Spoken word from Catfish, a film by Elliott Earls
Excerpt from |
Play in Quicktime Format (Highest Quality option)
The paradox of simultaneity
In other areas on this site I've discussed the notion that my work tends to develop across mediums. There has been a kind of paradoxical "simultaneity" to this development. One example of what I mean by this is illustrated in the table below. In the process of creating work there is unfortunately, a lag between impulse and execution. In other words it takes time to make substantive work. As an example as early as 1994/1995 I was dealing with spoken word poetry in a fairly straight forward manner (figure 1.). What is difficult to communicate is that although the diagram below illustrates a clear progression and development through (or over) time, I feel the correct way to understand the work is to collapse the element of time. I must be absolutely clear here, the impulse that gave rise to the work was in an instant. Even though The Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch developed across time and across mediums it was born fully formed at a small desk on view street in Greenwich Connecticut in late 1994, hence the paradox.
Figure 1. Click on the image of the CD at left to listen to the spoken word piece as it was originally recorded. Please give it a second the track begins with a slow fade in. |
1995 |
|
| Here - The Independent Art Center | In 1998, as my work as a performance artist continued to develop, I began to understand how my spoken word work functioned within a theatrical environment. I hope to post video from the early development of oranges here soon. |
1998 |
| Wooster Group - Emerging Artist Grant |
In 1999, I was awarded a brief residency at The Wooster Group and had an opportunity to work with Richard Kimmel. Through this process, Oranges continued to take shape. |
1999 |
Figure 3. Click on the image of the at left to watch the spoken word piece as developed. |
2001 |