MEANINGS ....v1

Here is the first draft of some notes I'm preparing for the SDAF meeting June 26th, when they want us to talk about what we did on National Drawing Day. I will possibly add other thoughts as they occur to me.

I have more or less finished the video, but haven't yet been able to reduce it to a size for posting to YouTube.

DARK MARK – Some Meanings and Sources I’ve come up with.

SOURCES

·         Part of original idea is left-hand/right-hand struggle

·         Already fascinated with blind-folded work since Montessori days

·         Used blind-fold in BALANCE performance

·         Ideas (not realized yet) for TOUCH VISION see http://touchyvision.blogspot.ie/2010/08/preparatory-ideas_30.html

·         I continue to like the idea that all marks made by humans are unique – that judgements about one mark being ‘better’ – ‘nicer’ – ‘more meaningful’ than another are somehow less important than the sheer delight that I and everyone can make unique, never to be repeated marks, marks that are open to speaking to us differently every day, if we let them.

·         DARK MARK combines much of this thinking.

DURING-AND-AFTER-THOUGHTS

·         During the performance, I was like as if in a silent bubble – despite the considerable background buzz of conversation and music.

·         In this bubble, I was totally concentrated on making marks, and because I couldn’t see the effects/combinations of the marks, the doing became the focus.

·         The in between rest periods gave me a chance to see where there might be blank spaces I could add marks too, but very quickly, it was marks on top of marks.

·         In the end, the effect was very similar to what might be produced by a very young child, only beginning to explore the way they could make marks.

·         Afterwards, looking at the ‘piece’, I thought of how the six ten-minute sessions, each in a different colour marker, are layered. The result is that it is very difficult to differentiate one layer from another. To me this seemed like the way periods of time are layered, and how little I can separate one minute or period from another.

·         The audience participation was delightful for me – other people involved, yet not taking over – their minds and muscles working with my gloved hand – the glove reducing yet more the control I had over the marks I was making.