CJD- "Glass and feathers.."Contains Disturbing images..please be advised.

Let me start by saying...this blog contains some disturbing images and matter regarding the attacks of 9/11. Please be advised....

In exploring one of the more physical parts of the piece, "The Window Woman", I keep coming back to this haunting; the falling body. As the footage and news stories after 9/11 show, this was a reality of the day.

In dance, there can be few things more beautiful than a body in motion, and I thought that the medium of dance might be an interesting way of exploring this topic. But first...to the bat cave...i mean, image bank/library. I came across the above.

It is Strange; when first saw some of these images, i thought they were macabre. I flinched. My friends inhaled through their teeth and turned their bodies in recoil. Mostly in memory. However, after spending some time with them, they look less like bodies about to meet an end, and more like bodies on the verge of something larger, with infinite potential. Like Icarus...rising.....frozen in time, in a free moment, they're kind of beautiful, no?

Given the choice to fall freely or go up in ash, what do you choose?

CJD: When Hip Hop and Sound Experimentation Collide...

Ahhh the magical Reggie Watts....I love this man, hard body. There is no bar he wont push, no corner of his voice he couldn't find in the name of truth and humor. Some people might call his work experimental, and I wouldn't disagree. It can be edgy and, at times, odd. However, it is so uniquely Hip Hop in it's innovation, aesthetics, purpose, and understanding of sound and it's functions. He inspires me, and a LOT of the transitions in "Tapes". I find that there is something hella fun about playing with words...like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnKThBC-L9M&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLD00E523EE458E3C8


But, his partner in the storytelling is the fun part.

Ah, what a wonder you are, Kaoss pad ( the sickeningly fun piece of equipment used by Watts in his shows). I am fascinated by how Watts' solid understanding of this seemingly indecipherable board of buttons and sliders frees him into the structure of song to justlay down the backbone and play in the muscle and tissue of a song. It's amazing to be able to split your voice into parts and play on yourself; What does it even mean to sample yourself on a song you are rhyming over? Its like DJ meets shapeshifter. It's like an MC becomes a multiheaded beast. .....did I mention I love the supernatural?

I recently got to play on one of these fun pads; It was a complex experience. While the plethora of functions is, at minimum, overwhelming, it's fun and allows for ALOT of exploration of sound. In a play about how we hear, remember, and expel memory, it feels like a perfect match.

Needless to say, I'll be snagging one this week. Lets go!

C


Oh, and some other things about sound and dopeness:

http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2011/jul/26/4-track-mind/

http://www.guitarcenter.com/In-Store-Used-USED-KORG-KP3-KAOSS-PAD--633-111411-107147876-i2253621.gc?&source=4WWRWXGB

C & R: Inspiration for a Work in Progress

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you
into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is
unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and
be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how
good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to
keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even
have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware
directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is
pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is a queer, divine
dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."- Martha Graham.

The picture shows a collage I made after reflecting on creation. We are all creators, but specifically it addresses ideas about the role of women in creation. There are no limits - we are always moving, shaping, transitioning...but maybe we limit ourselves based on what society has told us about ourselves. What happens when we express ourselves freely?

Suheir Hammad on 9/11 to Cherrye

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNfec7Fa2Cc

C&R: Installations, Mirrors & Things

During the Whitney Museum Biennial back in 2004, I was struck by the work of Yayoi Kusama. She creates installations and incorporates themes of repetition and mirrors. I walked into her reflective interior room - Fireflies on the Water (2002) (pictured bottom left) which consists of a small room lined with mirrors on all sides, a pool in the center of the space, and 150 small lights hanging from the ceiling, creating a dazzling effect of direct and reflected light, emanating from both the mirrors and the water’s surface. Really breathtaking and I'd love for our piece to have a moment when folks are transported to a space that allows them to go WOW!

Fireflies embodies an almost hallucinatory approach to reality toward a more ethereal, almost spiritual experience.Over the past three decades, Kusama has often revisited mirrored forms in her work, exploring notions of infinity, illusion, and repetition in discrete sculptures and room-size installations. I've included her Narcissus Garden - top center image. Google her work and watch a video or two...perhaps CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE for this upcoming piece...tune in next time

BKG: Inspiration #5

Artist: Adele

Song: One and Only

The bridge is what really inspires me.  It sounds like a new song.  And this idea of singing in a round--only you really need are those voices to change the mood, change the quality, change the tone.

#delicious

BKG: Inspiration #4

Artist: Jill Scott
Song: Quick


Promise it's the last Jill Scott (for now)

"Quick" again, provides a musical and poetic quality.  Lyrically, vocally, and musically Jill provides a raw song, that's still polished.