Running Blind: The Tucson Border-Crossing Diaries
Day 8: Thursday, August 9, 2007
Crossing The River ‡ Text & Communications ‡ Text &
Communications
Last night we had a get together at the downtown loft of Tucson
artist/photographer Wayne Belger (Wayne’s an amazing artist
and a great host! Check out his web site at www.boyofblue.com).
Laura organized the evening so we could have a salon and show each
other our work. It was very good to see what it is that each of
us does with our art. But our salon went until 3 am and so today
we were all very tired.
We opened with some aikido chess exercises, the ones in which we
lock our gazes and respond to each other's gestures with counter
moves and gestures. Then we did something new. As a group we were
asked to stand apart from each other in a loosely packed circle,
close our eyes and begin exploring the space using our entire bodies
as antennae. Initially, we moved relatively freely around the space.
The first contacts were made lightly with the hands and arms. For
me, this kind of contact is really a from of intelligence gathering
since by now I can tell if I am in contact with Lucy, because she
has a Mohawk, or with Erika because she always wears round earrings
or with TK because his hair is short like a monk’s.
When music began to play a certain amount of rhythm was added to
our motions.
After about five minutes we were instructed to find a partner and
to begin walking around together. This pairing gradually led to
a clustering effect because now everyone began sticking to each
other like particles of dust! It is an unforgettable sensation to
be lightly and curiously touched by anonymous pairs of hands for
a moment and then have those hands replaced by others. People also
began to inhabit the ground level by dropping to their hands and
knees. In response, our steps became shorter and more like a shuffle
to avoid stepping on each other. Next, a very interesting thing
happened. The more our mobility was restricted the more our motions
became expressed as stationary dance moves (dance isn’t quite
the right word but I can’t think of another). I also noticed
that the background music was becoming more uplifting and joyful.
It was like being in a river of darkness, touch and sound.
Very gradually, our sense of individuality at the beginning of
the exercise was transforming itself into a sense of oneness. This
border between individual and collective consciousness is one we
have crossed many times now during the workshop. Today, it was a
reluctant crossing for me because I didn't feel very engaging. In
fact, I was hoping to quickly get through the first part of the
day and move on to more of the jamming session. But now I could
feel myself being caught up in the strong currents of energy that
were flowing though the group. Movements initiated by one person
were felt and responded to by all the others.
This exercise must've gone on for ten or fifteen minutes. After
reaching an emotional crescendo, the music stopped and so did we.
Guillermo instructed us to first open our eyes and look around while
holding our positions. From my perspective, it was like inhabiting
a baroque painting in which every kind of exaggerated and dramatic
gesture you can ever imagine has been frozen in time. There were
twenty-seven bodies, some standing and others scattered on the floor.
Everywhere there were clusters of bodies piled upon, leaning into
and away from each other. In my group there were four or five of
us leaning on each other so that I felt I was supporting the weight
of at least two others. I also felt my weight was supported by the
person in front of me. It was a crazy balance of rotating centrifugal
and centripetal forces in search of equilibrium that teetered on
the edge of oblivion.
Afterwards, Guillermo told us that Ann-Marie, the curator of MOCA-Tucson,
had walked in to observe midway through the exercise for a few minutes
and had been moved to tears. I scrutinized him to make sure he wasn’t
teasing us or just being plain corny. But no, he was sincere. Apparently,
the scene had generated a potent and emotional mix of images and
associations to the outside world.
Today's experience created another intense existential revolution
within the group. After our lunch break, several people didn’t
come back for the second half of the workshop because of exhaustion,
heat, fatigue, stress or whatever. As a result, the rest of the
class was canceled so we could all go home and get some rest.
< Previous | Next
>
|
