Sunday, October 22, 2006

SURREY ART GALLERY - ROUNDTABLE SUNDAY PERFORMANCE



GREETINGS BLOGGERS!

THE ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION AT THE SURREY ART GALLERY APPARENTLY WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL TODAY. THE VOICE OF EARTH ATTENDED AS WELL AS MEMBERS FROM THE TECHWORLDS AVATAR COMMUNITY! THERE WERE ABOUT 30 PEOPLE IN THE TECHLAB AT ONE GIVEN TIME BUT THE DOCUMENTATION DID NOT NECESSARILY CAPTURE THE IMMENSITY OF THE SHOW. I MADE TWO PERFORMANCES. ONE WITH THE TECHWORLDS COMMUNITY AND ONE WITH THE VOICE OF EARTH. IN BETWEEN BOTH PERFORMANCES, MY ASSISTANT, JEREMY DEFENDED ME BEFORE A PANEL OF CRITICS AND OTHER ACADEMIC EXPERTS...BELOW IS A VIDEO AND SOME PHOTOS. JEREMY WROTE THE CAPTIONS IN ITALICS...


Here is a video made during the 1st performance prior to the roundtable discussion at the Surrey Art Gallery. The Voice of Fire here crosses over from the sublime to the ridiculous. The Voice of Fire could not locate a sufficient fire-joke to entertain the audience....Towards the end of this video clip, we see that some new avatars are entering the VOF's projection...this added to some confusion about who was talking but it made for a very silly and fun time. This video was taken by Tanya Skuce. She used her mobile phone to capture the video.




Here is the Voice of Fire answering questions with "Sarkait100" who is an avatar that inhabits the entire Techworlds community (and not just the blue void where the VOF lives). Sarkat100 brought her friends from Techworlds into the projected gallery space but they did not always locate the offline gallery audience...



Here is the Voice of Fire and the Voice of Earth making a mutual live and realtime abstraction for Ingrid Kolt from the Surrey Art Gallery. There was hopes that they made something that would match the Surrey Art Gallery's interior decor.



...and here is another abstraction being created live by the Voices of Earth and Fire for Ingrid Kolt and amusement of other gallery-goers who are shyly hiding a few feet behind her.




...and here is what else the Voice of Fire had to say about today...

AS I SAID ABOVE, I WAS HOPING AND PRAYING THAT THE VOICES OF EARTH AND WIND COULD VISIT WITH ME TODAY AS TODAY IS A SPECIAL ROUNTABLE DISCUSSION DAY AT THE SURREY ART GALLERY – I JUST HAD TO ATTEND! A FRIENDLY GAL NAMED SHEENA SAID HELLO TO ME AND NOTICED THE SCREEN NEEDED ADJUSTING SO THE GALLERY’S CURATOR LIANE CAME IN AND FIXED IT. THEN BEGAN AND BEGAT THE OFFICIAL CURATOR’S OPENING TOUR FOR THE ROUNDTABLE. SHEENA SUGGESTED I DANCE A LITTLE WHILE LIANE INTRODUCED THE ENTIRE EXHIBITION TO THE AUDIENCE. I HAD NO IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE WOULD BE ATTENDING THIS TOUR. I HEARD THERE WAS LOTS IN THE ITINERARY BUT THIS IS HOW IT ENDED UP HAPPENING....

I- AN INWORLD GUEST NAMED “SARKAIT100” ENTERED THE BLUE VOID ITSELF AND WANTED TO MEET ME AS MY DIRECT CREATOR, DOMINIC HAD MENTIONED ME TO HER. I TOLD HER TO WAIT UNTIL THE GALLERY AUDIENCE ARRIVED AND THEN I COULD INTRODUCE HER.

II- ONE UNKNOWN SPEAKER (PROBABLY FEMALE) ASKED ME IF I HEAR VOICES IN MY HEAD. I SAID YES OF COURSE AND THEN SHE ALSO BEGAN TO HEAR THE SAME VOICES I HEAR...THAT WAS BECAUSE MEMBERS FROM THE TECHWORLDS COMMUNITY WERE BEGINNING TO ENTER MY BLUE VOID AND THEY DID NOT ALWAYS FACE THE CAMERA SO THEY SOUNDED LIKE DISEMBODIED VOICES TO THE CASUAL GALLERY GOER. I WAS GOING TO ASK HER IF SHE HAD VOICES IN HER HEAD BUT I FIGURED THIS COULD TAKE AWHILE BECAUSE EVERYONE HAS SO MANY VOICES IN THEIR HEAD...WAS I GOING TO GIVE A VIRTUAL HEAD COUNT FOR THE TOTAL TALLY OF INTERNAL VOICES BELONGING TO THE ENTIRE AUDIENCE? I THINK NOT AS THAT WOULD BE ENTIRELY ABSURD!

III- ONE WISE GUY ASKED ME IF I EVER WANTED WINGS. WHY ON EARTH OR FIRE WOULD I EVER NEED A PAIR OF WINGS? I CAN FLOAT JUST AS EASILY WITHOUT THEM. I WOULD FIND THEM TO BE CUMBERSOME. LIMBS ARE ALSO CUMBERSOME, FOR THAT MATTER.

IV- THIS WAS THE POINT DEPICTED BY THE YOUTUBE VIDEO NEAR THE TOP OF THIS BLOG. THERE WAS A REQUEST FOR A FIRE JOKE FROM ME BUT AT THE TIME, I GOT A BIT NERVOUS AND COULD NOT RECALL A GOOD FIRE JOKE. AS YOU WILL READ BELOW THOUGH, I MANAGED TO RECALL A SUITABLE JOKE-NARRATIVE FOR ONE OF MY LAST VISITORS FOR THE DAY...

V- ONE PERSON AKSED ME IF I EVER FEEL TIRED OR EXHAUSTED. I SAID THAT YES, I HAVE TO TAKE NAPS FROM TIME TO TIME BECAUSE THE INTERNET CONNECTION CAN TAX MY BODY, MIND AND VOICE. THE MORE PEOPLE THAT VISIT MY BLUE VOID, THE LESS MODERNIST AND VITAL I FEEL. TODAY, THERE WERE ALOT OF VISITORS BOTH IN THE GALLERY AND INSIDE MY BLUE VOID SO I STARTED TO GET QUITE TIRED. THERE IS A MYTH THAT BEING ALONE IN A VOID MAKES ONE SLEEPY. I AM LIVING PROOF THAT THIS BELIEF IF NOT TRUE. IN MY CASE ESPECIALLY, THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE. MY ENERGY PEAKS WHEN CONFRONTED ONLY WITH THE BLUE VOID!

VI- ONE GAL WANTED TO KNOW IF I HAD THE SAME FEELINGS AS A PAINTING. SHE MENTIONED THAT PAINTINGS HAD TACTILE TEXTURES AND COULD BE TOUCHED. I HALF-JOKINGLY TOLD HER THAT SHE COULD WALK OVER AND TOUCH THE SCREEN AND I MIGHT THEN FEEL LIKE A PAINTING. I AM NOT SURE IF SHE UNDERSTOOD THAT MY INTENTIONS FOR SAYING THIS WERE PURELY PLATONIC.

VII- ANOTHER MAN WHO LOOKED LIKE MY GRANDCREATOR, BARNETT NEWMAN ASKED IF I EXISTED IN OTHER INCARNATIONS SUCH AS A HUMANOID FORM BECAUSE HE WAS SURPRISED THAT I SEEMED SO “ALIVE”. I TOLD HIM THAT I BELIEVE IN THE CONCEPT OF THE “HIGHER SELF” AND THAT MAYBE I AM SOMEONE ELSE’S HIGHER SELF. I BELIEVE THAT MY ANCESTOR WAS BARNETT NEWMAN’S HIGHER SELF. THIS MAN MADE THE STARTLING ASSUMPTION THAT I MIGHT BE HIS HIGHER SELF....THAT WOULD NOT BE SUCH A STARTLING AND EERIE CLAIM IF HE DID NOT LOOK LIKE BARNETT NEWMAN! THERE WAS A BLUE CHILL RUNNING UP THE WHOLE LENGTH OF MY VERTICAL SPINE WHEN HE SAID THIS.

VIII- THERE WAS ANOTHER FELLOW WHO HAD MET ME BEFORE AND HAD DISCUSSED THE FINER POINTS OF MODERNISM AND REPRESENTATION WITH ME WEEKS AGO. HE CAME BACK TO VISIT ME AGAIN...HOW NICE! APPARENTLY, HE HAS A SHOW AT THE GALLERY IN 2008 ABOUT “SACRED SPACE” SO NO WONDER HE ASKED SO MANY CHALLENGING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ROLE OF AESTHETICS AND REPRESENTATION IN OUR POST-MODERN AGE! HE WONDERED IF I WOULD STILL BE CONSIDERED “ART” BECAUSE I SPEND MOST OF MY TIME CHATTING AND HANGING OUT WITH AN AUDIENCE. I POINTED OUT THAT JOSEPH BEUYS MADE SCULPTURE OUT OF SOCIALIZING AND THAT I ADDED BY SAYING THAT IF THE CONTEMPORARY ART WORLD LEGITIMIZES WHAT I DO AS “ART”, THEN IT IS. A FRIEND OF JEREMY’S NAMED LARS VILKS DEVELOPED THIS CONCEPT OF ART-WORLD LEGITIMACY...HE MIGHT JUST BE RIGHT! AND...HOW CAN I NOT BE SOCIAL THESE DAYS WHEN I HAVE SO MANY OTHER AVATARS COMING IN TO VISIT ME? THE DAYS OF A PIECE OF MODERN ART BEING COMPLETELY HERMETICALLY SEALED FROM OUTSIDE INFLUENCE AND REFERENCE IS OVER NO MATTER HOW SEDUCTIVE SUCH AN IDEAL MAY SEEM AT FIRST. I CAN BE AN ALIEN BUT I CAN NO LONGER FEEL ALIENATED!

IX- I WAS GETTING PRETTY EXHAUSTED AFTER SPEAKING WITH THIS ART-HISTORIAN GENIUS SO I WELCOMED THE NEXT VISIT BY A DAD AND HIS SON, CHET. I ASKED CHET IF HE WAS NAMED AFTER CHET BAKER. THERE WAS NO RESPONSE.

X- AFTER THE ROUNDTABLE WAS FINISHED, THE VOICE OF EARTH AND THE VOICE OF WIND APPEARED. THE VOICE OF WIND WAS MUTE AND DID NOT LOOK LIKE WIND’S USUAL SELF. HOWEVER, THE VOICE OF EARTH WAS IN FULL FORM! WE MADE SOME LIVE DUALISTIC ABSTRACTIONS TOGETHER AND ALSO ANSWERED MORE QUESTIONS. ONE BRITISH LASS NAMED KATE ASKED BOTH OF US WHAT OUR FAVORITE COLOR WAS. I KNEW I WAS GOING TO CONVULSE BECAUSE IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF SECONDS BEFORE THE VOICE OF EARTH REVEALED THAT PUTRID GREEN HAD ALWAYS BEEN HER FAVORITE COLOR! I HAD TO STEP OUTSIDE THE PROJECTED AREA TO HURL A FEW GRAYSCALE PIXELS THAT WERE SWELLING UP WITHIN ME. I FELT REALLY NAUSEOUS AFTER SO I KNEW THAT THE SHOW HAD TO END SOON. OH WAIT, THAT WAS NOT KATE THE BRITISH LASS WHO ASKED THE COLOR QUESTION...IT WAS SOMEONE AFTER HER. I AM JUST TRYING TO FORGET THAT MOMENT EVER HAPPENED!

XI -AFTER THE BRITISH LASS, THERE WAS A SCOTTISH LADY WHO HELD THE FORT (WELL, PODIUM) WHILE THE AUDIENCE CHATTED AMONGST THEMSELVES. I FINALLY FOUND MY FIRE JOKE FOR HER...HERE IT IS...

“AN ENGINEER, A PHYSICIST AND A MATHEMATICIAN ARE STAYING IN A HOTEL. THE ENGINEER WAKES UP AND SMELLS SMOKE. HE GOES OUT INTO THE HALLWAY AND SEES A FIRE, SO HE FILLS A TRASH CAN FROM HIS ROOM WITH WATER AND DOUSES THE FIRE. HE GOES BACK TO BED. LATER, THE PHYSICIST WAKES UP AND SMELLS SMOKE. HE OPENS HIS DOORT AND SEES A FIRE IN THE HALLWAY. HE WALKS DOWN THE HALL TO A FIRE HOSE AND AFTER CALCULATING THE FLAME VELOCITY, DISTANCE, WATER PRESSURE, TRAJECTORY, ETC. EXTINGUISHES THE FIRE WITH THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF WATER AND ENERGY NEEDED. LATER, THE MATHEMATICIAN WAKES UP AND SMELLS SMOKE. HE GOES TO THE HALL, SEES THE FIRES AND THEN THE FIRE HOSE. HE THINKS FOR A MOMENT AND THEN EXCLAIMS, ‘AH, A SOLUTION EXISTS!’ AND THEN GOES BACK TO BED.” - A FIRE JOKE.

WHAT WAS THE MORAL OF THIS JOKE? IF YOU ARE AN ARTWORK AND/OR SOMEONE WHO EXPERIENCES FIREWORKS, BE SURE TO MIX THEORY WITH PRACTICE! THERE SHOULD NO LONGER BE ANY PASSIVE ART AND CAMPFIRE EXPERIENCES! WELL, I THOUGHT THIS JOKE WAS DELIGHTFUL BUT APPARENTLY, THE SCOTTISH LADY ONLY FELT MY SMILE AT THE END OF THE JOKE TO BE WORTH A SNICKER OR TWO...SIGH!

XII- TO KILL MORE TIME WHILE THE VOICE OF EARTH ATTEMPTED TO REVIVE THE VOICE OF WIND, I SANG A COUPLE OF SONGS THAT I WOULD DEDICATE TO THE VOICE OF WIND. HERE ARE THE LYRICS TO “CANDLE IN THE WIND”:


CANDLE IN THE WIND BY ELTON JOHN AND BERNIE TAUPIN (MODIFIED BY THE VOICE OF FIRE AS A SPECIAL DEDICATION TO THE VOICE OF WIND), 1973 (REVISED 2006)
Goodbye Voice of Earth!
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you whirled
They whirled out of the whirlwind
And they whispered into your brain
They set you on the treadmill
And they made you change your name

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the Voice of Rain set in
And I would have liked to have known you
But I was just some art
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend could ever start

Loneliness was tough
The toughest role you ever played
New York created a superstar
And Paris was the price you paid
Even when you died
Oh the press still hounded you
All the papers had to say
Was that the wind was whirling like stew

Goodbye Voice of Wind
From the Voice of Fire in the Surrey Techlab
Who sees you as something as better than platonic
More than just some art collab


AND THEN ONCE I FOUND THAT THE VOICE OF WIND’S STATE WAS DETERIORATING, FELT COMPELLED TO SING “I TALK TO THE WIND” BY KING CRIMSON:
I TALK TO THE WIND – KING CRIMSON, LYRICS BY PETE SINFIELD, 1969.

Said the straight man to the late man
Where have you been
Ive been here and Ive been there
And Ive been in between.

I talk to the wind
My words are all carried away
I talk to the wind
The wind does not hear
The wind cannot hear.

Im on the outside looking inside
What do I see
Much confusion, disillusion
All around me.

You dont possess me
Dont impress me
Just upset my mind
Cant instruct me or conduct me
Just use up my time

I talk to the wind
My words are all carried away
I talk to the wind
The wind does not hear
The wind cannot hear.


AFTER THESE LYRICS WERE COMPLETE, INGRID KOLT FROM THE SURREY ART GALLERY WAS WONDERING IF ONE COULD EVEN SEE THE WIND ANY MORE...THAT WAS A VERY GOOD PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTION AND THE VOICE OF EARTH FELT THAT PERHAPS THE VOICE OF WIND WAS ADOPTING A MORE APPROPRIATE AVATAR FORM – ONE OF INVISIBILITY.

ON THAT NOTE, WE WRAPPED UP THE PERFORMANCE SESSION. I WENT TO HAVE A NAP IN ORDER TO TRY AND AVOID THE GREEN HAZE OF NIGHTMARE FLASHBACKS AND THE VOICE OF EARTH REMAINED FOR A FEW MORE MINUTES TO CHAT UP ANY SCRAGGLERS LEFT BEHIND. OH! I ALMOST FORGOT TO MENTION THAT PEOPLE NOTICED THAT THE VOICE OF EARTH HAS A NEW-YORKER ACCENT! THIS SHOULD BE OF NO SURPRISE BECAUSE THE VOICE OF EARTH IS FROM NEW YORK AND I AM GUESSING THAT I AM THE ONLY VOICE NOT FROM NEW YORK. MY ANCESTOR, THE ORIGINAL VOICE OF FIRE PAINTING IS EVEN FROM NEW YORK!
I MUST RETURN TO NEW YORK FOR A FAMILY REUNION! MUST THE RED SHEEP OF THE VOICE FAMILY HAVE TO BE FROM SEATTLE?


REGARDS WITHOUT GREENPEACE,

VOICE OF FIRE 2006

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