I am fortunate to have been able to recently visit 2424 Studios on York Street in Fishtown, Globe Dye Works in Frankford, and Papermill Studios in Kensington. Thanks so much to Matthias Pleisnig, Stacey Weber, Joe Leroux, Leslie Kaufman, and Karyn Helmar Vetter. These are truly some of Philadelphia’s most magical spaces.

-s

Dear Readers,

To those of you who are just joining me on this project, some info to get you up to speed.

In November 2011, I sent out a prospectus to collect stories from my community—family, peers, mentors, and friends—for them to share a piece of their narrative history with me.  In return I would weave it into a collective tale, initiated by myself, concerning the trappings of memory, of place, and of the desire for nostalgia that projects beyond what one has experienced.  These thoughts would be brought together in the context of an allegorical piece of psychological near-realism, to be read as the connective component of a live aerial show (read contemporary circus meets conceptual art) to be performed at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in September 2012.  The project is underway, the draft has been completed, and I (and many others) are working to make the rest of this project a reality.

Relating the project to a friend I came into this description of where it’s headed:

The piece feels really realistic in the mundane details, a result of the biographic contributions, but also to serve as the grounding element for what is going to be a very spectacular type of performance. At the same time, it dips in and out of different locations regularly in a more dreamlike manner, which will be illustrated through various means of video backdrop, performance, and apparatus (I’ll be doing some experimental projection stuff, as well as having some unique aerial equipment fabricated, in addition to using trapeze, hoop, and tightwire).

Conceptually it’s actually fairly dark, and takes a critical, though not negativistic, look at memory, nostalgia, and the relationships we form with images and language. These things are highlighted through really specific stories, which will be carried off into expressions of physical artistry.

I’m writing to you because you are the people that inspire me.  I am working through a narrative for a new performance, using the concept of a house as a metaphor for psychic structure—the constructs and memories developed over a lifetime.  There is much more to tell, but as I wish for the possibilities to remain open, there is also much that I must withhold.

This letter is to make a request for contributions—of stories from your life, told through marks left on the spaces you have lived—marks both physical and psychological.  Think back and weave a tale.  It doesn’t have to be 100% true, down to the color of the wallpaper and the scent of linoleum… in fact you can make things up.  But describe in as much detail as your mind can produce, one space and reflection about a place where you have lived—that at least for a time became colored by a specific experience or encounter, or that remains in your mind with a distinct nostalgia for the way things were.

A brief example… Imagine a time at your parents’ house.  You were age 12, maybe 13.  You were in an argument about such-and-such, and they were unreasonable (as usual). You were not being heard.  Tension built and voices rose until finally you had to get out.  You grabbed for the door handle and flung it open, not realizing how concentrated your anger was until later when things had subsided, and you returned home, finding the hole which the handle left in the drywall from the force of being flung open.  It stayed that way for years, partly out of neglect, but you had the suspicion it was left as a reminder, a guilt-inducing scar to suggest you curb your reactions. 

There are many directions this exercise could be taken.  It does not have to include a physical mark, but could be more of a memory imprint on a room (could be outside, too…a roof, yard, etc.). Be as descriptive as possible about the space, your feelings, your relationship to the people involved, and use as many or as few words as you need.  And don’t worry too much about writing style, it will be re-worded.

From what I receive, parts of these stories will be woven into the tale of the main character of the piece.  It is quite likely that I will change aspects to seam it into the already existing narrative trajectory and framework of the piece.

I am excited about the idea of incorporating additional perspectives, for I think it will allow the piece to communicate more broadly, while at the same time remaining specific—weaving in personal histories and building in perforations that will make it more open.  If I use your story, your name will be included as a contributor, without revealing which details were yours.   The piece will be part of a show-length aerial / interdisciplinary performance, combined with sculpture, video, and audio work, which is likely to happen about a year from now.

I sincerely hope to hear from you.  Your contributions will mean a great deal to the work.  The sooner your responses come in, the more likely it will be that I can use your story, but if you want to contribute and need some time, just let me know and I’ll keep it in mind as I continue writing.  This is a long-term project, and I am allowing time for it to develop into exactly what it needs to be.

Thanks for everything.

Yours,

s

Paper Plane performance written, animated, and performed by Sarah Muehlbauer at the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts. July 29, 2011.  Photo by Amy Morrissey. Link to Narrative and Video.

My 250 word contribution to cultural production: the re: Where Art Belongs publication from FLUXspace. Very polarized reactions to an interesting text about collective practice. Learn more about the project here.  Here are my thoughts, which were published in the response text: 

A meandering biography of the “disappeared object” (131), Kraus’s “Where Art Belongs” is at once a reflection and an enactment of its subject.  Images are conspicuously absent from pages, placed with anecdotes of fleeting moments—where gems of post-utopian collectives emerge to make meaning. Unapologetically full of holes, and focused on the lives of artists as much as the work, the book places the conTEXT in which projects evolved as not just essential, but central to value.

While at times tangents distract, what the book offers is the expansion of thought to combat the compression of images.  Kraus weighs poetry and criticism grave as form in the minds of “amnesiac subjects” grasping for driftwood in seas of representation.   It champions the experimental and the brave, artists who refuse classification and aren’t afraid to share authorship.  Relationships and personal histories compound into “perforations” making the work, and the writing, messy and interesting, if sometimes cryptic.

Quoting Fletcher, collective process is termed  “ongoing crisis” (53) and perhaps there lies the nobility of effort on the part of featured practitioners—strong, humble, and willing to navigate the crisis of community. What I am left with is a sort of anthem of desire, for carrying art beyond the individual with inchoate hopes to serve a greater purpose.  With statements like, “Utopia—static and therefore unreal—is never the point”, and “if the collective is an experiment in shared time, how can time fail?” (167) Kraus advocates for work difficult to realize and always transient, but nonetheless worthwhile for its headstrong insistence on being.

Photo by Amy Morrissey.

Oceans Ignited, May 2011. Written and Performed by: Sarah Muehlbauer at the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts. Link to Narrative and Video.

Specter Animalia with Colleen Hooper and Jeremy Cox.  Written, directed, and shot by Sarah Muehlbauer. 2010.  Stella Elkins Tyler Gallery. Link to Narrative and Artist Statement.

Forces of Friction, with Nikki Roberts and Briel Driscoll, sound design by Cory Neale.  Part of the Walnut Lane Bridge Project, directed by Sarah Muehlbauer. 2009. Link to Video.

Architectonics, part of the Walnut Lane Bridge Project, directed by Sarah Muehlbauer, with Beau Hancock and Colleen Hooper. 2009. Philadelphia, PA. Link to Video.