I went to work an hour early, prepared my body and mind and even did a little stomping
We watched the video of Thursday morning’s show, and it wasn’t as disastrous as we thought
My makeup only took 45 minutes to apply
I had a skinny day and my costume went on very easily, and practically hung off my body
I got yelled at by the costume designer for being skinny (after being yelled at 1 week ago for being too fat and told to go on a diet, which was after being yelled at 4 weeks ago for being skinnier at opening than I was at the costume fitting)
We got a full sound check
The show kicked ass, and the audience was amazing
I decided to celebrate by going to the Chim Chil Bung (Spa/Sauna) and eating Kim Chi Jjiggae (Kim Chi Stew)
My Korean sister called it Hiroshima, when she saw the state of my room. She went as far as to say in Korean that it was ‘the real Hiroshima’.
But today I blitzed it. I think that watching 2012 last night spurred me into the mindset of preparing for the apocalypse. I would rather meet the end of the world with some semblance of normality.
I have made plans to go hiking next week. That will be fun. I still didn’t join a health club (gym) this week. Maybe Thursday afternoon.
I am reshuffling files between my hard drives. It is a hobby of mine. I have a meticulous back-up system.
I am about to hang out the towels and tuck myself into bed, which I am now at liberty to fold the covers nice and tight, just the way I like.
This last week, my work has been subjected to the delighted musings, scowling glares and vacant expressions that commonly accompany the art that I produce.
And so, for anyone who is interested in my responses to the common questions I have been asked, I have written down the answers. Not in order to inform or educate, but in order that in future I may be more articulate about the things that I do.
This is the first in a series of posts ‘answering’ those questions. They appear in the order that they are usually asked, as I stand outside my studio, in my overalls, dripping with a delightful mixture of white paint, sweat, glucose and water, or later in the Korean restaurant that I frequent far too often, or as I am put on the spot in a lecture room full of young, aspiring artists (not THAT much younger than I):
The Cybraphon is a MacBook powered, Arduino-based mechanical band housed in an antique wardrobe. Including an organ, cymbals, a motor-driven Indian Shruti box (played with 13 robotic servos, no less), and a gramophone, it relies on infrared motion detectors to sense when it has an audience. A number of factors, including the amount of attention it gets on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, help the device determine its “mood,” which in turn determines when the “band” plays, and what material it selects. According to one of the artist / inventors, the Cybraphon is a “tongue-in-cheek comment on people’s obsession with online celebrity. We modeled it on an insecure, egotistical band.” That’s our favorite kind! And you know, the thing doesn’t sound half bad.
So, I have been really bad at posting the last few weeks. Have been super busy with my installation performance work. Have only one show to go now, and two more days of ‘open studio’ (pretty much where I get up before 10, stumble around my studio, turning everything on, opening the door, and crawling back into my bed, where I am subjected to the looping soundtrack of my show).
Changdong isn’t exactly the cultural hub of Seoul, I manage maybe 10 visitors at most per day, and about the same again at night to see the show.
But it is worth it. Have had some great discussions with Koreans and Foreigners alike about my work, and art in general.
I will be posting more and debriefing as the week continues to settle down.
Working on getting the support material together for our big application to Arts Victoria for Gaudete (which is now a working title, we are still voting amongst ourselves as to what we will end up calling it).
That reminds me, I have finished the new version of our Red Moon rising Website. There were calls from the girls to make it more simple, understated and clean. Which suits me just fine. Can’t quite get the news section to work yet, but everything else is there.
...if you know what kind of life-form is impregnated in the brain of unsuspecting listeners of a certain yuletide song, then you'll probably be fine to break in...