Rain is a vast composition to comprehend. Several million individual droplets, yet identical in size, fall at random times to create individual ripples, yet the sound is often a monotone shhhhh. (If you can think of a better word to describe this than shhhhh let me know).
At this point I am trying to avoid getting lost in my ideas as I often do, with every project. Luckily, my experience improvising in the stream today proved to me that the best approaches and answers come out of a relaxed body and mind. I finally turned off my mind today. Not completely, but more than I have been able in the time as far back as I can remember. The solitude of painting my old bed room over winter break came close, but in a confined, quiet space lacking social interaction, it seems the mind can never be totally quiet. When the vents are not opened to a new space, what is inside can not dissipate. Moving at the stream opened my mind to a new approach to my project.
My initial goal was to choreograph phrases based on water and put video footage of these phrases into Isadora. (They would be filmed at various site of water). The footage in Isadora will be edited via a natural editor. An example includes (assuming this is possible technology-wise) a humidity censor connected to Isadora. Or, a weight or device measuring the increase of weight or volume of water in a rain barrel over time.
The first step is the movement. At the SEEDS festival I will focus on the rise of the stream as it collects rain water through the week. Tomorrow I hope to write, or collaborate with someone, to write a score from which someone can improvise movement in the stream, based on the water level. The next step is documentation of the technology, and how it will work, can take place. And, I may write more or take the score to other water sites to collect more footage in the Baltimore area, to which I will apply my method of composing a video product.
My qualm with the idea so far is message to audience. What I am really saying, and who will benefit from seeing this work? How can change it to include audience participation or bring it to unlikely audiences? Can I communicate a message about sustainable water practices without screaming the stereotypical 'save the environment' cry? One idea is to have people collect rain water, and bring it to a place to put into a container, and watch how the dance changes as more water is collected. As more water is collected and added to the container, the video will progress differently through qualities of interactions with water, from poor and minimal to rich and nourished. But, collecting rain water is a pretty foreign concept to a lot of people.
Organically this project has taken form, and I am so grateful to be here at Earthdance, where conversations and sharing of resources has fueled my ideas and I have witnessed other research growing and taking shape.
I'm off to my tent to fall asleep to sounds of insects and breaking twigs. This post ends with a cup of mint tea in hand, and video of a piece about the water cycle by my new friend Kiori.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcRpi1Gm9ms
Monday, July 12, 2010
Plant seed, then water
I often jump the gun.
My experience at this festival is a lesson in planting a seed, voicing an idea, and moving into it when the time is right. Here, I feel it is the right time and place to dive in to this project.
Within myself are seeds of creativity and confidence that I am nourishing during this journey. Today is day three of the SEEDS festival, and I already have several transformations to write about. While I am actively focusing on transforming my curiosities in to creative products, and insecurities in to confidence, and I also exercising much patience. No seed grows to full form and function in one day.
The theme of the festival this year is, coincidentally, Nourishment. Through awakening my mind and body to new perceptions of the space I occupy, and the body I function through, I have learned that nourishment exists in many forms. Our bodies are nourished by food, water, air, social interaction and solitude. Sounds, tones and textures all feed our body different messages and signals, and directions for how to grow.
In the workshop this morning, KJ Holmes mentioned the definition of the word 'nourishment.' It comes from the Greek word meaning to flow, or to drip. My view of water changed in that moment as I viewed water as nourishment.
I must stop writing for now in order to go meet friends for a trip to the stream. I finally have time to visit the water! More posts are soon to come, documenting my research, conversations and photos of this experience and research.
My experience at this festival is a lesson in planting a seed, voicing an idea, and moving into it when the time is right. Here, I feel it is the right time and place to dive in to this project.
Within myself are seeds of creativity and confidence that I am nourishing during this journey. Today is day three of the SEEDS festival, and I already have several transformations to write about. While I am actively focusing on transforming my curiosities in to creative products, and insecurities in to confidence, and I also exercising much patience. No seed grows to full form and function in one day.
The theme of the festival this year is, coincidentally, Nourishment. Through awakening my mind and body to new perceptions of the space I occupy, and the body I function through, I have learned that nourishment exists in many forms. Our bodies are nourished by food, water, air, social interaction and solitude. Sounds, tones and textures all feed our body different messages and signals, and directions for how to grow.
In the workshop this morning, KJ Holmes mentioned the definition of the word 'nourishment.' It comes from the Greek word meaning to flow, or to drip. My view of water changed in that moment as I viewed water as nourishment.
I must stop writing for now in order to go meet friends for a trip to the stream. I finally have time to visit the water! More posts are soon to come, documenting my research, conversations and photos of this experience and research.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Rain Stats
Although I'm not focusing on statistics, it's necessary to consider them.
This post will include statistics about rainfall and measurements specific to Baltimore, Maryland.
1) Annual rainfall at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Second chart.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:DV0ZBMpa5qAJ:www.baltimore-bwi.airports-guides.com/bwi_climate.html+baltimore%27s+rain+fall+july+and+august+2010&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
This post will include statistics about rainfall and measurements specific to Baltimore, Maryland.
1) Annual rainfall at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Second chart.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:DV0ZBMpa5qAJ:www.baltimore-bwi.airports-guides.com/bwi_climate.html+baltimore%27s+rain+fall+july+and+august+2010&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
SEEDS Festival
From July 9-18 I will participate in the SEEDS Festival at Earthdance in Plainfield, Massachusetts. SEEDS stands for "Somatic Experiments in Earth, Dance and Science." At the festival I will participate in workshops about Body-Mind Centering, improvisation, the connection between art and permaculture and other topics relating to art and ecology.
I am so grateful to attend this even through the support of an Undergraduate Research Award from UMBC. This experience will connect me with people who have dedicated their lives to researching the relationship body and mind, and body and earth. There is much to say about this upcoming event, but in short, I am thrilled to interact with the group and discuss, experiment and watch what is possible when many inspiring people get together! This experience couldn't happen at a better time in my life as I am restructuring how I interact with the world and focusing more on my mental and physical health than ever before.
This blog will document my experience at the SEEDS Festival as much of my research will take place there.
Check out the SEEDS Community Site:
http://seedsfestival.ning.com/
I am so grateful to attend this even through the support of an Undergraduate Research Award from UMBC. This experience will connect me with people who have dedicated their lives to researching the relationship body and mind, and body and earth. There is much to say about this upcoming event, but in short, I am thrilled to interact with the group and discuss, experiment and watch what is possible when many inspiring people get together! This experience couldn't happen at a better time in my life as I am restructuring how I interact with the world and focusing more on my mental and physical health than ever before.
This blog will document my experience at the SEEDS Festival as much of my research will take place there.
Check out the SEEDS Community Site:
http://seedsfestival.ning.com/
Introduction
A pursuit of knowledge may commence in various ways.
During a independent study with Professor Lisa Moren at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) I wrote 25 instructions and put them into a handmade box. One of them reads, "Know the rain."
In writing this, I wanted to do as artists did during the period of Fluxus, a period during the 1960's when artists explored the ever changing connections between art and life via scores and instructions. Scores and instructions provided a structure from which one could explore the undefined, in-between areas that lay between art and life. They prompted actions that lay on the border of performance, investigation, and even what some considered insanity. The product of these actions is a history of exploration and experimentation that all can look back to for reassurance that it is important to explore our connection to our world and to do so through innovative means.
As an Interdisciplinary Studies Major I am required to complete research on my topic of choice for my Capstone project. After studying several ways of dancing, drawing, photographing, designing and interpreting art history, culture and social issues, I wanted to find a way to combine some of these methods to produce a new kind of end product, a kind of art work I had not before created.
Simultaneously, my surplus of attention lead me periodically astray to the study of sustainability and subsequent frustration over human actions damaging our personal, ecological and environmental health. I want to know the earth more than I do today, and know what my connection to the earth means.
The ways of knowing I have acquired in my undergraduate career are not scientific. They cannot be carried out using test tubes, microscopes or statistics, though I've had basic experience using these methods. My methods are in the arts, and often through use of nothing more than my own body.
Therefore, for my Capstone project I am putting my knowledge of art to a different kind of use. I am investigating the relationship between humans and rain water. What constitutes this connection? How can this relationship be healthier?
Rather than test water in a lab or compile statistics I will produce art that is the product of interdisciplinary research using artistic methods drawn from the disciplines of dance, visual art and disciplines included within the broad concept of sustainability. This blog documents my research process including photos, video footage, writing and personal anecdotes. Feel free to comment on or contribute to this process. The final product of my research will be an integration of my findings into performance and video.
I have studied my own body and how bodies work most of my life through dance. Now I will study the connection between the body and the earth. And hopefully, I will "know the rain."
During a independent study with Professor Lisa Moren at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) I wrote 25 instructions and put them into a handmade box. One of them reads, "Know the rain."
In writing this, I wanted to do as artists did during the period of Fluxus, a period during the 1960's when artists explored the ever changing connections between art and life via scores and instructions. Scores and instructions provided a structure from which one could explore the undefined, in-between areas that lay between art and life. They prompted actions that lay on the border of performance, investigation, and even what some considered insanity. The product of these actions is a history of exploration and experimentation that all can look back to for reassurance that it is important to explore our connection to our world and to do so through innovative means.
As an Interdisciplinary Studies Major I am required to complete research on my topic of choice for my Capstone project. After studying several ways of dancing, drawing, photographing, designing and interpreting art history, culture and social issues, I wanted to find a way to combine some of these methods to produce a new kind of end product, a kind of art work I had not before created.
Simultaneously, my surplus of attention lead me periodically astray to the study of sustainability and subsequent frustration over human actions damaging our personal, ecological and environmental health. I want to know the earth more than I do today, and know what my connection to the earth means.
The ways of knowing I have acquired in my undergraduate career are not scientific. They cannot be carried out using test tubes, microscopes or statistics, though I've had basic experience using these methods. My methods are in the arts, and often through use of nothing more than my own body.
Therefore, for my Capstone project I am putting my knowledge of art to a different kind of use. I am investigating the relationship between humans and rain water. What constitutes this connection? How can this relationship be healthier?
Rather than test water in a lab or compile statistics I will produce art that is the product of interdisciplinary research using artistic methods drawn from the disciplines of dance, visual art and disciplines included within the broad concept of sustainability. This blog documents my research process including photos, video footage, writing and personal anecdotes. Feel free to comment on or contribute to this process. The final product of my research will be an integration of my findings into performance and video.
I have studied my own body and how bodies work most of my life through dance. Now I will study the connection between the body and the earth. And hopefully, I will "know the rain."
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