this is MARVELOUS, Alan. Thank you for posting it. sheila --- Alan Sondheim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> performance text, Sarah Lawrence, 12/08/05 > > > i is cold here are you is cold. arrgh. should there > be rhyme? this is > close to the apocalypse. it's daytime in iraq. the > 9/11 commission: "we > fail." this is live. "this is memorex." it's i'm not > sure what time in > pakistan. winter's coming in. winter's coming into > thailand isn't it? > perhaps thailand is in south america. i don't know. > something happened > there and a lot of people died. > these images... sometime after abu gharayb i began > dreaming of torn > bodies. no that's not true, it happened a lot > earlier, but abu gharayb > confirmed things, that the united states was as > capable of as much > slaughter as any fascist country, thank you > condaleeza. however you spel > your nam. when you take a program and run it to its > limits, you get these > figures. the program tries to makesense of the files > just as i try to make > sense of the world but the world is going much too > fast. every time i wake > iin the middle of the night my entire life flies > before my eyes. or rather > i hear it before or within my ears. it's fast and > furious. it's mapped > everywhere. when i showed this work recently someone > said it was just > likie bush torturing people. i walked ou on him and > almost came to blows > but i avoided blows later someone else said i was > closer to the apocalypse > than anyone he knew. > how close can you get to the apocalypse? answer: 1.3 > yards. > we are learning new ways to march which is all to > the better. imitation is > the best policy in guiding our young people in their > future choise of > carerrs. > what is surprising is that one wants to write > anything these days. given > the world-wide slaughter going on, it's hard to > concentrate on a proper > metaphor, what would work in a reading/writing, what > wouldn't. even > sending these images to the sky, absolutely a > failure in the guise of > someone on the ground just shot or blown up in iraq > or on the streets of > new york city. > i just can't get enough of drumming. > maybe if it wasn't so cold i'd be better able to > think. welll i was away a > few days ago and sat at harriet beecher stowe's desk > where she wrote uncle > tom's cabin so i sat at the desk and wrote to my > uncle hymie. > this is the wolf at the door. after the bombing of > the world trade center. > shot obviouslly in the 'bathtub area' of the ruins. > well i'd write some > lyric poetry but my uncle adorno said i wasn't > allowed to after auschwitz. > well, i don't know whether i can agree with him or > not but at least at > this point i've forgotten how to rhyme. this is > gerald edelman at a recent > conference explaining how the brain works. well, i > was jealous and all i > could do was destroy his speech. heres an island for > you. its reallly oil > derricks off of long beach in california. people > live out there. you could > swim out to the derricks and the water is clean. or > at least i think it > is. > gary came to the door at 3am and said the water main > broke and we went out > and filmed it as the water went throgh the subway > system and flooded > through the cracks in the street. now... you might > not noticve it, but > this war, these wars, now they're continuous, > there's no break, in > war/terrorism/disease, whatever your pleasure, but > these wars, they're > really about the body, they're econsconsed in the > body, i think that's not > the way it's spelled, all this torture, lydnie > englang posing with > capitves.... all these signals, secret signs, the > beheadings, if nothing > else, you might want to watch one... on the > internet, they're there, show > you what's going on, someone else was killed, how? , > today, bodies are > turned into substance, that's the way apocaypse > works - these were > produced in west virginia, near ground zero of abu > gharayb - i've tried > god kknows i've tried to make sense of the world! > i'm doing it at the > moment it's impossible, too many things, what you're > hearing now, this > isn't the nuclear family, these are sounds... > emissions.. from auroras, > lightning, cosmic rays, magnetic storms, sunspots, > the fury of the > universe picked up by these antennas, now you hear > the family now you > don't. in any case, as you know, ahem, sexuality has > increased on > television something like two hundred percent since > 1750!!! what a waste. > iin fact, there were very few instances of > intercourse or other naughty > bits during the whole nineteenth century... it > wasn't for lack of trying, > certainly high definition came in around 1830 buit > the studios were > slow... on trying to decide what exactly to show... > it's ot silent, it's music for your ears.... i > always love this one, it's > west virginia at it's best, this kid can do this and > it cn be heard for > mielles, or at least into the other room - > now here's a poe.m someone called me a poet recently > and i almost killed > him. what's a poet? if we're not working at the edge > of things are we > doing anything at all? this is all my visual work > for the past twelve > years, i wanted to present something to you showing > hmmm... my entire > oeuvre, i hope you're not disappointed, it's really > the only way... to > guage the life of an artist, his/her works, what > he/she is capable of, for > example you might notice even at this speed that > most of the photographs > are in focus what you're hearing now is the dawn > chorus, honestlyh, that's > what it's called, it comes around dawn, very low > frequency radio, just > about the frequencies that you use when you talk, > you can hear it > sometimes, i'm not sure wht atht that it's exactly > known,,, whatsproducing > it.... but it began before humans ever hit the > surface of the earth, even > hit the surface of the earth running, one might say > primoridal, since, > since at least the beginning of the big bang, all > the way back then, these > crackles, this almost=whispering, some people think > it's ghosts, aliens, > it's just something to do with the ionosphere and > the channeling of > particles within it ... i took everyhthing i every > made, it's cold typing > here, i'm losing a bit of control, you can tell, the > words just aren't > flowing, but they really enver do, anyway, there are > two categories from > my images, natural/industrial, i went through... a > little rorsach test... > figuring out what i was interested in... why, > becuase i made the images in > the first place... someone had to do it... i can't > stand the dawn much > longer. that's better... almost human, something to > listen to... i'm > searching for something else to show you.... let's > see, perhaps degas' > dancers will open... some of the files have > disappeared ALAS but that's > what happens when you work on the internet....j oh > god please turn > away!"sondheim's show was seriously awful," not > "awfully serious" as he'd > like you to believe! anyway, you can only imagine... > going into a museum > and sneaking BENEATH the metal dress of one of > Degas' dancers, shooting > up, there were guards all around, i bet they never > looked! actually there > wasn't much to look at, to be honest, degas was > naughty but not that > naughty.. > the best thing about landscapes is that they're > unsteady - the 'ust' was > created for an online site dealing with tsunami > stuff - you can destroy > whole towns with the click of amouse, or at least > corrupt === message truncated ===
