performance

gurk | i’m so scared i could spit!

November 3, 2010

The more we progress technologically, the further we seem to get from the tangible world. Take for example the word “camel.” The word is a bunch of letters combined that have absolutely nothing to do with the sand-dwelling, hump-possessing mammal that has a penchant for spitting. I can only imagine that the word itself comes from the Hebrew word for the same animal,”גמל” (gammel). That word is also the name of the first letter of the word, “ג” and the letter from which we eventually get the letter “g.” Hebrew is an interesting language because it’s a sort of gateway language. It came about during the move from a pictographic form of writing to an abstract one. The letter ג was supposed to resemble a camel. It could then also stand in for the animal and at the same time represent sounds that were similar to the beginning sound of that common animal that is found in the Judean desert. Technology creates new things and new things require us to engage in new relationships, oftentimes in new ways. The Hebrew alphabet allowed for a bridging between a world that was becoming more and more spread out and that was learning [...]

cultural tourist

October 13, 2010

By kwilks

I am less than a week away from embarking on a journey to India. I plan on being there anywhere from 6 months to a year (or more). I have bought my one-way ticket, lots of malaria pills, and begun to dream.

falling witness // performing trauma

October 6, 2010

By kwilks

For the entire summer, and the beginning of fall, I worked at a place called UNC Horizons. It’s a substance abuse program for women who are either pregnant or have small children.

rubber band theory: a monologue

September 29, 2010

By kwilks

What happens when the one you love must leave? I’m not trying to be cliché or even beautiful… I just want to know. When you are left alone, how do you make sense of reality? I’m asking you, because I’m young, without thought, and my baby is gone, gone, gone. She is on the road for the next 15 hours and then stepping into a new life. One that is colorful, decadent, and warm. I want to know if we can make it, if I should even hold onto her image in my mind. On a walk with a good friend of mine, she inquired on how I was going to handle the forthcoming departure. I moaned a bit and sadly shrugged my shoulders; how articulate of me. She then proposed a theory to me, the rubber band theory. She believes that we hurt so much when people we love leave because we are still physically attached to them. There is a thick rubber band pulling on our bodies, connected to their center, heart, mind, and new situation. When they are in pain, you can feel it. When they are in love, happy, or missing you, you can feel it. [...]

aesthetic improv

September 14, 2010

By kwilks

Fashion? Fashion. Ok, I can deal with that. Well, maybe not. The thing is that I am an absolute dunce when it comes to anything fashion related. I can’t coordinate shoes, I rarely wear jewelry, and applying make-up is often the single most challenging thing I do in a day. So, what does fashion mean to performance? Besides the obvious superficial performative characteristics of fashion, I believe that it runs deeper. Fashion is personal aestethic, not just ornamentation. It lives deep within our bodies and minds. It’s how we craft a snapshot of ourselves in the world. In order to demonstrate this fully, I would like to invite you to do a little improvisational exercise. One of my favorite things to do in acting classes was mime. I know, I know: it’s so Jaques Lecoq of me. But while you’re getting ready for the coming fashion shows, why not try this out and see where your body leads you? 1. Get together with a group of people. They can be artists, or not, but preferably radical (just because it’s always better that way). 2. Split the group in half. 3. The first half, stands before the second (create the spectator [...]

the broken past

September 8, 2010

By ari gratch

There are three ways we seem to look at our past. First, as antiquarians, we see the past as something to be venerated and sanctified. If you ever find yourself nostalgic for a time since gone, for home, wherever and whatever that might be, you might be an antiquarian. We also have a tendency to monumentalize the past. We look at the giant ideas and people that came before us and strive for the greatness they once knew. I will, every now and again, find myself at a sporting event or a political rally and someone will sing the anthem or America the Beautiful, or something of that ilk and tears will come to my eyes as I think of all that has been accomplished in American history and all the good that we are capable of with all the power we possess. These moments are always tempered by the bad that has been done in American history, but the good is still there and that hope is what pushes me forward. In these moments I am a monumentalist. Finally, we can be critical of our history. We can understand our past as so much rubble to be sifted through. [...]

it burns

September 1, 2010

By ari gratch

“Memory is shaped by forgetting just as the shore is shaped by the sea” Marc Augé How do you perform your memories? Do you wear them on your sleeves? Can I read your memories in the same way that I read your personality? The way you wear your hair or where you choose to place your tattoos? Is it on your All Stars, or in the way you sashay? Our memories flow from everything we do and say. Take for example the time I learned how to walk. I was 11 years old and in middle school when a couple of boys slapped the books out of my hand, knocked me over, and told me I walked like a girl. I thought that maybe if I learned how to walk like a boy I might not have such a hard time and so began my 6th grade reconnaissance mission: operation “walk like a man.” I found nooks and crevices around campus to hide in while others walked to class or the cafeteria. I waited and took notes. Copious notes. When I got home I snuck out to the alley ways around our house and practiced, sometimes for hours, until the [...]