Innehalten (be still)

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Innehalten
Vogelfrei V
Darmstadt, Germany
photo by Marilyn Arsem

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Innehalten
Vogelfrei V
Darmstadt, Germany
photo by Helga Griffiths

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Innehalten
Vogelfrei V
Darmstadt, Germany
photo by Helga Griffiths

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Innehalten
Vogelfrei V
Darmstadt, Germany
photo by Helga Griffiths

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Innehalten
Vogelfrei V
Darmstadt, Germany
photo by Marilyn Arsem

These performances were made in response to each person who sat with me. Silent and nearly still, they were visual readings.

event:
Festival Vogelfrei V: TransitARTen
venue:
a private garden
location:
Darmstadt, Germany
sponsor:
Vogelfrei V: TransitARTen
date:
September 2003

Project Notes:

This performance was created for Vogetfrei V, TransitARTen, which took place in September, 2003. My site was a narrow corner plot, running along two sides of a house located on a corner. Surrounded by a low fence, the location was visible from the sidewalk.

I constructed a kind of small pavilion, just large enough for a table and two chairs. It was covered in sheer gray fabric, which created the feeling of a private space while at the same time allowing everything that was taking place inside to be visible from the sidewalk.

Every morning, I went for a walk in the woods with my friend, and gathered materials to use in the performance. I found leaves and sticks and moss-covered rocks, feathers and seeds, flowers and pine cones. Whatever caught my eye, I collected. The only other addition to my basket of materials was a bottle of water, several clear glass dishes, needle and thread.

Each day of the festival, I sat in the pavilion, awaiting visitors. A sign at the gate to the site provided simple instructions:

– These performances are for one person at a time.

– Please enter quietly.

– These performances are created in response to each person who sits with me.

– Silent and nearly still; they are visual readings.

On entering, the audience sat in the chair at the empty table. It was covered with a white cloth. I was dressed in white, silent. On the ground next to the table was the basket of materials gathered in the forest. In that initial exchange of looks I located a starting point, trying to keep my mind open to the first image that rose to the surface.

From that impulse, I began the performance. Selecting an object from the basket, I began by placing it on the table. From there an action would evolve. Sometimes the objects told a story, sometimes they were made to do impossible feats, sometimes they were simply admired for their beauty. A rock floated, leaves danced, sticks were dismantled layer by layer. The light and the wind became active participants.

Sometimes the audience assisted, sometimes they simply watched. For some it was a chance to play, for many it was a welcome moment of reflection and meditation, and for others it was a kind of psychic reading or premonition of their future.

The challenge for myself was to remain open, alert, and responsive to whatever energy occurred be-tween myself and the sitter. Working daily with new materials, no two readings were alike.

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