For the July creative assignments, I built on two different ideas, which were responses to previous assignments. Using the sound score that Cynthia had created as part of the Cyber-Padam assignment, Shyamala choreographed a skype call using an in-built web-cam for the June 09 assignment "Translating Each Other, Translating the Past."
Combining those two ideas with the requirements of the July 2009 Creative Assignment, which asked to "localize" a translation, I translated Cynthia's sound score, which I repeated and layered, into movement, specifically addressing my web cam. I filmed this in various locations, such as on the train, and in my temporary home during a creative residency.
Here is an excerpt:
Sandra's Response to the July 2009 Creative Assignment from Sandra Chatterjee on Vimeo.
I really liked the train footage for how it evoked the reality of your nomadic life, of being in transit as a home/location itself. I also thought the glimpses of the passing countryside were beautiful and added lovely intense colors absent elsewhere in the piece. Also, I like the resituation of the motif of the woman gazing out the window, present in so many traditional abhinaya pieces, to the train context. Specific echoes of Shyamala’s earlier piece included putting in the earphones and her swirling movement during her daydream, which changed to a more pedestrian brushing of your hair here.
ReplyDeleteI love the various scenarios that you set up for webcam (the changing
ReplyDeleteenvironments which reflect your traveling nature) as well as all of
our individual migrations that occur on a day to day basis. I like
the reflective moments in which we see you in the vehicle and then how
your gaze switches when you are gazing into the camera in your home. I
really like this idea of videotaping each of us in our "home"
environments as we juggle the everyday and the larger picture of
making artwork....how they criss-cross and where we make the space. I
can see this as a nice way to begin the show for E-R----four video
clips simultaneously projected and then blacking out one or the other
as we launch into the show and find the common threads.
To me each different "scene" was like a different time and location and mood. The first time I watched the dance, the scenes were not connected for me except the look of your head to the side during the "hey are you there" parts did seem to reference or send me over to the next hasta space, almost like it was your daydream or thought being expanded. On second viewing, I got the feeling that you could be different PN members in different locals. Babli on the train, Anj with the baby, etc. or just you at different times in different places. I was especially drawn into the one where you are on the left side slightly above and lean down into the frame. first time I saw it just seemed playful. And such an interesting angle reaching down and relating to your hand. Second time I thought it was more of the relationship to the baby and quieting it. I also was attracted to the frame with the speed of the landscape going by and the alapadma hand turning with it.
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