Work Session, 12/10/08

Posted on by Dale

present: Dale, Marc, Jeff B., Barbara, Jeff A.

We read through the first 15 pages or so of Charles Mee’s Iphigenia 2.0 [.doc] to get a feel for the language and the structure. We also looked at a bit later in the piece that used transcribed narratives from soldiers and Wilfrid Owen’s “Dulce et decorum est” as the text.

Dale explained that he brought the piece to the group because

  • he liked the writing
  • he liked Mee’s use of a structure, i.e., Greek tragedy, to frame a contemporary take on American imperial power
  • he thought Lacuna might find Mee’s appropriation of texts (stories, poems, news articles) instructive

Jeff said, and we all agreed, that as something to perform, Iphigenia was a bit past its date. But the idea of the piece, of using a tale as a frame for texts and ideas, was worth our keeping in mind.

We played around reading some of the Neo-Futurist scripts, just getting a feel of what was possible within that aesthetic. The concept of an evening of very short pieces was appealing to everyone.

Dale asked Marc to explain/show the Vocal Sequence, which he did. Dale suggested that we begin to structure our sessions by opening with some VS work, then moving into sharing and exploring. Otherwise, he said, we run the risk of sitting on the floor all night talking about possibilities instead of creating them. [See: Vocal Sequence and other structural issues for discussion.]

We hit on at some point Jeff’s Myth piece [.doc] and its appeal as a piece to work on through the Vocal Sequence (and other structures).

Marc suggested that we write a Neo-Futurist play by using a structure generated from random drawings. We each did a random drawing and put them in a pile, from which Marc drew one:


(I reconstructed the original for illustrative purposes.)

Marc then instructed us to write a list of ten phrases that the diagram provoked/inspired in us:

  1. All things are related.
  2. The universe is ever-expanding
  3. Repulsion is a force equal and opposite to attraction.
  4. Live in all three dimensions.
  5. Someone has to be the cetnral figure.
  6. All good family trees branch.
  7. Nothingness causes all to flee.
  8. Life is not always linear.
  9. Evolution continues.
  10. Ten phrases are difficult.
  1. Worlds to the South
  2. Worlds to the North
  3. Worlds ot the East
  4. Worlds to the West
  5. Worlds Above
  6. Worlds Below
  7. Worlds in Me, at the Center
  8. Fire at the Center
  9. Fire Above
  10. Fire Below
  11. Fires spinning around me
  12. Emanating from me
  13. Returning to me
  14. Keeping me warm
  1. butter her up
  2. you complete me
  3. all by yourself
  4. help your brother
  5. why unfortunate?
  6. leave it be
  7. please and thank you
  8. on the shoulders of giants
  9. gimmee that
  10. she’s not welcome here
  1. expulsion of the necessary
  2. fleeing the sanctum
  3. more away than not
  4. the center cannot hold
  5. held back by centrifugal force
  6. polar alignment of affection
  7. turning their backs on the empty table
  8. seeing the faraway orbiters
  9. pointing at the ends of the earth
  10. not only circular but outward
  1. I could walk away
  2. we fled to a small grotto
  3. calipers close by
  4. she cares
  5. hungry and tired
  6. I thought she said “egrets”
  7. however, I don’t
  8. fold it imperfectly
  9. quickly now
  10. amazed by onions

We put all our lists in the middle. Marc drew a square around an area of the diagram. Dale drew out one of the lists and selected a phrase to attach to that area. A round robin of that process produced:


(click for full-size version of the results)

At that point we were out of time.

MOMENTS:

  • Dale’s performance of the “Freshmen” monolog, Jeff B.
  • the running down of the soldiers’ lists of things they needed, Jeff B.
  • further nominations?

NEXT: Dec. 17, 6:30, NSOD

  • TEXTS: the diagram & lists;
  • PATHS: Vocal Sequence
  • HOMEWORK:
    • Write a “Neo-Futurist” script using the diagram and lists. Use the whole structure or part of it or select from the lists.
    • Download the Vocal Sequence document [pdf] and have it handy. Suggestion from Dale: Look at Jeff’s Myth piece [.doc] and bring a page or two to use as a basis for work.

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UPDATE: a graphic from the math book Barbara was talking about

Click for full-sized image.
Click for full-sized image.

21 thoughts on “Work Session, 12/10/08”

  1. I nominate Dale’s performance of the d1ck thing as a “moment.”

    I also nominate the running down of the soldiers’ lists of things they wanted as a moment.

  3. All right, boys and girls, it took me forever to figure out that the Pythagorean diagram attempts to show that a^2 + b^2 = 2(a*b) + (b-a)^2, both of which of course = c^2.

  4. Dr. Bloody Bronowski demonstrated this proof with ceramic tiles in the first episode of The Ascent of Man.

    There’s something so refreshing and unexpected about the idea of math (and geometry) as a performance event. (I’m not coddling Barbara; my perverse interest is genuine.)

    Anyone have a copy of Hapgood?

  5. I put a text on the assignments page. Four “characters” at this point. But an “E” could be added easily. I’m thinking “E” would mutter obtuse phrases (from our collection) that hang in the air without comment from the others–A, C, D are so used to it, there’s no need to comment; B cannot even get a foothold.

    I may come back to it.

    Right now I want to fiddle with a Part 2. This is fun.

  6. I have posted a part two. In a different style. One of the things I like about the presentation in my TextEdit window is that you can change the size of the window and watch the text move about to accommodate the new framing. Watching the text move is enjoyable and different frame sizes give different reading experiences.

    The text is “spaced out” (Ha Ha). I wrote it, however, as one continuous block. That, too, was a fun text format to move around. The tightly packed phrases rippled about like waves in a squall.

    It is “text for performance.” Performers make all decisions about how it might be incorporated.

  10. I’d like to propose that on Wednesday we open with our intro to Vocal Sequence, followed by a reading of whatever people have written, and then work on Mark’s Part Two as a performance text, i.e., throw lots of ideas out there about how we might share it with an audience.

    I’ll bring paper and maybe markers.

  11. I’ll also bring a large printout of the piece.

    None of this, btw, is to suggest that we intend to perform it. I just want to pile on and see what we can as an exercise.

  12. I have posed myself a language problem I can’t solve for a Part III. I will instead of a “Symptomatic Map” of the terrain.

    Anytime I explicitly think about language, I go blank (Verse?). Hence my reliance on Dada and Surrealist (yes, Dale, Surrealist) methods to obtain words.

  13. I will instead of a “Symptomatic Map” of the terrain.

    That slip is an interesting combination of things. You can debate what the verb should be. Maybe leaving out vital words has promise as a strategy.

  14. Hm,this is strange. I assumed no comments were being made this week in this thread and hadn’t checked it because on the “front page,” the most recent comment listed is Dec. 10. Weird. Now I need to catch up!

  15. This comment is meant to follow a reading of Part 3–Symptomatic Map. But need not.

    I reviewed as I was writing the Map and came up with the following:

    Fresh take on the fantastical scenario. She believes she is going to use her new cult to create a completely new world with a new language or new use of language. This arrangement need not conform to bad movie realism; I can look toward an interesting language present both in her utterances and for her husbands. An audience would not necessarily know a “back story.” The implication and ambiguity and provocation would be part of the event. The event would not depict; it would actively create itself in the presence of the audience as it proceeds. We stage a “big bang.” (Dale, behave.)

    She sits writing in a notebook and offering her new thoughts and utterances to the group. It becomes clear to her that she will have to teach them to understand the new system: she implements strategies for facilitating learning, thinking, metacognition among the men.

    In essence we have a female offering herself as Master-Teacher-Genetrix to her consorts.

  16. She has a “diary-scrapbook” that she uses to transcribe and create her visions. She creates words, word-images, ceremonies, etc.

  17. Barb likes this scenario, Marc.

    Suggestion:

    Can we come to our next meeting already in character? I mean, can we do Marc’s scenario — Barb comes book in hand — and we’re in character from the get-go? At no point are we allowed to be ourselves? From beginning to end?

    This doesn’t mean we have to perpetuate Scenario 1 for 90 minutes. We can have 30 minutes of Scenario 1, and then we switch characters for whatever “Scenario 2” will be.

    I think if we had, say, 30 minutes for each scenario to “swim around” in, we MAY come up with something interesting, somewhere along the way.

    We should record it. Then go back and mine the good stuff and develop it further.

    Thoughts, comments, etc.

  18. I have no objection.

    I don’t know if I can uphold the rule about not being myself. My improvisational skills tend not to function that way. They may not, therefore, be true improvisational skills.

    The realistic dimension of the scenario is a bit overwhelming at present. Even a bit intimidating. But I, too, find the scenario interesting.

    Multiple perspectives seem possible.

  19. I tend to be more comfortable stepping impulsively into improvisation in the moment. No premeditation, no choice as to genre or style or mode. Often I choose to do something physical or acoustic with no thought about meaning. Can’t strategize very well. Plotting, as a result, has always been a problem.

  20. Isn’t the goal here to step outside of our usual comfort zones? Anyway, Marc, fret not, because you are, without doubt, the most talented among us. We are not judging you. Most of the time, we are simply in awe. For me personally, this is not hyperbole.

  21. For stepping out of comfort zones, I suppose a weekend at Esalen is good choice. I just want…to create.

    I step out of my comfort zone when my feet hit the floor each morning. Fear not.

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