This is a video from our performance on the night.

Human Seeking from Rodrigo Constanzo on Vimeo.

Continue reading “Human Seeking”

Sometimes I don’t want to think about the demise of humanity and how people are trying to poison me. Sometimes I don’t want to think about what ‘the painting’ means, or wrestle with programming and/or wires to do some cool things. Sometimes I just want to draw comics and read the good things other people have written. Currently on my list are: American Gods, Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, The Singularity is Near–though this just borders on too serious–which I have paired, and like alternating with The Cyberiad. Then it becomes less heavy. That’s where I’m at right now.

pg. 73
Things that I do not see
when I close my eyes,
drawn crudely.

Evidence of touching to feel comfort,
things that I did not see
when my eyes were closed.

—–

pg. 75
breath —> light : gesture —> voice.

draw to shape sound. The sound is the feedback from my voice. Three/four tension points
-true voice
-feedback “voice”
-physical visuals created (ie lines)
-physical gesture used to create lines/manipulated voice/feedback

An instrument.

Performance requires execution or criteria for execution.

How does gesture effect the voice without supplementary technology?
Will the voice still be [like] a line?

More interested in other people right now.

pgs. 78 – 83 are coved in an earlier post, Shower Thoughts

pg. 85
The animal in the machine
The human – the monkey
The machine – the animal – the sublime – the unknowable beyond

-The animal is at his best when the machine functions properly.
-A healthy mobile body
-The movement of the body to construct the mind
-The animal needs to maintain the machine, but sometimes doesn’t (probably causing psychotic behaviour on a large scale – society out of balance.)
-The animal as a seeking being — that imagines what is possible and tries to do it — is human. The animal in awe of the sublime is human.
-The seeking animal within a functional machine may know more/experience more of the unknowable — the beyond yourself.
-Between the animal and the sublime on that spectrum lives our best self
-The unknowable reveals itself to the seeking animal
-We gained the ability to see the unknowable at the symbolic revolution. An effect of which is also detachment by way of language.
-The ability to analyze the thing insulates us from the thing while in that “mode”.
-Aware of experiences I would normally not be aware of without language but the language creates a buffer around that first contact “feeling”

pg. 86
The machine isn’t just a healthy body. It is the processes of the mind–those that are in place for survival–also functioning properly. The machine also includes your instincts and automatic mental processes.

The animal appreciates the functions of the machine. All the joy of having a stupid monkey brain. Sometimes just the animal being.
Animal being.

I can’t experience everything
I am experiencing all I can
I need to be open, and learn how to be open to new experiences

-Machine functioning
-Animal being
-Human seeking
-Sublime transmitting

I need to know/remember that other people may not be “I” but they are me out “there”, where I stick my arm out.

pg. 88 – 89
Fiction vs. Non-fiction

pg. 90 – 91
We make ourselves relevant by making each other relevant

On March 30th, 2012 TSC performed as part of Reverb, an exhibition event at Bankley Gallery hosted by the MACFA students (of which I am one). Prior to the performance I had asked my peers on the course to record the performance. I let them know that they could film as much or as little of it as they wanted, and also let them know how I was planning on editing the footage together. This is the result (above).

The video itself is downloadable from vimeo (though there is an HD version on youtube, as they allow for a higher file size, but its read-only), and you can also download the sound file from the [free] downloads section of this site. Everything’s under a CC-BY license.

I find it really rewarding when other artists want to expand on the work I create. What contributes to that attitude is the notion that these performances are just me trying to put forward the best possible performance for the version of the work as it is at that time (and I’m speaking for myself there–“I” vs “we”–because I can best express my own thoughts, in my own words, when I’m not trying to democratize them or mediate them to try to encapsulate what Rod and Anton might also think.)

Expanding on that idea: Not in any kind of grandiose way, but I think some ideas are too big, or full of potential, to belong in just one person’s care. And I’m not saying that this performance is ‘a big idea’ or anything like that. These are just some of my thoughts on the free flow of ideas. I think its really arrogant for one person to presume they should be an idea’s sole keeper. There can be so many directions that a single idea might take, one person might not be able to actualize every strand even if they devoted their entire life to it. As far as I’m concerned, this is the only way to move forward when weighted against the disservice and harm that the alternative would suggest. We need evolve our idea of ownership so it doesn’t stunt humanity’s own evolution during this time of increasing technological and creative wonder.

Needless to say I got a very excited email from my friend Mauricio Pauly saying [really excitedly] that its rocked him out of a blockage he’s been having regarding a piece he’s been writing. Its beyond awesome that something I made is useful in that way.

(Skip ahead in the video to 5:14 to see the moment the still above was taken.)

 

(left) This is a picture of the painting as it was exhibited post-performance and for the duration of the exhibit. I had decided that I would make the decision how [and IF !] to represent my work in ‘object’ form only after I had performed (though I had planned for each eventuality.) Right after the performance on the night, I transferred the audio onto my ipod and mounted it along with headphones, so that it was available to the audience immediately. I think this seemingly improptu installation spoke to the improvised nature of the work. On this occasion I decided to leave the canvas stretched, as I had decided to give it away as a gift and it was still stretched during that transaction. I feel that at that point, ownership was transferred and I was able to “let it exist out in the world” absolved of any involvement in transforming it further. In my mind this was the perfect resolution since for me the performance, in all its transience, is the true form of the work, though there is an actual physical object that I’m left to contend with.

This is one of the flyers I designed for the event (above). The text is inspired by a drawing that Cristine Brache made once upon a time.