DAVID BOWIE IS OPEN TO INTERPRETATION

Currently , the V & A is staging the exhibition, DAVID BOWIE IS and I went to see it at the week end. ' One of the key roles of the museum is to celebrate great design.  Bowie is not only one of the great musicians of the last half century, but is also among the great design visionaries,' writes the director of V& A, Martin Roth.  As curators, Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh say: 'David Bowie is one of the most imporatnt artists of the last 50 years.'  Too right.  He forms a link that connects J.G Ballard, Will Self, Brian Eno, William Burroughs, Louise Le Cavalier, Andy Warhol, Bertolt Brecht, William Blake, Philip Glass, Charlie Chaplin, Nietzsche, Marlene Dietrich, Salvador Dali, Antonin Artaud...'DAVID BOWIE IS OPEN TO CHANCE' as he reinvents himself 'DAVID BOWIE IS SO SWISHY IN HER SATIN AND TAT' a pioneer of invented identities, Major Tom, Ziggy, Alladin Sane, Halloween Jack, the Thin White Duke and 'himself. 'DAVID BOWIE IS SOMEONE ELSE' questioing identity, gender and social norms.  He is one of Ballard's 'astronauts of inner space' the 'surrealists are the iconographers of inner space...the internal landscape...concerned with the discovery of images in which internal and external reality meet and fuse.' 'DAVID BOWIE IS READING BETWEEN THE LINES'  The exhibition is a spectacular series of montages, a juxtaposition of film, mime, sound, images, kabuki theatre, masks, dance, costumes, text, paintings, lyrics, newspaper cuttings, quotes 'THERE IS NO ONE LIKE HIM, HE'S DAVID BOWIE.' I sat in an open space surrounded by huge images of Bowie belting it out,'it's outrageous, he screams and he moans,' and I was back in the late 70s, wanting to put on my 'red shoes and dance.' like I did when I saw him three times, once supporting Iggy Pop and his influence on me was profound. 'DAVID BOWIE IS NOWHERE FROM HERE.' I was a Creative Arts student, visiting art galleries, reading a lot, watching films, going to dance performances and mime and theatre and once upon a time Laurie Anderson, engaging in the avant garde and fashion and the Manchester music scene, learning from my lecturers that a 'catalyst for creativity might be a title of a book, a costume in a film or the'Oblique Strategy'of chance, even then 'I only do (did) what I want to do (did) artistically.'  'DAVID BOWIE IS WEARING A MASK ON HIS OWN FACE.'  And how I agree,'All art is unstable.  It's meaning is not necessarily that implied by the author there is no authoritative voice. There are only multiple readings.'  It was (is) an extraordinary exhibition, stimulating and uplifting.  It rock(s)ed. 'DAVID BOWIE IS LOOKING FOR A FUTURE THAT WILL NEVER COME TO PASS.' 'In a celebrity-soaked world, a character off-stage can remain on-stage.'  But the final words from a fan, THANK GOD FOR DAVID BOWIE
Who lifted us
From the drabness
of surburbia
and showed us
glittering possibilities
THANK GOD
for erotica
exotica
lean
mean
back beat
slim hipswing
saxophone overblown
THANK GOD
for camp
THANK GOD
for fab
hair
cut and clothes
THANK YOU
Dahling
kisskisskiss
Here, here, Annie L, I couldn't agree more!

PRAXIS: Practice, Process & Paradox conference, Roehampton University, April 2013

PRAXIS= practice-based research= theory & practice =  the way I write.

I develop a dialogic relationship between theory & practice, each informs the other throughout the research process.  “When we describe praxis, we’re focusing on the process of creation as well as (or instead of) the end product.  We can think about, theorise and discuss that process as well as(or instead of) the end product)”  For me, the process, which I see as the journey, and the end product, which I see as the arrival, are equally valid, I made this point at the University of Roehampton, London conference: Practice, Process & Paradox 11-12 April, 2013, in response to the conference notes (above in quotes) when I delivered my Paper: Paths To Knowing & Knowledge: Memory, Mindfulness, Neuroscience & The Stories We Tell Ourselves.

Some of the ideas explored at the conference were: Boundaries between Critical & Creative Writing, Creative Process, Creative Research & Reflection, Defining & Redefining Creativity, Innovative Poetics and Cross-Genre & Interdisciplinary Approaches.

At the conference, dance lecturer, Rachel Rimmer and I, presented our ongoing praxis, interdisciplinary project:  The speaking body in space: in the moment.

How can one write the moment, after the event, surely this is a memory?

This question became a topic of discussion between the writer, me, and the dancer, Rachel when we met on 6/3/13 in the dance studio. 

As a writer, I explore the notion of creatively getting my consciousness on the page (as the beat would say). As a dancer, Rachel works with improvisation, responding to the space and making choices in the moment. This demands a heightened sense of presence from the dancer as choreography and performance happen simultaneously.

Through our research into consciousness and presence, Rachel and I recognise a shared line of enquiry between our individual practices.

Attempting to articulate the present moment of moving, Rachel has been researching a range of writing approaches, attempting to document the thoughts and the sensations of the dancer as they occur. However, through our experimentation and discussion in the studio, both of us realised that in writing about the event after it has happened, surely this is more of a response to the memory of the moment, and not an accurate depiction of the event itself?

So the question is, how can the ‘live’ dancing moment be articulated through words?

Trying to address this question, we have been carrying out a series of explorations, considering different writing, speaking and dancing relationships. These explorations were presented at the conference as a live sharing of process, accompanied by discussion of some of the research ideas and questions that have emerged to this point in our collaborative practice.

How can the ‘live’ dancing moment be articulated through words?

I consider the Buddhist practice of mindfulness, that is, existence is experienced fully only by paying full attention to the moment, in the moment, as we live it.  If we come into our present moment, when thoughts, feeling, sensations unfold in the present moment, in observation, there comes awareness.

The concept of emptiness or void is central to the philosophy of Buddhism. Void is not nothing.  Something can come out of nothing; it comes into being as a construct, before it changes into something else. 

As a writer, I document my stream of consciousness in the moment, capturing the images, thoughts, impressions as I experience them. I consider that writing is not something to be done rightly or wrongly, it is a path of discovery in itself.  When writing, I do not restrict myself to a specific set of rules about how I should write. I am more concerned with the ‘doing’ rather than the ‘crafting’.  My writing process is a stream of consciousness. It is the ideas, shapes, images that evolve which inspire me.  Creativity is about being absorbed in the moment, going with the flow, following the energy of the writing; it is about making connections; firstly: mind, pencil, then allowing the writing to flow and making connections with the words on the page, so that other words, phrases, sentences and images follow.  And as I write, I am engaged with the spirituality of the process, one which can be a form of transcendence, one which can lead to insights and wakefulness.

During our presentation, Rachel was still and silent, waiting for the intuitive moment to move.  I was present, in the moment, witnessing, paying full attention.  We were listening to our ‘inner voices’ to direct us to begin, to create the ‘path’ of dance improvisation and word/text score.

Rachel moved and her movement changed into something else.  Rachel continued improvising and speaking how this felt as she actually danced in the moment: a stream of consciousness. I acted as a witness to the improvisation. I was  absorbed in the moment. I used the principles of Rachel’s improvisation and employed a stream of consciousness.  Going with the flow of Rachel’s movements, I spoke words, phrases, in the moment Ray danced, inspired by the movements and shapes as they happened, mirroring Rachel’s energy, stillness and shapes in the air and on the studio floor. Everything was connected.

It was an inspiring conference.  Many thanks to the organiser Dr Louise Tondeur J