marc, Julie, Scott, Nick
Movement Sequences:
a) "TURN FACE PULL" Two or more people stand facing back wall. Unison slow look over left shoulder toward the house. Turn back to face wall. Unison slow turn to face house. Unison raise right hand, touch face, brush hand down face all the way to side. Hand goes to forehead pulls back on forehead. Open mouth deep breath.
b) "HIGH FIVE KISS" 1 moves DC. Holds up right hand. 2 moves up to the right from behind. Raises left hand. On contact the 1 turns and rubs their face into the palm of 2. 1 kisses the palm 2 slowly backs away. First person turns swiftly to face second. They hold out their hands towards each other.
c) "CRAWL IT OUT" A slow, unison crawl. (Arm followed by opposite leg, sinking low to the ground) across the stage.
d) "STOOL WORSHIP" Person sits in chair UC. One person approaches, strokes seated person's hair. Two people approach from downstage corners of the stage. Three people kneel at foot of person in the chair (they each kneel on their own beat. The movement is sudden and quick, as if a video were suddenly being fast-forwarded for a moment). They nuzzle up against seated person (eyes closed). Seated person stands, quickly breaks from the group and walks DC.
e) "SIT AND SPIN" 2 or more people seated in chairs placed in a row facing out. Lift left leg and rotate until back is to the house and legs are draped over the back of the chair.
f) "SILENT MOUTHING" 1 stands DR mouthing words silently. 2 stands UL, moves to 1 stands at their right arm joins their gaze and then turns, facing them. Mouths words silently. 3 enters stands Ul (where 2 previously was) facing out. 1 moves to 3 (walk downstage until past 3 and then turn up) and joins her gaze before turning back to her. Mouths words silently. 2 moves to UR facing off right. 1 and 3 sink to the ground (3 moves first). 2 sinks to the ground.
Playing in the Uncanny Valley
I heard a little story on NPR last Friday about the "uncanny valley". More on that in a second, but it made me realize that we're starting to play with the uncanny a lot in rehearsal. Here's a bit from wikipedia on the theory of the uncanny...
The uncanny valley is a robotics theory that says that when robots and other facsimiles of humans look and act almost like actual humans, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers. There's a certain point around 96% human-like that freaks people out. See the chart below. Is this something we can play with?
The Uncanny (Ger. Das Unheimliche -- literally, "un-home-ly") is a Freudian concept of an instance where something can be familiar, yet foreign at the same time, resulting in a feeling of it being uncomfortably strange.
Because the uncanny is familiar, yet strange, it often creates cognitive dissonance within the experiencing subject due to the paradoxical nature of being attracted to, yet repulsed by an object at the same time. This cognitive dissonance often leads to an outright rejection of the object, as one would rather reject than rationalize.
The uncanny valley is a robotics theory that says that when robots and other facsimiles of humans look and act almost like actual humans, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers. There's a certain point around 96% human-like that freaks people out. See the chart below. Is this something we can play with?
Rehearsal notes 3/7/10
SPACE PROJECT REHEARSAL
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
Milepost 5
Jonathan, Julie, Faith, Maesie, Jerry, Jeb, Liz, Scott
HOMEWORK:
- Source Material for (Sunday (Intros))
- Etude, Mirror Clip. Approximate flow of images as if your own life. Hyper-realize it. (Wednesday)
- React to Proust, Etude (Wed/Thurs)
ACTION ITEMS:
1) Monitor for Wednesday (julie or Liz)
2) (Jonathan) Microphones
3) (Jonathan) Contact List
4) (Jonathan) Email James about getting video working and sound card
5) Buy rechargeable 2 9V, 4 AA batteries (Liz)
Notes After the jump...
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
Milepost 5
Jonathan, Julie, Faith, Maesie, Jerry, Jeb, Liz, Scott
HOMEWORK:
- Source Material for (Sunday (Intros))
- Etude, Mirror Clip. Approximate flow of images as if your own life. Hyper-realize it. (Wednesday)
- React to Proust, Etude (Wed/Thurs)
ACTION ITEMS:
1) Monitor for Wednesday (julie or Liz)
2) (Jonathan) Microphones
3) (Jonathan) Contact List
4) (Jonathan) Email James about getting video working and sound card
5) Buy rechargeable 2 9V, 4 AA batteries (Liz)
Notes After the jump...
"In Search of Lost Time" Excerpts
Here are all the excerpts I've brought in from In Search of Lost Time.
Note: Roman numerals after each excerpt refer to the individual books within In Search of Lost Time (e.g., Sodom and Gomorrah is the fourth book, so IV).
The first very long excerpt is the famous “madeleine episode” from the end of the first book, Swann’s Way, but reformatted by Charles Mee.
I believe that all of these excerpts are from the older C.K. Scott Moncrieff translation, not the newer Lydia Davis translation.
Excerpts after the jump...
Note: Roman numerals after each excerpt refer to the individual books within In Search of Lost Time (e.g., Sodom and Gomorrah is the fourth book, so IV).
The first very long excerpt is the famous “madeleine episode” from the end of the first book, Swann’s Way, but reformatted by Charles Mee.
I believe that all of these excerpts are from the older C.K. Scott Moncrieff translation, not the newer Lydia Davis translation.
Excerpts after the jump...
Future Archive
Here's that Future Archive thing I mentioned in rehearsal the other day: www.futurearchive.org
Here's a description of the interview/conversation method. It's translated from Spanish in Google Translate, so it's a little wonky, but you can get the idea.
The future archive is a platform that issues divergent responses to the problem of how to think about the future. It tries to investigate how people position themselves vis a vis the future, conceptually and practically - how they try to make change happen.The description is a bit hyper-intellectualized BUT the method could be useful. You can watch videos of the interviews on their website. There's an "Intro" on that shows clips of a variety of interviews.
As such, the future archive engages conversations that are set in possible times and spaces to come, which two or more people performatively inhabit as proposed versions of futurity. From there, contemporary society is remembered. In every conversation, a different future is negotiated - via a discursive methodology complicit with radical pedagogy and action research, as well as techniques of interview and dialogue.
Here's a description of the interview/conversation method. It's translated from Spanish in Google Translate, so it's a little wonky, but you can get the idea.
lecture: technology as garbage
I'm not sure how this relates to our ever-shifting development, but this may be interesting. I have a class this day so I won't be able to attend, but if anyone would like to pretend to be me, I am a museum member. (You can also then check out the amazing Disquieted exhibit, which may relate to our new show too, as art tends to related to the very thing you are thinking about. But I digress....).
Between Science and Garbage
Saturday, March 13
2:00 P - 3:00 P
Between Science and Garbage is the title of both an internationally acclaimed performance and an award-winning film made by Bob Ostertag and his partner in Living Cinema, Pierre Hébert. It is also the title of a chapter in Ostertag’s new book, Creative Life: Music, Politics, People, and Machines, a collection of essays that address dilemmas faced by artists whose work is simultaneously engaged with and critical of digital technology. In his lecture, Ostertag will explore the notion that today’s cutting-edge technology is tomorrow’s garbage. Composer, performer, historian, instrument builder, activist, and a blogger for The Huffington Post, Ostertag is currently Professor of Technocultural Studies and Music at the University of California at Davis.
$5 members, $12 non-members unless otherwise noted. Seating is limited. Advance tickets available online and on-site.
Rehearsal Notes 3/4/10
SPACE PROJECT REHEARSAL
Wednesday, March 4th, 2010
Milepost 5
Jonathan, Faith, Julie, Nick
Homework:
We will spend time looking at source material on Sunday
Maesie: bring key pieces of Proust text for us to work with.
Jonathan's ACTION Notes: Set aside box and binder for storing source material in the space. Must have working monitor by Sunday (who will fetch?). Acquire many AA rechargeable batteries.
Notes after the jump...
Wednesday, March 4th, 2010
Milepost 5
Jonathan, Faith, Julie, Nick
Homework:
We will spend time looking at source material on Sunday
Maesie: bring key pieces of Proust text for us to work with.
Jonathan's ACTION Notes: Set aside box and binder for storing source material in the space. Must have working monitor by Sunday (who will fetch?). Acquire many AA rechargeable batteries.
Notes after the jump...
Jodorowski blast from the past
Oh Jesus, Maesie's post on Jodorowski brought back some memories. Isn't it funny how our work (and our lives, and our inspirations, etc.) go in circles?
So, I can't post any clips from Jimmy Blue since those are only on VHS, and I found some of the music that was created by the brilliant & versatile Peter Musselman (before he left to study in California for several years, and before he returned to compose much of the music for Undine) but I can't figure out how to post those either.
So you'll just have to trust me that it is wicked awesome hearing the voice of the Bee Man say REMAIN CALM AND THE WORLD AROUND YOU IS HARMLESS. BRING FORTH WHAT IS WITHIN YOU AND YOU WILL SAVE YOURSELF.
The other funny thing is... though we may be drawn to similar Jimmy Blue source material for this new show, what we are dreaming up for/with it is very, very different.
Here are two photos from Jimmy Blue (taken from the H2M website):
So, I can't post any clips from Jimmy Blue since those are only on VHS, and I found some of the music that was created by the brilliant & versatile Peter Musselman (before he left to study in California for several years, and before he returned to compose much of the music for Undine) but I can't figure out how to post those either.
So you'll just have to trust me that it is wicked awesome hearing the voice of the Bee Man say REMAIN CALM AND THE WORLD AROUND YOU IS HARMLESS. BRING FORTH WHAT IS WITHIN YOU AND YOU WILL SAVE YOURSELF.
The other funny thing is... though we may be drawn to similar Jimmy Blue source material for this new show, what we are dreaming up for/with it is very, very different.
Here are two photos from Jimmy Blue (taken from the H2M website):
Jodorowski
If we're going to look at other crazy 70's movie dream sequences, I'm sure there's something from Jodorowski ("The Holy Mountain" or "El Topo") that would fit the bill. He totally blows my mind. Just check out the Wikipedia on him.
"Alejandro Jodorowski...is a Chilean scholar in comparative religion, playwright, director, producer, composer, actor, mime, comic book writer, tarot reader, historian and psychotherapist."
He now practices something called "psychomagic". "Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which are passed down from generation to generation." What?! Awesome!
"Alejandro Jodorowski...is a Chilean scholar in comparative religion, playwright, director, producer, composer, actor, mime, comic book writer, tarot reader, historian and psychotherapist."
He now practices something called "psychomagic". "Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which are passed down from generation to generation." What?! Awesome!
Tarkovsky Freakdown
DUDES. I rest my case.
Stalker:
Nostalghia (bonus: pregnant lady!):
Strangely, I can't find any good clips from Solaris.
I was going to post some clips from interviews with Tarkovsky but they're pretty boring, actually. I'll see if I can find an interesting one. Maybe a graduation speech at my alma mater, MSU.
Oh plus I had an idea for a more narrowed type of source: using only dream sequences from Tarkovsky (or other trippy 70s sci fi films) as source material. Then we could call the show "Only the Dream Sequences".
That's all, folks.
Stalker:
Nostalghia (bonus: pregnant lady!):
Strangely, I can't find any good clips from Solaris.
I was going to post some clips from interviews with Tarkovsky but they're pretty boring, actually. I'll see if I can find an interesting one. Maybe a graduation speech at my alma mater, MSU.
Oh plus I had an idea for a more narrowed type of source: using only dream sequences from Tarkovsky (or other trippy 70s sci fi films) as source material. Then we could call the show "Only the Dream Sequences".
That's all, folks.
Rehearsal Notes 3/3/10
SPACE PROJECT REHEARSAL
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Milepost 5
Jonathan, Julie, Faith, Maesie, Jerry, Marc, Liz
Jonathan's Notes: Need- space heater, monitor (computer), keyboard.
Warm Ups: 30 min (S-6:12, E-6:40)
Etude:
Faith 2 etudes- 3 people for the 1st, 2 people for the 2nd
Julie 3 etudes- 1 solo, 2 people for the 2nd and 3rd
Maesie 2 etudes- both require all
Jonathan 1 etude- 3 people
Faith, human-exhibits-
Faith sits gives instructions. Shines light on Maesie (Exhibit 1). Asks us to observe her posture and compare ourselves to her. Light out. Light on Julie (Exhibit 2). Compare 1 to 2 and both to ourselves. Light out. Light up, 1 and 2 stand next to each other. Light out. Please stay seated, please listen carefully repeated in the dark. Light up. 1 and 2 next to each other. Focus on expression and emotions. Light out. Light up. 1 standing, 2 seated. Asks us to close our eyes. Light out. Light up. Both stand, we are asked to open our eyes. What differences do we see? 1 and 2 sit crosslegged.
Notes:
Break: 7:30
Jonathan, fear look at the door-
Faith at microphone podium. Strobe downstage R. Maesie sits center, Julie on floor SR. Faith describes being held down by a weight, unable to move. Repeats "I couldn't move." Single floor light aimed at podium SL. Faith moves to Julie, Maesie moves to podium. Looks at door, pauses. Mumbles into microphone, looks at Faith, Julie. Faith speaks quietly in the corner. Maesie repeats "I couldn't breathe", She looks down and holds herself still as she speaks. Looks at Faith, Julie. Moves to chair. Julie moves to podium. Looks at door. Faith and Maesie talk to each other. Julie repeats story, repeats "I couldn't scream". Looks at Faith, Maesie.
Notes:
Julie, the blowjob test tube-
Podium down center. Lights out. Music plays. Lights up on podium. Julie moves slowly upstage L from the house holding a test tube with red goo in front of her. Moves to upstage wall and turns to face us at center. She wears a white paintsuit that covers her head. She moves to the podium and pours red goo into a clear testtube. A foamy reaction occurs.
Notes: Music-'Susperia' by Goblin.
Faith, laugh, jump, laugh-
Lights out. Tense string music plays. Music out. Lights up. Maesie laughs and jumps hysterically upstage. Music in. Lights out. Music out. Lights up. Maesie resumes laughing and jumping. Comes to a place of calm. Takes deep breaths. Lights out. Music in. Music out. Lights up. Maesie is still. Immediate lights out. Music in. Lights up. Music out. Maesie slowly looks SL. Lights out. Music in. Music out. Lights up. Maesie stares SL. A look of joy slowly grows until...music in. Faith rushes onstage and joins her in jumping and laughing.
Julie, test tube picnic.
Music plays. Julie carries a picnic basket onstage. Makes her way to center, looks around, smiles. Places basket on ground. Kneels, spreads a white napkin. Places in carefully in a ziploc bag, presses out the excess air. Sits back, smiles. Takes a white paint suit from the basket. Puts it on over her white dress. Takes an empty test tube from the basket. Places three spoonfulls of white powder from mason jar in test tube. Pours clear liquid from mason jar into test tube. A white foam reaction occurs. She removes paint suit, lays it out. Picks up basket and leaves.
Break: 15 min (7:55)
Discussion:
Source:
Masie -What is the purpose of the source? Structure, text?
Jonathan -wants the source material first, structure later. Source is place to get 'real things from'. Use them to generate content; text, visuals, music.
Marc- State that we are definately working for a set body of sources?
Specificity- narrow from 'epic poems' to 'epic poems by ___'.
Jonathan- Use this source method as a launching point and not an end goal. Need to choose between themes or sources.
Julie- Sources sometimes spring from the themes.
Faith-Until the sources have been picked the guiding force will default to themes.
Jonathan- Need some pressure to kick-start ideas. Force us to make a decision, "who's gonna bring it?"
Sources it is. Until we have it, keep using etudes.
Jonathan-wants to hear one source from each person.
Jonathan-Were there any ideas from last rehearsal that speak to everyone?
Faith-There were a few common threads. Tarkofsky, proust.
Marc- Sources should be digestable in roughly 10min. Bring in highlighted sections of source, or clips.
Julie- Use blog to communicate sources and notes?
Jonathan- It's up to the provider to make the source appealing. Sources should be clearly and effieciently presented.
Liz
-Oryx and Crake, search for the real in a hyper advance world.
NOTES: Drawn to the relationship between Tarkovsky's films and the novels they were based on. Intrigued to view "The Stalker".
Faith
-Films of Tarkovsky (has posted a clip from "The Mirror" on the blog. Will be posting further clips tomorrow.)
-"The Stalker", similar to "Solaris", title means 'to approach vertically'. Based on book "Roadside Picnic". Professional guide to THE ZONE, a wilderness area cordoned off by the gov. It is a room that grants wishes and desires of inhabitants. A place where laws of physics no longer apply. Other films include "The Sacrifice" and "Nostalgia". Faith will work on acquiring the remaining films. Exploring metaphysical and emotinal states.
NOTES: Borges- excited by the idea of looking at speeches (as a counter-point) to articulate what the show as a whole is attempting. How can we use this more "heady material".
Maesie-
-Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" (7 volumes, 4,000 pages translated). Most famous passage "madeline episode" the bite of a madeline takes him back to a memory. The study of involuntary memory. Had an impact on the study of neurology. The book explores formation of experience vs. a linear plot. Art triumphs over the destructive power of time. (Harold Pinter wrote a screenplay for "In Search of Lost Time" in entirety). The book is a circle, with a cyclical emphasis on Time. Maesie is intrigued by the idea of tackling, digesting, and adapting this 4,000 page document. Focus on themes of memory and time.
-"Future Archive". People discussing the present as if they were speaking in the future.
NOTES: Living History- A description of what you are about to see. Using living history as a frame (creating worlds). More lighthearted than the work has thus far been.
Julie-
-Intro to Science Fiction books as a gateway to philosophy. Science Fiction as a means of exploring the present (by donning the trappings of the future, being an "other"). It allows the viewer/reader, to suspend disbelief and delve deeply into the ideas and feelings behind the story. J.G. Ballard, Borges, introductions.
-Borges, "The book of imaginary beings". Discussing the taking of children to zoos. Zoo of reality, zoo of mythology. "The Zoology of dreams is far pooer than the zoology of the Maker."
-Phillip K. Dick, what is reality? what constitutes the authentic human being? "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." A secret love of chaos. Do not assume that order and stability is always good. Before new can be born, old must perish. The viable, elastic organism, that can absorb change; the authentic human being.
NOTES: Different modes emerging. Narrative and non-fiction conceptual exploration. How do our ideas compliment each other or contrast. Film makes us think about theater space as opposed to the literal adapting of a text. Proust- Not sure it makes sense to have something be the core of the show that the rest of the company doesn't fully understand.
Seeking out a richer, fuller text than sci-fi provides.
Jonathan-
- All sources from websites of organizations that do ____________ for a living. The Association of Living History and Farm Agriculture Museums.
-History is always changing, the recent development of "living history". The recreation of particular moments from the past, ignoring modern intrusions.
-Re-enacting ancient battles. Ancient manufacturing techniques. Feasting. Ancient poetry and presenation of literatuer. Socializing.
-Colonial "blop-blop". Only the tourists are out of time and place.
-Shaker historic village. Traditional music, production techniques.
-Aboriginal living skill school in Arizona. Offers well-rounded and honest survival and aborigianl livings skill education.
-History interpreters (=actors). A time in which everday lives were transformed by advances in agriculture and industry.
-Interested in "Future History Museum".
NOTES: Films a good source of images (that can be redefined in a new context). Proust- a well-written text is a golden trump card. A well to return to.
Tarkovsky- Attracted to films as a source of similar moments and themes. Recurring characters, motifs.
Marc-
-Looking for non-fiction work of famous sci-fi/fantasy writers. Intros and prefaces to sci-fi books. Has posted some passages to the blog. Why do artists create off-kilter worlds and scenarios. Accessing the non-ficiton behind sci-fi. Looking for speeches, letters, essays. The corespondance of Phillip K. Dick as he developed "A Scanner Darkly". Interested in hearing writers explain the importance of their works.
-Milan Kundera "The Art of the Novel". What works in fiction and what doesn't. (100 pages long, tries to cover everything).
NOTES: Excited about Proust. It stood out on Sunday. Something of that size would become the 'bible of the show'.
Intros- Short, sweet, could denature the intros and apply them to a different source.
Living History- A re-enactment of the furture.
Jerry-
-Would like to go back to the well. Find a source he is passionate about.
NOTES: Wary of putting to much emphasis on a singular source. Seems harder to use a film (vs. text) to not pull literal moments from the source. Proust provides a wealth of material that brings a freedom to pick and chooses what applies.
Phillip k. Dick- The device of speaking directly to his audience is very performative.
FINAL NOTES:
Building code: 4196. We will try to get someone here 15min early to turn on the heaters. Will prop kitchen door.
Go to googledoc of rehearsal schedule (write in initials for times when you will be present)
If you are more than 10min late call ahead.
Wants to get back into the habit of starting rehearsl at 6pm. Jonathan will be at the space early tomorrow (so will Nick!).
Homework:
Prepare research for a more detailed source discussion this Sunday (3/7). Keep producing etudes from prior notes.
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Milepost 5
Jonathan, Julie, Faith, Maesie, Jerry, Marc, Liz
Jonathan's Notes: Need- space heater, monitor (computer), keyboard.
Warm Ups: 30 min (S-6:12, E-6:40)
Etude:
Faith 2 etudes- 3 people for the 1st, 2 people for the 2nd
Julie 3 etudes- 1 solo, 2 people for the 2nd and 3rd
Maesie 2 etudes- both require all
Jonathan 1 etude- 3 people
Faith, human-exhibits-
Faith sits gives instructions. Shines light on Maesie (Exhibit 1). Asks us to observe her posture and compare ourselves to her. Light out. Light on Julie (Exhibit 2). Compare 1 to 2 and both to ourselves. Light out. Light up, 1 and 2 stand next to each other. Light out. Please stay seated, please listen carefully repeated in the dark. Light up. 1 and 2 next to each other. Focus on expression and emotions. Light out. Light up. 1 standing, 2 seated. Asks us to close our eyes. Light out. Light up. Both stand, we are asked to open our eyes. What differences do we see? 1 and 2 sit crosslegged.
Notes:
Break: 7:30
Jonathan, fear look at the door-
Faith at microphone podium. Strobe downstage R. Maesie sits center, Julie on floor SR. Faith describes being held down by a weight, unable to move. Repeats "I couldn't move." Single floor light aimed at podium SL. Faith moves to Julie, Maesie moves to podium. Looks at door, pauses. Mumbles into microphone, looks at Faith, Julie. Faith speaks quietly in the corner. Maesie repeats "I couldn't breathe", She looks down and holds herself still as she speaks. Looks at Faith, Julie. Moves to chair. Julie moves to podium. Looks at door. Faith and Maesie talk to each other. Julie repeats story, repeats "I couldn't scream". Looks at Faith, Maesie.
Notes:
Julie, the blowjob test tube-
Podium down center. Lights out. Music plays. Lights up on podium. Julie moves slowly upstage L from the house holding a test tube with red goo in front of her. Moves to upstage wall and turns to face us at center. She wears a white paintsuit that covers her head. She moves to the podium and pours red goo into a clear testtube. A foamy reaction occurs.
Notes: Music-'Susperia' by Goblin.
Faith, laugh, jump, laugh-
Lights out. Tense string music plays. Music out. Lights up. Maesie laughs and jumps hysterically upstage. Music in. Lights out. Music out. Lights up. Maesie resumes laughing and jumping. Comes to a place of calm. Takes deep breaths. Lights out. Music in. Music out. Lights up. Maesie is still. Immediate lights out. Music in. Lights up. Music out. Maesie slowly looks SL. Lights out. Music in. Music out. Lights up. Maesie stares SL. A look of joy slowly grows until...music in. Faith rushes onstage and joins her in jumping and laughing.
Julie, test tube picnic.
Music plays. Julie carries a picnic basket onstage. Makes her way to center, looks around, smiles. Places basket on ground. Kneels, spreads a white napkin. Places in carefully in a ziploc bag, presses out the excess air. Sits back, smiles. Takes a white paint suit from the basket. Puts it on over her white dress. Takes an empty test tube from the basket. Places three spoonfulls of white powder from mason jar in test tube. Pours clear liquid from mason jar into test tube. A white foam reaction occurs. She removes paint suit, lays it out. Picks up basket and leaves.
Break: 15 min (7:55)
Discussion:
Source:
Masie -What is the purpose of the source? Structure, text?
Jonathan -wants the source material first, structure later. Source is place to get 'real things from'. Use them to generate content; text, visuals, music.
Marc- State that we are definately working for a set body of sources?
Specificity- narrow from 'epic poems' to 'epic poems by ___'.
Jonathan- Use this source method as a launching point and not an end goal. Need to choose between themes or sources.
Julie- Sources sometimes spring from the themes.
Faith-Until the sources have been picked the guiding force will default to themes.
Jonathan- Need some pressure to kick-start ideas. Force us to make a decision, "who's gonna bring it?"
Sources it is. Until we have it, keep using etudes.
Jonathan-wants to hear one source from each person.
Jonathan-Were there any ideas from last rehearsal that speak to everyone?
Faith-There were a few common threads. Tarkofsky, proust.
Marc- Sources should be digestable in roughly 10min. Bring in highlighted sections of source, or clips.
Julie- Use blog to communicate sources and notes?
Jonathan- It's up to the provider to make the source appealing. Sources should be clearly and effieciently presented.
Liz
-Oryx and Crake, search for the real in a hyper advance world.
NOTES: Drawn to the relationship between Tarkovsky's films and the novels they were based on. Intrigued to view "The Stalker".
Faith
-Films of Tarkovsky (has posted a clip from "The Mirror" on the blog. Will be posting further clips tomorrow.)
-"The Stalker", similar to "Solaris", title means 'to approach vertically'. Based on book "Roadside Picnic". Professional guide to THE ZONE, a wilderness area cordoned off by the gov. It is a room that grants wishes and desires of inhabitants. A place where laws of physics no longer apply. Other films include "The Sacrifice" and "Nostalgia". Faith will work on acquiring the remaining films. Exploring metaphysical and emotinal states.
NOTES: Borges- excited by the idea of looking at speeches (as a counter-point) to articulate what the show as a whole is attempting. How can we use this more "heady material".
Maesie-
-Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" (7 volumes, 4,000 pages translated). Most famous passage "madeline episode" the bite of a madeline takes him back to a memory. The study of involuntary memory. Had an impact on the study of neurology. The book explores formation of experience vs. a linear plot. Art triumphs over the destructive power of time. (Harold Pinter wrote a screenplay for "In Search of Lost Time" in entirety). The book is a circle, with a cyclical emphasis on Time. Maesie is intrigued by the idea of tackling, digesting, and adapting this 4,000 page document. Focus on themes of memory and time.
-"Future Archive". People discussing the present as if they were speaking in the future.
NOTES: Living History- A description of what you are about to see. Using living history as a frame (creating worlds). More lighthearted than the work has thus far been.
Julie-
-Intro to Science Fiction books as a gateway to philosophy. Science Fiction as a means of exploring the present (by donning the trappings of the future, being an "other"). It allows the viewer/reader, to suspend disbelief and delve deeply into the ideas and feelings behind the story. J.G. Ballard, Borges, introductions.
-Borges, "The book of imaginary beings". Discussing the taking of children to zoos. Zoo of reality, zoo of mythology. "The Zoology of dreams is far pooer than the zoology of the Maker."
-Phillip K. Dick, what is reality? what constitutes the authentic human being? "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." A secret love of chaos. Do not assume that order and stability is always good. Before new can be born, old must perish. The viable, elastic organism, that can absorb change; the authentic human being.
NOTES: Different modes emerging. Narrative and non-fiction conceptual exploration. How do our ideas compliment each other or contrast. Film makes us think about theater space as opposed to the literal adapting of a text. Proust- Not sure it makes sense to have something be the core of the show that the rest of the company doesn't fully understand.
Seeking out a richer, fuller text than sci-fi provides.
Jonathan-
- All sources from websites of organizations that do ____________ for a living. The Association of Living History and Farm Agriculture Museums.
-History is always changing, the recent development of "living history". The recreation of particular moments from the past, ignoring modern intrusions.
-Re-enacting ancient battles. Ancient manufacturing techniques. Feasting. Ancient poetry and presenation of literatuer. Socializing.
-Colonial "blop-blop". Only the tourists are out of time and place.
-Shaker historic village. Traditional music, production techniques.
-Aboriginal living skill school in Arizona. Offers well-rounded and honest survival and aborigianl livings skill education.
-History interpreters (=actors). A time in which everday lives were transformed by advances in agriculture and industry.
-Interested in "Future History Museum".
NOTES: Films a good source of images (that can be redefined in a new context). Proust- a well-written text is a golden trump card. A well to return to.
Tarkovsky- Attracted to films as a source of similar moments and themes. Recurring characters, motifs.
Marc-
-Looking for non-fiction work of famous sci-fi/fantasy writers. Intros and prefaces to sci-fi books. Has posted some passages to the blog. Why do artists create off-kilter worlds and scenarios. Accessing the non-ficiton behind sci-fi. Looking for speeches, letters, essays. The corespondance of Phillip K. Dick as he developed "A Scanner Darkly". Interested in hearing writers explain the importance of their works.
-Milan Kundera "The Art of the Novel". What works in fiction and what doesn't. (100 pages long, tries to cover everything).
NOTES: Excited about Proust. It stood out on Sunday. Something of that size would become the 'bible of the show'.
Intros- Short, sweet, could denature the intros and apply them to a different source.
Living History- A re-enactment of the furture.
Jerry-
-Would like to go back to the well. Find a source he is passionate about.
NOTES: Wary of putting to much emphasis on a singular source. Seems harder to use a film (vs. text) to not pull literal moments from the source. Proust provides a wealth of material that brings a freedom to pick and chooses what applies.
Phillip k. Dick- The device of speaking directly to his audience is very performative.
FINAL NOTES:
Building code: 4196. We will try to get someone here 15min early to turn on the heaters. Will prop kitchen door.
Go to googledoc of rehearsal schedule (write in initials for times when you will be present)
If you are more than 10min late call ahead.
Wants to get back into the habit of starting rehearsl at 6pm. Jonathan will be at the space early tomorrow (so will Nick!).
Homework:
Prepare research for a more detailed source discussion this Sunday (3/7). Keep producing etudes from prior notes.
How the Future predicts Sciene Fiction
Interesting post from a local SF writer david levine who spent time at the Mars research station in Utah (where Jay Scheib also spent time prepping for his show... link below, really great photos and info)
link... jay scheib
link... david levine
Excerpt from the Article.
link... jay scheib
link... david levine
Excerpt from the Article.
We science fiction writers aren't futurists. SF needn't even be set in the future, and even when it is, we're not necessarily trying to create an accurate model of what we believe is the most likely future—
Cautionary tales emphasize the negative consequences of some aspect of present life. These dystopias are often prompted by the words "If this goes on…"
Thought experiments focus on the possible effects of some current or projected event, technology, or trend. These stories ask the question "What if?" They are distinguished from cautionary tales in that they explore both positive and negative impacts of the trend; they are distinguished from predictions in that they do not necessarily focus on the most likely outcome.
Literalized metaphors examine an aspect of our world by taking a metaphor and making it concrete. Examples include using space aliens to address alienation, using clones to discuss conformity, and using a location on a distant planet as a metaphor for personal isolation. Metaphors such as these are used in non-science fiction as well, of course, but in SF the aliens, clones, or distant planets are literally rather than figuratively present in the world of the story.
Explorations of new science and technology simply use some new advance as the basis of a story. "What's in New Scientist today will be in Analog next year." Often in these stories something goes wrong with the new technology, but this is often done simply to create an exciting story rather than to criticize. An example is Arthur C. Clarke's A Fall of Moondust, which is basically a disaster movie based on the latest theories about the composition of the lunar surface (theories that later turned out to be incorrect).
sources notes from sunday (marc's)
My reactions/interests from Sunday source sharing:
Many Waters --> mythical transformation as dense narrative of imagery, juxtaposition of myth/fable/religious history with time-travel.
A Swiftly Tilting Planet--->epic language. conjuring. spell casting. proclamations
Many Waters --> mythical transformation as dense narrative of imagery, juxtaposition of myth/fable/religious history with time-travel.
A Swiftly Tilting Planet--->epic language. conjuring. spell casting. proclamations
Smell---> possible to express the experience of a smell or touch, but using other senses. could we, limited to what we can present on stage, find exciting ways to tap into other senses. (helen keller) I like the idea of smelling rituals, perhaps very strange atrificial rituals. Also like the pheromone chapter, idea of powerful pheromones being manipulated in the future part of a narrative... is SMELL the fourth dimension?
Husband Salting ----> again, I like the idea of performing strange rituals on stage, not necessarily ones that have actually happened, but weird variations and reworkings of them, trying to maintain their absurd essence. More quirky historical ritual research?
Calvino - Castle/Tarot-----> Like the idea of some sort of complex code through which narrative is revealed. Also, the tarot images have such strange potency on their own, then add the layer of distinct meaning, then the layer or the meaning driving action--an interesting way of driving events forward
The Mirror---->moments were most dreamlike/notable when 1) reactions to stimuli are distant or not in line with how you'd expect the character to respond and 2) world starts to deteriorate in uncanny ways hinting at a fiction, but not quite a full dissociation
Solaris----> similar to the mirror, disconnects between stimuli and response seems to build strangeness. also, visual variations (b&w, distortion, contrast) can pull you into a very different world
Future Primitive----> "complexity inter-penetrative in ways not previously imagined", return to the old ways not in conflict with the march of technology. Technology as context and tool of knowledge, but does not contain the knowledge itself, only signs of the knowledge.
Vermillion Sands---->could we envision a mundane future?
Source.html + text----->staging dreamscapes. all the photos appear to be vast worlds, devoid of certain identifying details, and always extreme- color, haze, shadow, silhouette
Hericletus----> repetition of same wisdom over the ages. harping on same themes. summation of knowledge into short imperatives of wisdom
Visit to Lost World--->cultural fetishizing in a distant other world? A feigned reality out of context, an mimesis of the mythos.
Another Bystander--->will we vanish from memory completely? can we theatricalize that?
Remembrance of Times Past------> last four stanzas. ability to use isolated personal/small experience in great detail as analogous illustration of larger philosophical point.
Rehearsal Notes 2/28/10
HOMEWORK for Wednesday:
- NEW ETUDES (MINIMUM 1, NO MAXIMUM!):
tone and form: go after themes bigger bigger bigger! )
THEMES:
1) dream shift - Dreams as a source of otherness, slipping between 'hard reality' and dream reality state. Going and coming back, and it being a transformation AND/OR
2) nature and shadow side of nature
- GIVE A CONCRETE proposal for The Source
+ not a page, not an image, but something more -- each person bring only one thing (a book, a movie, a story, a series of something that you bring in to the room, no talking only, need to have material in room)
Julie will do sci-fi introductions
Faith Tarkovsky & all variations
--
SPACE PROJECT REHEARSAL
Sunday, February 28
Milepost 5
Liz, Jonathan, Julie, Faith
Stations: What are we trying to accomplish -- what things stood out from all the materials we went over (limiting is the point: let's talk over what stood out for us)
- ask MARC & MAESIE to comment on what materials stood out
- made us think we want more time to bring in/find more materials in the next week
- no problem with us choosing 5 (rather than 1) to move forward with
What was brought in
- LIZ: 2 books in Wrinkle in Time, History of Senses, Salt history, Womb sounds
- MARC: Heraclitus, Philip K Dick excerpts
- MAESIE: Proust, Little House books, Italo Calvino, Orlando, misc excerpts
- FAITH: Elie Wiesel "Night", Tarokvsky's The Mirror, Amelia by Joni Mitchel
- JONATHAN: text from Victor Hugo, James Turrel & Tate Modern, Solaris
- JULIE: Ecotopia, Intros from Future Primitive Vermillion Sands, At Home in Nature / John Burrows
What stood out
LIZ:
- Victor Hugo -- dreaming; connected to dreaming in Hericlitus; loved -- "daydream, the world of the night is a world, nothing other than the approach of invisible reality
- The Mirror -- the wetness of her hair, mixed with the burning house; senses
- John Burrows -- line about people walking to church, simpleness of everything, if everyone would just walk it would change our universe, increase our senses
- "Night" -- something about it, it is so beautiful & moving
- Ecotopia -- get to choose their own death (like native ameriacans & eskimos)
FAITH:
- surprised by connections between materials
- Calvino -- fascinated by sections that designated a place through symbols, communicating a place through mime and symbols (even after he knew language), pearl with a skull represented something even if it was unexplainable & mysterious; they can speak more strongly than anything else
- Reminded of Sexing the Cherry -- imaginary cities, lost cities coming back to life
- Calvino book on Tarot, connected with Madeline L'Engle books, something on surface which spins out in so many directions, story itself is complicated, but something comforting about faniciful things like unicorns
- Little House on the Prarie -- frontier porn, fetishizing olden days return to nature, back to roots, not frightening; contrast with other visions of nature as an unpredictable force, frightening; looking and desiring something evil in nature
- Ecotopia -- intersting because want to believe
- The Mirror & Solaris -- natural elements are powerful but not understandable; nature linked to dreams linked to supernatural
- Philip K Dick -- creating universes that come unglued, resisting the urge to make things work too well "Sybil with a raging mouth" "the dream is the aquarium of night"
- womb sounds like space
- potential title "Hi-Tech"
- love the Turrel images
- "Night" -- horrific events being source of dream-like narrative, symbolic and mystical being used to describe something horrific
JONATHAN:
- At Home in Nature -- idea that is insane to enjoy rustic life, great sequence of insane people enjoying simple life
- JG Ballard -- introductions as major source, framing device; all sci-fi about the future is about the present
- The Mirror -- so good; if we can make something this good, we've made a masterpiece; dreamlike flow of images and ideas
- Future Primitives -- intrigued by idea of having to believe what we do now influences the future, this is an interesting kind of optimism; humans are last organic form in a de-natured, shiny future
- started thinking about a lot of films: really over the top sci-fi movies
- "Night" -- great and amazing and beautiful and awesome, don't know if it's a good source, but interested in a source that is so other (the Holocaust), where we can find a parallel that is interesting and insightful
- human body as something we are trying to snuff out, power of smell, strenght of senses counteracted with technology
- Proust -- so detailed and working in and out of an image, almost pragmatic while ultra poetic
- Philip K Dick -- "what is reality, when you stop believing in it it doesn't go away" -- don't really like it as reading, but like the philosophy behind it and his writing; shortcut to an idea while avoiding the subject
- journey and frame stories -- Orlando, journey can goes on for 100s of years through many places and one person
JULIE:
- Tarkovsky: love it. Mirror: ideas about images and modes of working, theme of silence & layers, making something so dramatic without lots of noise (physical noise, and distractions). Scene of house collapsing around her, sounds of nature becoming sinister & mysterious. Sound of rain as a calming sound, but also the most evil sound -- everything in nature has a shadow side -- fire is warming but also destroys.
- Elie Wiesel: what happens when you return from another place and nobody believes you. Going someplace else and forgetting where you've come from -- escapism and opposite of escapism. This & Proust -- language so beautiful, exciting to think about using this (nobel prize winning) language.
- Hieroclytus: using treatise as form, a way to organize thoughts into whole. you could read it through and one point was five sentences long, one was one word. a play could have six acts, one act is two minutes long -- as long as the idea you want to tell. Brechtian: tell everything you want to tell... like the idea of having a written treatise for our performance.
- Proust: magical transportation from one place to another via sense memory. Language exquisite, enjoyed reading it on page with space around it. sparse, connected to Tarkovsky -- say things but it's all the white space, things not there, that stand out.
- Invisible Cities: interesting images, contrasted to James Turrell photos. World of super lush nature & foliage. Turrell: light creates immensity & vastness, encouraging playfulness in such a barren setting -- people lying on floor in Tate Modern making snow angels. Encouraging joy in people. Using color to dictate moods, exciting to think about doing things exactly the same way but the lights change.
- Solaris: small gestures -- she takes comb and puts to her lip, connecting with light -- highlight or not highlight certain things. Huge circles of light coming in through windows, strange plastic covered things, doubles and triples and twinning of people. We have powerful tool: 4 women of similar height and build and hair color. Control of destiny, our own & others -- reminded of short story, man on space station: he's about to go home, out repairing something and he hurts his ankle, goes to medical computer and it repairs him and he wakes up but it's not him who wakes up, it's a clone -- finally he realizes that he's been out on this spaceship with endless clones for hundreds of years, recordings of family are from long ago... whoa.
- Womb: natural but sinister. movies: always low level white noise kind of sound.
What didn't get mentioned / CUT:
- Joni Mitchell's Amelia
- Salt
- Orlando (though idea of journey should remain)
- Random text
- Diane Ackerman (though hold onto idea of senses)
- Italo Calvino tarot book
- Little House in the Little Woods / Little Prairie
- Madeleine L'Engle
Common themes more than one person were drawn to / STAY:
- Introductions / philosophies of sci fi -- Philip K Dick & JG Ballard
- Hieroclytus
- Mirror & Solaris (Tarkovsky)
- Proust
- Wiesel, Night
- Victor Hugo excerpt (from Lathe of Heaven)
- James Turrell
- Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities
- Fetishization of rustic life, back to nature (Burroughs, Ecotopia)
HOW TO MOVE FORWARD WITH SOURCE MATERIAL:
FAITH:
- For me, its not a theme or book, but the juxtaposition of several sources around a common thread or theme
- TWO THEMES (FIRST IS also A 'TYPE' OF WORK): (1) philosophy of sci-fi: you are exploring present by exploring future. Creating an imperfect universe as a way to work out humanity's flaws/moving forward. (2) nature and how it is linked as a source of comfort and a shadow side that is destructive/frightening
- the films of Tarkovsky (not just one film)
LIZ:
- Not one source from today that I can go after. Like the the IDEA of having A source.
- TWO THEMES: (1) Calming vs Non Calming, and how they are the same (womb music, most calming for babies yet is a disturbing, ominous sound). (2) Simplicity (Ecotopia desire to get back to simplicity, Proust simplicity in remembering, ease of being able to dream)
JULIE:
- Did not see A SINGLE source that is fascinating and the one...like the idea of having A SOURCE (or two) because...
- ONE THEME: Dreams as a source of otherness, slipping between 'hard reality' and dream reality state. Going and coming back, and it being a transformation.
JONATHAN:
- TWO THEMES: (1) overarching philosophy / description of what you're trying to achieve: introductions of what sci fi is attempting to accomplish -- a genre to explore. (2) Moment in The Mirror when kid calls "Papa!" gets up and walks forward -- weird feeling as a child, world is a magical place -- exploring all levels of that, getting across that feeling that The Mirror so effectively conveys. How do get this feeling in an adult -- put people into that state, slipping between states.
Ways to move forward:
- Keep creating etudes: shed light on subconscious, how we're thinking
- Rev up long form improvs
MUST CHOOSE A WAY TO CREATE, either:
A: Choosing Themes and then going after that/those themes via ANY SOURCE IS OK
B: Rigid Source; One book and one movie for example; (finding the themes)
C: Source that is a (or multiple) 'type' (pop/recorded music) that is mined to chase a certain theme (american patriotism)
JONATHAN: intimidated by holy grail (picking 1-2 sources) but intrigued also. Can't answer this today -- but maybe in future. Not interested in just choosing themes -- sooner we get to decision on sources, sooner we can get to creating better work.
LIZ: in total agreement with Jonathan. With boundary able to go further. Almost too much right now.
JULIE: agrees. people find pleasure in doing plays because so much is set already but you get to design lots of things. More drawn to one set source. We're all on so many pages, too many ideas right now.
FAITH: room for lots of things to be in the show even if it isn't our main source material. Doesn't need to be THE SOURCE. would love to have one or two perhaps juxtaposing sources, drawn to it; tricky thing about finding a source at this point is this type of single source is often the inspiration for making the show; would love to do one source, but think it might make more sense to do a hybrid;
All in agreement that we want a source, but is that source a book, OR a book & a movie, OR a series of books, or ? ? ?
Today's ideas the name of the show:
"Hi-Tech"
"As yet untitled Space Show" / As yet untitled show about about space
- NEW ETUDES (MINIMUM 1, NO MAXIMUM!):
tone and form: go after themes bigger bigger bigger! )
THEMES:
1) dream shift - Dreams as a source of otherness, slipping between 'hard reality' and dream reality state. Going and coming back, and it being a transformation AND/OR
2) nature and shadow side of nature
- GIVE A CONCRETE proposal for The Source
+ not a page, not an image, but something more -- each person bring only one thing (a book, a movie, a story, a series of something that you bring in to the room, no talking only, need to have material in room)
Julie will do sci-fi introductions
Faith Tarkovsky & all variations
--
SPACE PROJECT REHEARSAL
Sunday, February 28
Milepost 5
Liz, Jonathan, Julie, Faith
Stations: What are we trying to accomplish -- what things stood out from all the materials we went over (limiting is the point: let's talk over what stood out for us)
- ask MARC & MAESIE to comment on what materials stood out
- made us think we want more time to bring in/find more materials in the next week
- no problem with us choosing 5 (rather than 1) to move forward with
What was brought in
- LIZ: 2 books in Wrinkle in Time, History of Senses, Salt history, Womb sounds
- MARC: Heraclitus, Philip K Dick excerpts
- MAESIE: Proust, Little House books, Italo Calvino, Orlando, misc excerpts
- FAITH: Elie Wiesel "Night", Tarokvsky's The Mirror, Amelia by Joni Mitchel
- JONATHAN: text from Victor Hugo, James Turrel & Tate Modern, Solaris
- JULIE: Ecotopia, Intros from Future Primitive Vermillion Sands, At Home in Nature / John Burrows
What stood out
LIZ:
- Victor Hugo -- dreaming; connected to dreaming in Hericlitus; loved -- "daydream, the world of the night is a world, nothing other than the approach of invisible reality
- The Mirror -- the wetness of her hair, mixed with the burning house; senses
- John Burrows -- line about people walking to church, simpleness of everything, if everyone would just walk it would change our universe, increase our senses
- "Night" -- something about it, it is so beautiful & moving
- Ecotopia -- get to choose their own death (like native ameriacans & eskimos)
FAITH:
- surprised by connections between materials
- Calvino -- fascinated by sections that designated a place through symbols, communicating a place through mime and symbols (even after he knew language), pearl with a skull represented something even if it was unexplainable & mysterious; they can speak more strongly than anything else
- Reminded of Sexing the Cherry -- imaginary cities, lost cities coming back to life
- Calvino book on Tarot, connected with Madeline L'Engle books, something on surface which spins out in so many directions, story itself is complicated, but something comforting about faniciful things like unicorns
- Little House on the Prarie -- frontier porn, fetishizing olden days return to nature, back to roots, not frightening; contrast with other visions of nature as an unpredictable force, frightening; looking and desiring something evil in nature
- Ecotopia -- intersting because want to believe
- The Mirror & Solaris -- natural elements are powerful but not understandable; nature linked to dreams linked to supernatural
- Philip K Dick -- creating universes that come unglued, resisting the urge to make things work too well "Sybil with a raging mouth" "the dream is the aquarium of night"
- womb sounds like space
- potential title "Hi-Tech"
- love the Turrel images
- "Night" -- horrific events being source of dream-like narrative, symbolic and mystical being used to describe something horrific
JONATHAN:
- At Home in Nature -- idea that is insane to enjoy rustic life, great sequence of insane people enjoying simple life
- JG Ballard -- introductions as major source, framing device; all sci-fi about the future is about the present
- The Mirror -- so good; if we can make something this good, we've made a masterpiece; dreamlike flow of images and ideas
- Future Primitives -- intrigued by idea of having to believe what we do now influences the future, this is an interesting kind of optimism; humans are last organic form in a de-natured, shiny future
- started thinking about a lot of films: really over the top sci-fi movies
- "Night" -- great and amazing and beautiful and awesome, don't know if it's a good source, but interested in a source that is so other (the Holocaust), where we can find a parallel that is interesting and insightful
- human body as something we are trying to snuff out, power of smell, strenght of senses counteracted with technology
- Proust -- so detailed and working in and out of an image, almost pragmatic while ultra poetic
- Philip K Dick -- "what is reality, when you stop believing in it it doesn't go away" -- don't really like it as reading, but like the philosophy behind it and his writing; shortcut to an idea while avoiding the subject
- journey and frame stories -- Orlando, journey can goes on for 100s of years through many places and one person
JULIE:
- Tarkovsky: love it. Mirror: ideas about images and modes of working, theme of silence & layers, making something so dramatic without lots of noise (physical noise, and distractions). Scene of house collapsing around her, sounds of nature becoming sinister & mysterious. Sound of rain as a calming sound, but also the most evil sound -- everything in nature has a shadow side -- fire is warming but also destroys.
- Elie Wiesel: what happens when you return from another place and nobody believes you. Going someplace else and forgetting where you've come from -- escapism and opposite of escapism. This & Proust -- language so beautiful, exciting to think about using this (nobel prize winning) language.
- Hieroclytus: using treatise as form, a way to organize thoughts into whole. you could read it through and one point was five sentences long, one was one word. a play could have six acts, one act is two minutes long -- as long as the idea you want to tell. Brechtian: tell everything you want to tell... like the idea of having a written treatise for our performance.
- Proust: magical transportation from one place to another via sense memory. Language exquisite, enjoyed reading it on page with space around it. sparse, connected to Tarkovsky -- say things but it's all the white space, things not there, that stand out.
- Invisible Cities: interesting images, contrasted to James Turrell photos. World of super lush nature & foliage. Turrell: light creates immensity & vastness, encouraging playfulness in such a barren setting -- people lying on floor in Tate Modern making snow angels. Encouraging joy in people. Using color to dictate moods, exciting to think about doing things exactly the same way but the lights change.
- Solaris: small gestures -- she takes comb and puts to her lip, connecting with light -- highlight or not highlight certain things. Huge circles of light coming in through windows, strange plastic covered things, doubles and triples and twinning of people. We have powerful tool: 4 women of similar height and build and hair color. Control of destiny, our own & others -- reminded of short story, man on space station: he's about to go home, out repairing something and he hurts his ankle, goes to medical computer and it repairs him and he wakes up but it's not him who wakes up, it's a clone -- finally he realizes that he's been out on this spaceship with endless clones for hundreds of years, recordings of family are from long ago... whoa.
- Womb: natural but sinister. movies: always low level white noise kind of sound.
What didn't get mentioned / CUT:
- Joni Mitchell's Amelia
- Salt
- Orlando (though idea of journey should remain)
- Random text
- Diane Ackerman (though hold onto idea of senses)
- Italo Calvino tarot book
- Little House in the Little Woods / Little Prairie
- Madeleine L'Engle
Common themes more than one person were drawn to / STAY:
- Introductions / philosophies of sci fi -- Philip K Dick & JG Ballard
- Hieroclytus
- Mirror & Solaris (Tarkovsky)
- Proust
- Wiesel, Night
- Victor Hugo excerpt (from Lathe of Heaven)
- James Turrell
- Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities
- Fetishization of rustic life, back to nature (Burroughs, Ecotopia)
HOW TO MOVE FORWARD WITH SOURCE MATERIAL:
FAITH:
- For me, its not a theme or book, but the juxtaposition of several sources around a common thread or theme
- TWO THEMES (FIRST IS also A 'TYPE' OF WORK): (1) philosophy of sci-fi: you are exploring present by exploring future. Creating an imperfect universe as a way to work out humanity's flaws/moving forward. (2) nature and how it is linked as a source of comfort and a shadow side that is destructive/frightening
- the films of Tarkovsky (not just one film)
LIZ:
- Not one source from today that I can go after. Like the the IDEA of having A source.
- TWO THEMES: (1) Calming vs Non Calming, and how they are the same (womb music, most calming for babies yet is a disturbing, ominous sound). (2) Simplicity (Ecotopia desire to get back to simplicity, Proust simplicity in remembering, ease of being able to dream)
JULIE:
- Did not see A SINGLE source that is fascinating and the one...like the idea of having A SOURCE (or two) because...
- ONE THEME: Dreams as a source of otherness, slipping between 'hard reality' and dream reality state. Going and coming back, and it being a transformation.
JONATHAN:
- TWO THEMES: (1) overarching philosophy / description of what you're trying to achieve: introductions of what sci fi is attempting to accomplish -- a genre to explore. (2) Moment in The Mirror when kid calls "Papa!" gets up and walks forward -- weird feeling as a child, world is a magical place -- exploring all levels of that, getting across that feeling that The Mirror so effectively conveys. How do get this feeling in an adult -- put people into that state, slipping between states.
Ways to move forward:
- Keep creating etudes: shed light on subconscious, how we're thinking
- Rev up long form improvs
MUST CHOOSE A WAY TO CREATE, either:
A: Choosing Themes and then going after that/those themes via ANY SOURCE IS OK
B: Rigid Source; One book and one movie for example; (finding the themes)
C: Source that is a (or multiple) 'type' (pop/recorded music) that is mined to chase a certain theme (american patriotism)
JONATHAN: intimidated by holy grail (picking 1-2 sources) but intrigued also. Can't answer this today -- but maybe in future. Not interested in just choosing themes -- sooner we get to decision on sources, sooner we can get to creating better work.
LIZ: in total agreement with Jonathan. With boundary able to go further. Almost too much right now.
JULIE: agrees. people find pleasure in doing plays because so much is set already but you get to design lots of things. More drawn to one set source. We're all on so many pages, too many ideas right now.
FAITH: room for lots of things to be in the show even if it isn't our main source material. Doesn't need to be THE SOURCE. would love to have one or two perhaps juxtaposing sources, drawn to it; tricky thing about finding a source at this point is this type of single source is often the inspiration for making the show; would love to do one source, but think it might make more sense to do a hybrid;
All in agreement that we want a source, but is that source a book, OR a book & a movie, OR a series of books, or ? ? ?
Today's ideas the name of the show:
"Hi-Tech"
"As yet untitled Space Show" / As yet untitled show about about space
