I want to start this blog by saying that Faustin is the only show I’ve seen a mass-exodus from, and it was rude and unfair to the performer. People who plan to bail 10 minutes in should not sit in the first row, period. I suspect the reason many of them left was because of the music, which was deafening. The scene was this: four dancers, two wearing Linen monk’s robes, one in a swingers coat and plaid pants, and Faustin in a wonderful newspaper mini-skirt. Faustin is a beautiful performer and one of the more limber dancers I’ve ever seen, it looked like his joints could rotate every which way. His voice was also clear and wonderful, and the parts of the piece in which all the dancers sang were lovely. The DJ was a part of the stage and spent the show crouched over his laptop. The music he created was loud moans that reverberated into my chest, which made the audience noticeably uncomfortable. People left at this point, and I admit it was so loud my heart hurt. It seemed like the DJ just needed a monitor, because had the volume stayed a little lower it would have been tolerable and still enough to make the audience uncomfortable.
This is a show that is meant to be uncomfortable, and in that it succeeds. The stage was sparse with the back revealed and bare light-bulbs swinging from above. There were no soft curtains, no plush clothing, and everywhere discomfort. But while the music was meant to be acerbic, it didn’t have to be intolerable. The DJ seemed to direct the show, and Faustin seemed to stop and wait for him at several points, which was unfortunate and distracted from Faustin and the other dancers. It didn’t help that the DJ looked really, really high for the whole show, which I know was due in-part to his concentration on the music, but his huddled figure in a hoodie was a distraction from Faustin’s beautiful movements. Faustin is from the Congo and has been exiled and retuned, so discomfort feels appropriate in a piece created in this turbulent region. If only the DJ were off to the side, we could have watched the dancers a little better, and some people could have gotten to the end of the piece. The DJ feels appropriate as an element of the industrial, stark story, but he wasn’t a fulfilling centerpiece.
For me the most moving scene occurred near the end, when Faustin placed a white sack over the swinger dancer and heaved him onto one shoulder. Faustin then walked the stage with the other dancer telling a story about “mama” and “papa” from within the bag. It was breathtaking. If only the beginning of the piece could have given us similar moments.
-C.R.
RE: “…or the DJ needs a monitor,” it’s ignorant. There are monitors in the wings at Lincoln and there were speakers in the back of the hall firing toward the stage. I felt like I was in an experiment to determine just how much abuse a Western audience can take before it runs out of white liberal guilt – the only thing that kept the butts of the stalwart in the seats until the end and probably got Linyekula all his awards; curiously, none of which are cited by name in the program notes, and not for lack of space. Good job PICA, your diversity flank is covered, and the extra grant money will make up for whatever audience attrition you might endure from this fiasco. — redipen
I was extremely moved by Faustin’s piece. Someone wrote tody in an earlier blog that contemporary art is not about “liking” but about “thinking.” This, in so few words, exactly captures the essence of contemporary art for me. This is why I like it, and why I love PICA and TBA. And IMHO the best contemporary art connects *both* the mind and the heart. Certainly Faustin’s piece did this.
Clearly as an industrialized-world, white male, I don’t pretend to have the same life experiences as the artist. But what “keeps my butt in my seat” as the previous writer so delicately put it, is not guilt or shame, it is the opportunity to see and hear something that broadens my understanding of life and holds the potential for being moved (even changed) on an emotional and intellectual level by another person’s artistic vision.
For every person who loves a piece of work, another will find it wanting. That TBA and PICA make it possible for all of us to engage in this festival is truly wonderful.
Sir Keir: If you feel Mr. Linyekula’s piece conveyed his Kinshasa story, you come off as pathetically gullible. Clearly, you’ve not traveled much in the 3rd world, if ever in Africa. The simple-minded abusive nature of Linyekula’s “story telling” would be tolerated by virtually no audiences in the world other than those riddled with white liberal guilt, or a Japanese audience, which will sit through virtually anything. Go out an see something of the world. You’ll then acquire something of a meaningful perspective on these things. — redipen
Redipen:
I don’t think you should assume what people have and haven’t seen before. I have no idea if Keir has traveled to Africa before, but he has a right to like this piece and explain why. This piece didn’t work for you. It didn’t really work for me either, but the person I went with loved it deeply, and not out of liberal white guilt. And not because he’s never traveled to the third world. We talked about it for an hour and a half, and though I myself did not find it as powerful, it was interesting to hear that someone else felt such an intense connection. Perhaps everyone who loved this piece is deep down a sniveling idiot, but I think you’d have to conduct a more comprehensive study in order to determine that for sure.
I’d be interested to know what about this piece made you so angry that you feel everyone who liked it must be out of touch with the rest of the world (except for Japan).
hm.
i thought this piece was one of the best performances i have seen at TBA – particularly this year.
what i loved about the performance had nothing to do with 3rd world tales but what i felt was more connected to the human experience perhaps yes from a 3rd world portal but remember faustin has only recently returned to the congo.
also perhaps you should google sound therapy, tuning or something of the like – there is something the music does to the body for me it was as powerful as the performance and i imagine that was the intention.?.? these parts of life where words fail us and entertainment seekers fail to comprehend.
the complexity of the performance embedded in the simplicity of ‘i had a story to tell you but i forgot, sorry’ is fantastic. (i don’t have the exact quote in front of me sorry) anyway – its not a 3rd world epidemic. sorry kids.
i agree that contemporary art is not ment to be liked – as we all have experienced over and over again. i’ve seen people sit thru performances just because they ARE tolerable, i’ve seen standing ovations seemingly simply because the performers and choreographer are LOCAL, i’ve also seen people leave in mass exidous at tba performances before – and wondered if it was planned, if those people were props (remember the bubble wrap performance?)…… for me – i’m over it. i dont care what other people do and if i need to leave early to see another performance which might be more interesting to me then i’m going to but yes, i like to sit somewhere with easy access out. but generally i prefer to stay – particularly for a performance thats only 60 minutes. sheesh.
anyway – i loved it. the dancing, the music, the light bulbs, the bags, the miniskirt….. i loved that some people just dont get it but mostly i loved that it meant something to me and it touched me deeply and i love being touched deeply its not something which happens often. i love the controversy the uncertainty it has created. and i love to watch faustin dance and listen to him sing.
lastly – again – i didnt think this was a 3rd world tribute. it was about people, in the world – dealing with all of the things people deal with all day, everyday.
Right – one should never assume anything about anything – just go with your gut. And in consideration of that, when the weight of the sound montage of Mr. Linyekula’s sound artist began to reverberate in my gut as real visceral pain, I chose to no longer just sit and take it…absolutely right: I was angry…almost angry enough to walk on stage and box the little twerp’s ears!
The 1st poster in this string chided as “…rude…” those who left “…if you know you’re going to bail…don’t sit in the first row…” Could this person have written anything stupider? TBA should have alerted ticket buyers to the loudness issue before selling ticket one. That was as rude as the sound itself.
Q1: If the show had included blinding full-spectrum strobes aimed at the audience, would you just sit and stare at them? Anyone for dense acrid smoke? How about electrified chairs? One thing for sure, your health care specialists’ investment specialists would love for you all to just sit through it.
Contemporary music fans are incredibly conditioned by abusively loud rock concerts and asinine pubs where you have to shout to talk to someone sitting right next to you. Undoubtedly most people who hang out in such environments are half deaf. As far as “getting” the piece, I know for sure I “got” it, loud and clear. Moreover, I expect Mr. Linyekula and his band are laughing at you all, all the way home over what they got and got away with. All assumptions aside, that’s exactly what my gut tells me about this show.
There are a thousand more ways Mr. Linyekula could have couched the elegance of his singing and dancing in order to try to tell his story in a genuinely meaningful, communicative way. It was clear that he did not care to find a single one. It’s also clear that PICA’s staff of curators and it’s audiences have such a weak grasp on the architectonics of composition and stagecraft, not to mention social courtesy, that, again from my gut, the lot of you will eat just about any shit that’s thrown at you, chew it up and analyze it for hours.
— redipen —
The last word on this, vis-a-vis “…perhaps you should google sound therapy…” — that’s charming, Birdsofafeather.
I recommend you google “hearing damage from sound,” and after educating yourself about it, suggest to someone on PICA’s board that they take a close look at their Gayle’s Creek Policy, and hope they’re covered.
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Safety Considerations with Sound
As a general rule, prolonged exposure to sound levels above 85 dB will cause slight hearing loss and above 90 dB will result in mild to moderate loss. Prolonged exposure to sound levels above 95 dB causes moderate to severe hearing loss. Above 100 dB, even short exposure can cause a permanent loss of hearing.
The ear has an acoustic reflex that protects the inner ear from loud sounds in the same way that the pupil of the eye protects the eye by contracting in the presence of bright lights. However, the reflex requires a few hundredths of a second to respond, and thus cannot be relied upon to protect the ear in the event of a short duration sound such as an explosion.
The damage is typically by way of tearing or ripping the microscopic hair cells of the cochlea. Such damage is usually only temporary unless the sound is frequent or sustained. Especially intense sounds are capable of rupturing the eardrum. The damage threshold is frequency-dependent, and the ear is most susceptible to damage by sounds of around 3000 Hertz in part because the auditory canal is a closed tube having a resonance in this region. Prolonged exposure to sounds of a particular range of frequencies can permanently reduce the sensitivity of the ear to those frequencies.
RE: Safety considerations WRT sound levels.
Assholes are most likely the commonest cause of cancer in this country. And you’re no doubt aware of how deafening you sound in this string.
RE: Loud Rock and Roll Music.
Stay home.
Jesus christ.
RE: Stay home.
Jesus christ.
Posted by: rockandroll. at September 15, 2005 09:20 PM
Absolutely, to avoid all of you philistine bleedin’ sods!