This is the text of a performance piece that I wrote a long time ago. It was never performed live, though I had created a soundtrack. I believe it was submitted somewhere or other, but never got picked up. So it was just filed with other projects. I came across it again recently. I still think it could be made into an effective short film…..but failing that, please allow it to play through in your head. It speaks for itself, and hopefully for those who ca no longer do so.
The new artwork that accompanies the text has been derived from parts of preliminary workings chosen to reflect the mood of the imagery. Hopefully they will complement each other.
A performance in memory of.
I : PLACE
“Through the wells of light
Treading on shadows,
Where the dust lies heavy
On the sightless eyes of city walls
To an open space
With an open view
And a wind from the east.”
II
[ Setting up the Elements.
The table with:
Bowl of white spirit,
White roses,
Camping stove, solid fuel type,
Metal container with charcoal discs,
Bowl of hair and nail parings,
Bowl of water,
Flat tray for remains,
Folded cloth.
Five bowls containing grey powder.
Five rolled scrolls of paper, each about seven feet long.
Three covered bowls of white rose petals.
White robe, folded.
Muslin cloth. ]
Action: entrance through the central space, slowly moving forward. Walking out of light so the person is in silhouette with a strong shadow approaching the audience. ( lighting: one spot, central space, facing audience).
III: TIME
Voice One:
” it is mid-February, a cold afternoon and snowing”
Voice Two:
” It is August the 6th. It is 9.30 am. A light rain is falling.”
Voice One:
” It is May, twilight. The faint smell of cherry blossom.”
Voice Two:
” It is August the 6th. It is 9.30 am. A light rain is falling.”
Voice One:
“It is a night in December. Pavements are glittering.”
Voice Two:
“It is August the 6th. It is 9.30 am. A light rain is falling.”
Voice One:
” It is July. A summer morning. People are going to work.”
Voice Two:
” It is August the 6th. It is 9.30 am. A light rain is falling.”
[ Action: To either side of the space hang two screens of paper, about three feet across. Each is backlit by a spotlight. The performer stands between the light and the paper. His shadow is at first sharp. With each repetition of Voice Two he moves towards the light, thus distorting and blurring the cast shadow. After each repetition he walks slowly over to the opposite screen and repeats the actions. The second time after the shadow fades, torn paper is released to drop behind the screen. The third time, paint is flung at the screen. The fourth time paint is flung at the screen. The fifth time, torn paper is used.]
IV: WIND
” It begins.
A breath on the forehead.
Dust moves across pavements.
Who sees the change?
But the change has started.
Who will pause to consider?
Who will remember the reasons?
There is a wind from the east.
A wind of voices.”
Action: both spot lights are simultaneously turned off. A red, naked lightbulb suspended in the central space is turned on and set swinging.
V: VOICE
” Not a thousand, thousand roses
Will give us back our names.
In gentle rain
Above the morning
On that day,
And on every day since,
And in every night since,
In every moment,
In every heart,
The white flower uncurls.
The flower you fed,
The flower you gave us
In thunder
For the great experiment.
Each petal of heat piercing our eyes.
Each petal of light severing our souls
In thunder.
The roar
Of the petals opening
Bursts with each heartbeat.
We are shrunken as you watch.
We shrink below our names.
We shrink below our histories.
The scent of that attar clings to each second.
The sun is dulled.
Your glorious thunder-flower
Has burnt away all goodness.
We are ants crawling
On the petals of fire,
Til we burn and fall
Through the void
Burning.
And no rain can extinguish our cries,
Even cries from split tongues, even cries from cracked eyes.
Ten thousand names you could not care to know
Are dust blowing in your cities.”
[Action: after putting on a loose, long white garment, the performer returns to the table laid out with objects. Slowly, with a ritual precision, roses are dipped in whate spirit, ignited over a small flame and the ashes dowsed in water. This alternates with placing hair and nail-parings on hot charcoal to smoulder.]
You eat our names.
In greed we die still
For your glorious thunder,
Your glorious flower,
Your glorious experiment that will not end.
Though you have stopped looking.
Though you have stopped watching.
Though you have stopped measuring.
Not a thousand, thousand years
Can give us back our names.
The flowers are yours
And their scent
Cannot be washed
From your fingers
Where it burns.”
VI : DUST
[Action: Putting a muslin cloth over the head to hide all features, the paper scrolls are taken one by one and unrolled on the ground. Each bears the footprints of different people fading to nothing. Where the prints vanish one of the bowls is taken and grey ashes are poured out in a pile.]
VII : MEMORY
Voice One:
” There are four and a half billion people in the world,
There are four and a half billion voices.”
Voice Two:
” What have you spoken? ”
Voice One:
” There are seven hundred million breaths in a lifetime.”
Voice Two:
” What have you said?”
Voice One:
“There are thirty million seconds in a year. ”
Voice Two:
” What have you done?”
Voice One:
” There are six global powers”.
Voice Two:
” What have you done?”
Voice One:
“There are two hundred nation states”.
Voice Two:
“What have they said?”
Voice One:
” Strontium 90 takes ninety six years to decay.”
Voice Two:
“What have you done?”
Voice One:
” Cesium 137 takes a hundred years to decay.”
Voice Two:
” What have you done?”
Voice One:
” Plutonium takes five hundred thousand years to decay.”
[Action: bowls of white petals are taken and scattered around the performance space and around and upon the audience. The performer exits before the end of the text.]
Voice Two:
“What are you doing?
What have you said?
What are you doing?
What has been done?
Who has spoken?
Who has acted?
What are you doing?
What are you doing?
What are you doing?
Who is the enemy? ”
I am glad you unearthed it again. Any chance you cane find a way of heving it performed, even recorded and uploaded to YouTube? It can be very uplifting to send your “children” out into the world.
Thank you, Ben! With all the gizmo’s available these days it would be relatively easy to do something. Who knows…..thanks for the encouragement.
Have you seen the film “Hugo”?
No, I don’t know that one….
If you ever see it you may understand why I ask.
hope someone shoots a film from it! it will be beautiful!
I found this moving. I was born on 6 August.
Taa, Linda!