Art Alive! Around the Clock With Red at The Hunter Museum
On September 10, 2015, I had the pleasure of performing the first Art Alive! program at The Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga Tennessee. This is the first of a series of programs that will bring performers into the gallery to share original and devised work created in response to a piece in the Hunter's collection. An art historian first speaks about the work, then the live performance is presented, then there is a moderated discussion.
Collaborators include: Hayden Crihfield, Megan Hollenbeck, Hannah Shadrick, and Madeleine Young
Special thanks to: Rachel White, Assistant Curator of Education at The Hunter Museum, Artist and Journalist Tony Mraz for interviewing me in The Pulse, and Rob Winslow for documenting the performance.
The program is presented in three parts below and the text follows.
If you have any questions about the process of creating devised performance, please contact me at kayla.anderson@gmail.com
VIDEO
AROUND THE CLOCK WITH RED TEXT
CRONE
There comes a time. When Help arrives without asking for it Despite my protests.
Perhaps it is because my eyes have darkened To reflect your own Not the way a mirror would But a lake so dark The shadows dissolve And become solid At depths unknown
Are you afraid of me?
Rivers on the backs of my hands Carry messages from somewhere else The land of things unseen So they can’t be real.
The ancient Greeks kept their oracles tucked away On the very top shelf Where their prophecies couldn’t reach The ears of the ones That still stretch and swell In the sun
But Everything is clearest at twilight When the breeze is still The day birds nestle in their beds And the night owls rise slowly- ready
In the place between worlds. The rules are not the same. The rules are an illusion.
We are all returning home. Born with everything we need Only to reject it Then find our way to it again
My Own Way.
Everything is in it’s right place.
MOTHER
Hold on to it. Until your grip is so tight; Fused to it. Sinking Absorbed until I am dissolved.
Be everything. Fully.
Home [spotless, meals planned, pantry stocked, everything in it’s right place]
Career [under-eye shadows concealed, clothes pressed, hair smooth, no gray, don’t age, don’t make up your eyes and your lips on the same day, lean in further, prove your worth]
Body [toned, but not bulky, smooth, smooth, everything is smooth, everything in it’s right place]
Partner [don’t check your phone at dinner, look them in the eyes, don’t eat too fast, listen fully, be present, be available, stay interested- stay interesting.]
Children [don’t check your phone at dinner, look them in the eyes, make something they will eat but you won’t feel guilty about feeding them later, listen fully, be present, do the Right Thing.]
Carrying the weight All to myself Because I can I must
Stay Fused in place. Suspended. Fighting Gravity’s slow and inevitable pull-down.
Burning Red-Rimmed Sun-glaring Straining To read the fine print
Of the impossible contracts we draft and notarize For ourselves to sign.
But the moments. When time stands still And your eyes are my eyes Our breath a never ending loop And we float Above all of this
This makes all of That worth it.
Maybe.
MAIDEN
The whole world is watching Every breath is counted Every split-end logged Any wrinkles in my skirt are completely Intentional
Everything is in it’s right place.
Keep one eye on what She is doing The other on myself
Please don’t See me. Because I don’t Know Feel No one told me how to...
Just do what you are told.
When I tell it was Nice to meet You I’m not really sure
The truth is, I don’t know what I want Because I am sifting through What everyone else needs.
Expects Of me.
The idea of me.
Tell me how to...
The truth is I just want to be with you See you
Do you want to be with me? Am I good enough? Is am i doing this this right?
Holding hands with you A wink for you A kiss A sigh Everything is for you
The apples of our cheeks are kissed by perpetual morning; And every sunrise is a new chance to be the person I want to be
I can be anybody. I will never sit alone. There is Nothing to lose.
We are all returning home. Born with everything we need Only to reject it Then find our way to it again
In my own way.
Everything is in it’s right place.