Cast, Design team, collaborators
I have a question for you
we are working to figure out, right now
the ending of the piece
the questions that, after a year of work, make the most sense to ask audience members as the event is culminating
So if the context is
the audience has been in an hour long conversation with us
and we want to ask some clear, smart questions that bridge the personal, the imaginative, and the specific
in relation to choices, and vision
questions they can respond to concisely, without needing a lot of words to express a response
what might some questions be?
one i toss out is-
Thinking about people I will never meet,
but who live in a city we share,
it is important to me that people have access to-
that is a fill in the blank statement-
you can do that, or a straight up question
use the comments on this posting to add to a list of these-
Please, take a second and add at least one today.
Others not involved in the project, feel free to add as well
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
join us tonight!
Tonight Tuesday August 26 & Thursday August 28
join us at the Discovery Center
7:30-8:30
to play the game and help us prepare for the show
Come if you can, and come on time
For map and directions: www.southwaterfront.com/discovery_center
join us at the Discovery Center
7:30-8:30
to play the game and help us prepare for the show
Come if you can, and come on time
For map and directions: www.southwaterfront.com/discovery_center
Friday, August 22, 2008
Tomorrow- Saturday- 2-4pm
The Future of Housing in Portland
A workshop/discussion
Play our new civic planning game
meet some fascinating community members
join us!
see the info on the right side of this page...
A workshop/discussion
Play our new civic planning game
meet some fascinating community members
join us!
see the info on the right side of this page...
Interviews this week
have been fantastic
Monica from Sisters of the Road came on Tuesday
Robert Liberty from Metro and Rick Potestio came last night, Thursday
each night folks come, we learn about their experiences
but
we also get the experience of inquiry- of pursuing conversations and taking them in directions that we are moved to explore-
we are being given the gift of uninhibited curiosity
which, rather than quench our thirst for knowledge
makes us more curious
The interviews begin with me asking questions, but move to a group interview fairly swiftly.
Monica spoke with us about her work and the responsibility we all have for each other.
Robert spoke about the need for sustainability and the history of redlining.
Rick spoke about real estate and the economy of materials and changing neighborhoods.
We have also begun to play the game, the civic planning game that we use in the show, within these research evenings. Thats a great exercie for us, and our guests seem to enjoy it.
We want to move our growing curiosity out into our audience- we want to infect them with curiosity and make a space for figuring. And complications...
Monica from Sisters of the Road came on Tuesday
Robert Liberty from Metro and Rick Potestio came last night, Thursday
each night folks come, we learn about their experiences
but
we also get the experience of inquiry- of pursuing conversations and taking them in directions that we are moved to explore-
we are being given the gift of uninhibited curiosity
which, rather than quench our thirst for knowledge
makes us more curious
The interviews begin with me asking questions, but move to a group interview fairly swiftly.
Monica spoke with us about her work and the responsibility we all have for each other.
Robert spoke about the need for sustainability and the history of redlining.
Rick spoke about real estate and the economy of materials and changing neighborhoods.
We have also begun to play the game, the civic planning game that we use in the show, within these research evenings. Thats a great exercie for us, and our guests seem to enjoy it.
We want to move our growing curiosity out into our audience- we want to infect them with curiosity and make a space for figuring. And complications...
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Tonight, Sunday August 17- Come play
we are going to explore a new version of the civic planning game we have developed for the show
we'll be playing at 6pm tonight at the discovery center
we could use a few extra folks to play if you have an hour
come on down
we'll be playing at 6pm tonight at the discovery center
we could use a few extra folks to play if you have an hour
come on down
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Vito Knows Cities
As we were wrapping up the workshop today, I was thinking about architect Vito Acconci's words about city/human futures; I think this is from the Venice Biennale in 2001.
What To Wear happening right now
it's 4:05 saturday afternoon at the AIR studio on the South Waterfront
its 100 degrees outside, but inside, its cool
even as 6 groups work intently on their garments
Courtney davis is leading a fantastic session
and in 8 minutes
the groups will share what they've made
fabric is held together by wire flags, mesh and streamers lay across models' bodies
and every piece in the room is radically different from every other
all in pursuit of the notion- garment as place, the individual as building block of city
we will post photos soon
its 100 degrees outside, but inside, its cool
even as 6 groups work intently on their garments
Courtney davis is leading a fantastic session
and in 8 minutes
the groups will share what they've made
fabric is held together by wire flags, mesh and streamers lay across models' bodies
and every piece in the room is radically different from every other
all in pursuit of the notion- garment as place, the individual as building block of city
we will post photos soon
Friday, August 15, 2008
TOMORROW- SATURDAY- JOIN US!
WHAT TO WEAR- A Workshop
AIR Studio 2-5pm
look on the right side of this page for details...
AIR Studio 2-5pm
look on the right side of this page for details...
the performer and the audience
yesterday, thursday, in several ways, a similar question kept coming up-
who is the performer in this kind of show?
If they function, at times, as guide, as actor, as conversational partner, and sometimes as facilitator, how do we decide on all the details that clarify their function for the audience, for them as performers, for the design team...
what is the contract we seek to create between the event and the audience/participant?
The performers are the heart of that contract, and it is negotiated from the moment people enter the building...actually, from the moment they hear about the show and begin to imagine what their experience might be...what might be expected of them.
the costumes- what should folks wear?
we have a core cast of 7
and about 10 other people who, myself included, will be helping execute the event
who wears what that communicates their role, allows them to function as they need to, and that brings a theatricality to the space that doesn't overwhelm audience members, but doesn't flatten any chance for transformation either.
Judith Mowry, a local facilitator and founder of the restorative listening project in NE Portland, was our interviewee last night, and that conversation also got at these issues-
How do you, in public events, swiftly get a group of strangers to agree to invest in an experience, feel heard, feel safe, and listen to other people with different values, needs, and desires? How do you lead that experience in a way that is playful, meaningful, surprising and equitable? How do you not prioritize 'expertise' over experience? And, different than Judith's work, how do you do this without personal story as the core of the process?
who is the performer in this kind of show?
If they function, at times, as guide, as actor, as conversational partner, and sometimes as facilitator, how do we decide on all the details that clarify their function for the audience, for them as performers, for the design team...
what is the contract we seek to create between the event and the audience/participant?
The performers are the heart of that contract, and it is negotiated from the moment people enter the building...actually, from the moment they hear about the show and begin to imagine what their experience might be...what might be expected of them.
the costumes- what should folks wear?
we have a core cast of 7
and about 10 other people who, myself included, will be helping execute the event
who wears what that communicates their role, allows them to function as they need to, and that brings a theatricality to the space that doesn't overwhelm audience members, but doesn't flatten any chance for transformation either.
Judith Mowry, a local facilitator and founder of the restorative listening project in NE Portland, was our interviewee last night, and that conversation also got at these issues-
How do you, in public events, swiftly get a group of strangers to agree to invest in an experience, feel heard, feel safe, and listen to other people with different values, needs, and desires? How do you lead that experience in a way that is playful, meaningful, surprising and equitable? How do you not prioritize 'expertise' over experience? And, different than Judith's work, how do you do this without personal story as the core of the process?
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
A Map of Questions
Last night, Tuesday, we had two interviewees- Colin and Itzel- who spoke from two different experiences of working with and around money and the development of projects in Portland.
Colin is involved in organizing capital to make public/private colaborations possible (he worked on the Armory, the Civic, and a business strip in the Albina area); Itzel works with a non profit that helps people prepare financially for home ownership, especially people who need fiscal counseling/aid.
They spoke about their own work, and they spoke about what "the good of the community" means in the both their daily work lives. They also spoke about the city's growth, and what factors will make Portland livable, or not, as we head into the next 25 years and population increase. Their thoughts, and key concerns, were different, but related to issues of affordability and intentionality.
After they left, the cast (and other collaborating artists) continued the conversation, and then moved to an activity where each person 'performed' their own perspective on development in Portland. On the South Waterfront high rises. On the city growing and changing.
We spend alot of time working with ho we will make space for the audience conversation- for a journey that audience members engage in with each other, with us guiding the structure, and using performance to catalyze and deepen moments of that conversation. But tonight, we also wanted to take some time, and dig into the perspectives/questions informing us as citizens, which of course impacts what we as artists will create and lead.
So we put it out there. And it took the form of mini-presentations/performances around the Discovery Center. With humor. And then arguements, as people challenged the ideas/perspectives of each other a bit.
It was great.
The conversation was really engaging, and you could feel everyone moving into the topic with higher personal stakes.
Some questions that began to arise, less about our involvement as artists/facilitators, and more about the content of our exploration-
Are people who don't like the "privileged" feel of the Waterfront towers missing the point that green sustainability and vertical density are the only way our city can grow healthily in the coming years?
And is that true?
Is there something inherently uncomfortable with a seemingly isolated glass and steel paradise rising up almost overnight in which only a privileged class can afford to live?
When people think about where they want to live, are they searching for a lifestyle, or status, or some combination of both?
What role should desire and personal taste play in urban planning if they lead in directions that are utterly unsustainable?
Are planned communities a good thing, or are they too driven by economics and not enough by collective human activity over time?
In terms of where people live, if some people have choice and others simply don't, can a city grow and be healthily diverse?
These are some-
Collaborators will post other questions on the comment section of this post...
Colin is involved in organizing capital to make public/private colaborations possible (he worked on the Armory, the Civic, and a business strip in the Albina area); Itzel works with a non profit that helps people prepare financially for home ownership, especially people who need fiscal counseling/aid.
They spoke about their own work, and they spoke about what "the good of the community" means in the both their daily work lives. They also spoke about the city's growth, and what factors will make Portland livable, or not, as we head into the next 25 years and population increase. Their thoughts, and key concerns, were different, but related to issues of affordability and intentionality.
After they left, the cast (and other collaborating artists) continued the conversation, and then moved to an activity where each person 'performed' their own perspective on development in Portland. On the South Waterfront high rises. On the city growing and changing.
We spend alot of time working with ho we will make space for the audience conversation- for a journey that audience members engage in with each other, with us guiding the structure, and using performance to catalyze and deepen moments of that conversation. But tonight, we also wanted to take some time, and dig into the perspectives/questions informing us as citizens, which of course impacts what we as artists will create and lead.
So we put it out there. And it took the form of mini-presentations/performances around the Discovery Center. With humor. And then arguements, as people challenged the ideas/perspectives of each other a bit.
It was great.
The conversation was really engaging, and you could feel everyone moving into the topic with higher personal stakes.
Some questions that began to arise, less about our involvement as artists/facilitators, and more about the content of our exploration-
Are people who don't like the "privileged" feel of the Waterfront towers missing the point that green sustainability and vertical density are the only way our city can grow healthily in the coming years?
And is that true?
Is there something inherently uncomfortable with a seemingly isolated glass and steel paradise rising up almost overnight in which only a privileged class can afford to live?
When people think about where they want to live, are they searching for a lifestyle, or status, or some combination of both?
What role should desire and personal taste play in urban planning if they lead in directions that are utterly unsustainable?
Are planned communities a good thing, or are they too driven by economics and not enough by collective human activity over time?
In terms of where people live, if some people have choice and others simply don't, can a city grow and be healthily diverse?
These are some-
Collaborators will post other questions on the comment section of this post...
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Night & Day
Our show will happen 9 times during the TBA festival.
8 of those will be in daylight; one will be at night.
Part of the show will occur on the patio at the discovery center, a super interesting concrete space with a fireplace, a large wall, and a stunning view over that wall at the skyline of the South Waterfront.
As we have been exploring the physical possibilities of this area, and how to play with motion in relation to City, and vision, and connection/disconnection, we have been struck by how beautiful the patio playing area is at night.
The movement becomes a series of silhouettes.
Mystery suffuses the smallest gesture.
Everything is heightened.
And this is, in a large way, a misdirection.
A trap.
Because at the end of this event, we want what the poetic has to offer, but, there is also something very basic, very hands on, very...daily about the choices and complications that planning community entails.
And, most of the performances will be in the daytime.
When the way we view that outer area is filled with much less mystery.
Since we rehearse mostly at night, its an interesting dilemma of tone. We want to work and create within the environment of the moment. But, we have to of course account for the moment in which we will meet and engage our audience.
And so I've been wondering- what does the light of day demand that the dark of night allows to remain beneath the surface. When you can't see faces, just bodies. When you can't make out surroundings, but can just glimpse the dance itself.
And, for that one nighttime performance, what will we gain in visual power, and what might we lose in the banality of flesh on sidewalks...
How does a city differ at noon and at midnight?
Any thoughts?
8 of those will be in daylight; one will be at night.
Part of the show will occur on the patio at the discovery center, a super interesting concrete space with a fireplace, a large wall, and a stunning view over that wall at the skyline of the South Waterfront.
As we have been exploring the physical possibilities of this area, and how to play with motion in relation to City, and vision, and connection/disconnection, we have been struck by how beautiful the patio playing area is at night.
The movement becomes a series of silhouettes.
Mystery suffuses the smallest gesture.
Everything is heightened.
And this is, in a large way, a misdirection.
A trap.
Because at the end of this event, we want what the poetic has to offer, but, there is also something very basic, very hands on, very...daily about the choices and complications that planning community entails.
And, most of the performances will be in the daytime.
When the way we view that outer area is filled with much less mystery.
Since we rehearse mostly at night, its an interesting dilemma of tone. We want to work and create within the environment of the moment. But, we have to of course account for the moment in which we will meet and engage our audience.
And so I've been wondering- what does the light of day demand that the dark of night allows to remain beneath the surface. When you can't see faces, just bodies. When you can't make out surroundings, but can just glimpse the dance itself.
And, for that one nighttime performance, what will we gain in visual power, and what might we lose in the banality of flesh on sidewalks...
How does a city differ at noon and at midnight?
Any thoughts?
Monday, August 11, 2008
This past weekend
Lots of rehearsal, lots of time together as a team
We worked for months on this project in chicago, briefly in Hartford, CT
and now here
People lately have asked me-
"so, you created a script in chicago, and then you've been developing it further in order to produce it in Portland?"
Nope.
Not that, no.
We made a piece in Chicago.
To explore the content and forms that this project wants to explore and utilize. And then, we shed that event, like a skin.
Some of it has stayed with us. Some of it was learning, and we go on.
In Colorado at a conference last weekend, talking about this form of development, one way of saying it that seemed to make sense in the room at the time, was that in Chicago, we began to swim in the shallow end of the pool. And because we spent some time in that first set of issues, swimming around, we were ready in hartford to move to the 6-8 foot deep section. And now here in Portland, we're trying to swim in the deep end. Which doesn't mean we're smarter- it means that the more time we spend, the more our first impulses give way to more complicated, and substantial impulses. I hope.
An example from the last week, and even this past weekend- our interviews last week with documentary filmmakers, a city planner and a real estate broker offered us stories about culture in a different light. Coupled with a NYTimes article about section 8 housing residents moving, with the aid of vouchers, to suburbs in California, suddenly culture, and difference, and living as neighbors next to people with very different life experiences, became more complicated than Chicago's scenes about neighbors in tension. This is a really good thing. Not because the Chicago material was unsatisfying, but as our understanding of our content shifts and grows, our show will hopefully become a more multi-layered experience.
We have begun exploring the geography of our Portland site in some fun ways. Balconies. Models. Tightropes. We continue to look for spectacle amidst an event that wants to be informal, participatory and yet poetic.
Some really interesting Public events coming the next two Saturdays. Watch here for details.
We worked for months on this project in chicago, briefly in Hartford, CT
and now here
People lately have asked me-
"so, you created a script in chicago, and then you've been developing it further in order to produce it in Portland?"
Nope.
Not that, no.
We made a piece in Chicago.
To explore the content and forms that this project wants to explore and utilize. And then, we shed that event, like a skin.
Some of it has stayed with us. Some of it was learning, and we go on.
In Colorado at a conference last weekend, talking about this form of development, one way of saying it that seemed to make sense in the room at the time, was that in Chicago, we began to swim in the shallow end of the pool. And because we spent some time in that first set of issues, swimming around, we were ready in hartford to move to the 6-8 foot deep section. And now here in Portland, we're trying to swim in the deep end. Which doesn't mean we're smarter- it means that the more time we spend, the more our first impulses give way to more complicated, and substantial impulses. I hope.
An example from the last week, and even this past weekend- our interviews last week with documentary filmmakers, a city planner and a real estate broker offered us stories about culture in a different light. Coupled with a NYTimes article about section 8 housing residents moving, with the aid of vouchers, to suburbs in California, suddenly culture, and difference, and living as neighbors next to people with very different life experiences, became more complicated than Chicago's scenes about neighbors in tension. This is a really good thing. Not because the Chicago material was unsatisfying, but as our understanding of our content shifts and grows, our show will hopefully become a more multi-layered experience.
We have begun exploring the geography of our Portland site in some fun ways. Balconies. Models. Tightropes. We continue to look for spectacle amidst an event that wants to be informal, participatory and yet poetic.
Some really interesting Public events coming the next two Saturdays. Watch here for details.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Saturday
a good week so far
today,saturday, an open studio day down at the South Waterfront AIR studio where we're in residence
hoping to connect with more waterfront residents, and introduce them to the civic planning game we developed in chicago, play it with them, and get feedback as we develop a new version of it for here in Portland.
Then, tonight, a 4 hour rehearsal over at the discovery center, our performance site- tonight, we're going to begin playing with some of the more 'risky' uses of the space, physically, and also begin getting more focused on a content piece we're developing for one part of the site.
A key weekend as we're now one month out from the TBA showings. And, we have all taken a large step forward this week, in mind and gut, in terms of understanding how the issues we're exploring really impact and relate specifically to Portland.
The videos in the entry before this one from last saturday's ten tiny dances are explained and given some extra context, by the way, in the july 28 entry.
today,saturday, an open studio day down at the South Waterfront AIR studio where we're in residence
hoping to connect with more waterfront residents, and introduce them to the civic planning game we developed in chicago, play it with them, and get feedback as we develop a new version of it for here in Portland.
Then, tonight, a 4 hour rehearsal over at the discovery center, our performance site- tonight, we're going to begin playing with some of the more 'risky' uses of the space, physically, and also begin getting more focused on a content piece we're developing for one part of the site.
A key weekend as we're now one month out from the TBA showings. And, we have all taken a large step forward this week, in mind and gut, in terms of understanding how the issues we're exploring really impact and relate specifically to Portland.
The videos in the entry before this one from last saturday's ten tiny dances are explained and given some extra context, by the way, in the july 28 entry.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
First week (after a year and many other first weeks)
So, after a year of development, research and engagement
the core Sojourn team began this week working in the Discovery Center at the South Waterfront in Portland
A really good week so far.
Last Saturday, with the Sojourn Institute Students, we shared our 5 ten tiny dances.
Hundreds of Portlanders came down to the Waterfront and wandered/watched dance.
Our dances will appear on this blog soon- we have some new video capabilities that we're exploring.
This past Tuesday, we hosted our first Public Interview at the Discovery Center.
A realtor and a city planner had a very honest conversation with us about Portland, about its planning history, and about who can afford what in today's shifting market.
Tonight, Thursday, we interview a mediator/community organizer and a documentary filmmaker.
The interviews begin with a brief question and answer that the whole team participates in. Then, we create pieces ( we call it performative research activity). Then, the interviewees respond, and we talk more. And then, we play the civic planning game we developed in Chicago, and continue to refine how to use it as a tool for asking participants to experience their own values in relation to place and then collide those vaues with others as they try to make decisions about community.
We are making some headway in figuring out the journey of this show/event.
Its not a plot based journey.
So, what's the dramaturgy?
What's the structure?
Its become clearer that the answer to that is all about our goal- to offer a space for a unique and active interaction between strangers. One that's dynamic,creative, thoughtful and playful.
So the dramaturgy is a series of questions that will serve the structural purpose a plot would in a story based piece. We are now working to figure out how to move through the questions as experiences, not as presentations. And, how performance moments help deepen and loosen the shared investigation as we move forward together, performers and audience.
Its alot of fun, and alot uncertain.
Which feels like the right combination right now.
the core Sojourn team began this week working in the Discovery Center at the South Waterfront in Portland
A really good week so far.
Last Saturday, with the Sojourn Institute Students, we shared our 5 ten tiny dances.
Hundreds of Portlanders came down to the Waterfront and wandered/watched dance.
Our dances will appear on this blog soon- we have some new video capabilities that we're exploring.
This past Tuesday, we hosted our first Public Interview at the Discovery Center.
A realtor and a city planner had a very honest conversation with us about Portland, about its planning history, and about who can afford what in today's shifting market.
Tonight, Thursday, we interview a mediator/community organizer and a documentary filmmaker.
The interviews begin with a brief question and answer that the whole team participates in. Then, we create pieces ( we call it performative research activity). Then, the interviewees respond, and we talk more. And then, we play the civic planning game we developed in Chicago, and continue to refine how to use it as a tool for asking participants to experience their own values in relation to place and then collide those vaues with others as they try to make decisions about community.
We are making some headway in figuring out the journey of this show/event.
Its not a plot based journey.
So, what's the dramaturgy?
What's the structure?
Its become clearer that the answer to that is all about our goal- to offer a space for a unique and active interaction between strangers. One that's dynamic,creative, thoughtful and playful.
So the dramaturgy is a series of questions that will serve the structural purpose a plot would in a story based piece. We are now working to figure out how to move through the questions as experiences, not as presentations. And, how performance moments help deepen and loosen the shared investigation as we move forward together, performers and audience.
Its alot of fun, and alot uncertain.
Which feels like the right combination right now.
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