Maud and Me
I made an audio mash up of her reviews (text is below) and improvised with my live body and her still projection, as well as my live body with her moving projection. This is edited together the most interesting parts. Note that sometimes I was improvising without the sound so the rhythm doesn't always match up.
password: wonderful
Wonderful Flesh Experiments from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.
This is the moving projection I created to the sound score. It was too busy to insert the live body with in all places but there was one spot in particular that I liked. I put it here in case it's useful some other way.
password: wonderful
Here's the text for the audio, a mash-up of the reviews:
I made an audio mash up of her reviews (text is below) and improvised with my live body and her still projection, as well as my live body with her moving projection. This is edited together the most interesting parts. Note that sometimes I was improvising without the sound so the rhythm doesn't always match up.
password: wonderful
Wonderful Flesh Experiments from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.
This is the moving projection I created to the sound score. It was too busy to insert the live body with in all places but there was one spot in particular that I liked. I put it here in case it's useful some other way.
password: wonderful
Here's the text for the audio, a mash-up of the reviews:
sins of her wonderful flesh
sins of her wonderful flesh
such delicious embodiment might win forgiveness with sins of
her wonderful flesh.
sins of her wonderful flesh
sins of her wonderful flesh
swayed by passion, her mouth parched for kisses with sins of
her wonderful flesh.
sins of her wonderful flesh
sins of her wonderful flesh
Eastern femininity, writhing body, voluptuous and wonderful
flesh.
sins of her wonderful flesh.
sins of her wonderful flesh.
slender and lissome, exquisite ecstasy, perspiring and
wonderful flesh
sins of her wonderful flesh
sins of her wonderful flesh
One moment she is vampire…next she is lynx, swayed by such wonderful
flesh
sins of her wonderful flesh.
sins of her wonderful flesh.
wildly jerking, swaying with passion, blossom into wonderful
flesh
sins of her wonderful flesh.
sins of her wonderful flesh.
Her laughs and her sighs, she shrinks and she vaults, with sins
of her wonderful flesh.
sins of her wonderful flesh
Questions:
1. What parts do you find most compelling of the projection with live body?
2. How do you read or interpret the live body, projection and audio coming together?
3. What other ideas come to mind?
1. I was pretty transfixed for the entire first minute! The moment where Maud Allan’s image doubles because we simultaneously see the projection on the back wall and the cloth is magical and such a smart use of the properties of the sheer fabric.
ReplyDelete2. How do you read or interpret the live body, projection and audio coming together?
For me, the audio serves to create a gently whispering and rhythmic landscape of sensuality. This gives a context that affects how I read the live body-projection interplay in general rather than specific ways. I mainly hear the repetition of "sins of her wonderful flesh" and only occasionally notice the specificities of the variations
As the video starts, we see you, a South Asian woman, stroking Maud Allan, a white woman embodying an over the top image of Orientalist sexuality. The action is possibly sensual – a reading encouraged by the audio – but also smooth, quiet and contemplative rather than evidencing obvious arousal.
Next, Maud’s boobs (and it’s not as obvious that they aren’t her real nipples in projection) appear, small, on your hand. The expression on your face, with wide staring eyes that appear slightly scared or horrified, prevents me from reading this as a sexual objectification (even though she’s initially headless) on your part. Rather, Maud appears to be inscribing your body, perhaps giving you an image to model your own dancing body after.
This interpretation is enforced by the next section, when your legs appear in leggings covered by the sheer sari – a visual reference to Maud’s costuming that I recognize. Cut off from the waist up, now you are headless. Maud doubles on the back wall and your sari – now there are two! Or three, if we count you. Your legs take a stance of one leg crossed behind the other, and you start footwork in the first obvious reference to BN vocabulary. Maud appears on your crotch, swaying back and forth in a sexual or titillating movement. She starts to appear and disappear in a left to right fashion, the jump cuts mirrored by rhythmic footwork. Later on Maud’s image overlays your body pretty close to exactly, implying that you are her or have modeled yourself after her.
The very last cut, where you wrap the sari around you and over your head provides an interesting contrast between the conservatism of your bodily covering and the Orientalist nakedness of Maud.
3. Your emotional intention and facial expression could really shift how I interpret some of the body-projection interplay: whether you are desiring Maud or having her image imposed on you. Scale – how the size of Maud changes depending on how close or far from the projector you are – could be interesting to play with more conceptually in terms of power dynamics. The different color of the projection surfaces (white wall, black clothing, sheer red sari) is also interesting.
I enjoyed some of the tight, cut-off camera framing (for example, just seeing your legs). Oddly, this moment felt more empowered to me than when we could see your entire body with Maud’s overlaid onto yours. I wonder what this might mean for live performance? Would it be interesting to have the audience look through peep-holes or little viewing boxes that don’t let them see the entire scene?
In contrast to Sandra’s initial study, you occupy the “spectator” position only at the very beginning. I love the way we see Orientalism inscribed upon you, but part of me wants to see you claim more agency after that initial moment – either by performing your desire for Maud more actively or by returning to your spectator position occasionally. Or maybe the trajectory is that you start as an outside viewer desiring an Orientalist image but then cannot stop it from inscribing your own body? If so, what emotional trajectory might support that? Do you enjoy performing Orientalism? Does it horrify you?
1) there are many strong moments- I love how you interact with her image- that can be a whole section- I can even see it in juxtaposition to/contrast to, or in extension of my abhinaya study- It could somehow follow it- shift it? Somehow I could also see that live- the next parts are for difficult for me to imagine live.
ReplyDeleteThe multiplication with the veil, which later becomes a sari is an interesting and effective shift that holds lots of potential- can be another shift in meaning/questioning/expression- what you/we want to say- opening multiple dimensions.
I love the part where we only see your legs and her twice- in many different places. This I can see as a dance for camera work which can get pretty elaborate. Actually makes me think of a possible group dance-for-camera work too.
I like the steadiness of the reading, the whisper, the bells- opens so much scope for movement, and yet grounds it in a solid frame. I cannot hear the more complex sentences too easily, but I guess I notice them and if texts came back throughout, and one would suddenly hear something that was already read once before, then it might strike more clearly. But it does not bother me to not hear every detail beyond ‘sins of such wonderful flesh’