notes from the big apple of stairs: part 1

The AMAZINGLY inspiring Laurie Anderson - BAM

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post show scribbles
"invisible on the couch except for a spotlight - the frame of her head floating on an object of light and motion
moments of stillness - angels and dandelions on a field with a lone violen. Beauty in simplicity -in wonder - in a search for detail amidst the undergrowth.
life, death, poignancy, innovation and experimentation
fearlessness to try something new
and an audience!"

And then Laurie came to our class!
excerpts from my debrief
fiery, open, attentive, energetic, slightly mad and enthusiastic, at times cautious with one lines that hold extreme power in their resonance. she took the time to ask everyone who they were and what they wanted to know. Immediately this set the tone for what she wanted the class time to be, a conversation. I appreciated the roundabout way she approached answering people's thoughts. It struck me as a similar way she approaches her work - without having the same sense of borders, allowing each thought, emotion, state to shift imperceptibly to the next.

 Laurie spoke about the differences in how music, sight and text operate in terms of an audience response in her work. I was interested in the way she mentioned music as being a physical response. I find that images and ideas for performances often start (for me) after listening to music or playing music. It seems an obvious next step to begin thinking how I might depict the mood, feeling or progression both physically and spatially.
Her statement therefore makes complete sense.

But I found her comment on how text has the capacity to connect bodily, mentally and emotionally very interesting. I think writers forget how physical the act of speaking can be. When I write I find myself in rhythms that are very cognizant of breath. Taking in a breath, pausing, thinking, or running with a thought till there is no end to the sentence but one can only keep going until it finally stops.

Reading this out loud becomes an active step in figuring out the physical within the word. It's then really interesting when you start to think about how words combined with sound, being live music onstage or not, plus the use of visuals, such as when Laurie projects onto her various surfaces- how this then increases the potential for communicating within a piece. I guess the skill is being able to know when to allow each element to work on its own, support the other or sit in connection with the other. While I'm here, I want to build upon the visual worlds I create by exploring the use of text within it. I want my words to find meaning in relation to the imagery, the music, the space and the characters onstage.