June 2 Salon Sit Down - Discussion

We started out at DiverseArts Little Gallery and migrated to Bolm Studios where a group of us gathered to listen to and share with this month's featured artist, Sharon Bridgforth.

Sharon's new production - the text installation love conjure/blues is about to go up in two weeks and we took this opportunity to learn about her process and the thinking behind this important work. Sharon presented us with a history of the piece, as well as two delicious excerpts from the performance. Within all of that this is a little about what we learned.

love conjure/blues began back in 1998, and its first incarnation was as a book, published by RedBone Press in 2004. Sharon identified her process as one of listening to the ancestors, and letting the work develop from feeling. Etta James, Jimmy Scott and H-Bomb Ferguson are some of the many voices that came through to her during the development of this piece, and that influence her work - as do her ancestors - both her family (with their strong legacy of storytelling) and the Black Indians of Louisiana. Where art becomes a party, becomes ritual.
Sharon described blues as sacred as ritual, as ritual itself, as making magic. Her work, directly embodies the blues and jazz - both in its content and form. For both in her text and in the elaboration of her text in four-dimensional space, Sharon is using polyrhythmic time and space. Where ancestors and spirits are as real as the embodied characters, and where a character is the same essential self through time.

One of the participants reflected back to Sharon that the process of her work makes her a conductor. This directly tied into what Sharon discussed in terms of sound. Where language is about music, and songs act as transition. In love conjure/blues specifically, sound becomes a soundscape for the text. And the text lives in a circle. And the circle is key, because place informs ritual, which informs the magic of the work itself.

The fundamental question informing Sharon's (and Jen Simmons - one of Sharon's key collaborators in love conjure/blues) is: how does spirit interact with humanity interact with people in the room interact with technology? For the answer, we will have to wait and see the performance on June 15th - when Sharon will be asking audiences to be fully present to her work, as she gives fully back to them.

Some of the questions I asked included: At what point does sound become language? How does place inform your work?

Sharon responded by saying that feeling is the point where sound becomes language, that it's a slow rise from the inside to the out. And that place absolutely has a huge role in her work - both in terms of her relationship to place (in particular New Orleans, Los Angeles and Memphis), and to what place does in setting context for her narratives.

I asked participants what Sharon's work evoke for them? Folks responded by saying that Sharon's work evokes a sense of the familiar, a pushing of form, dance, "serious play", ritual, memory, Abbey Lincoln, risk-taking, honor, and big-legged women.

Yes. Yes. and Yes.

June Featured Artist: Sharon Bridgforth

Sharon Bridgforth was the Salon's Featured Artist in June.

Bio:

RedBone Press, Lambda Literary Award winning author of the bull-jean stories, Sharon Bridgforth is currently touring The love conjure/blues Text Installation. A recipient of the Theatre Communications Group/National Endowment for the Arts Playwrights Award, Bridgforth is Anchor Artist for The Austin Project (produced by The Center for African and African American Studies, U.T. Austin). For more information go to: http://loveconjureblues.com

About her work:

THE love conjure/blues TEXT INSTALLATION IS A MULTI-MEDIA PERFORMANCE. Bridgforth has collaborated with filmmaker Jen Simmons, composer Helga Davis, and a stellar cast and crew to create a film that will serve as a digital environment that she will narrate LIVE inside of. This presentation will bring to life the reality created in love conjure/blues, that the past, present, future, the dead, the living, and the unborn coexist/tell the story in concert; and it will offer an interactive environment that will support the audience as responsible witness-participants...

Jen Simmons' work lives in the liminal spaces between the convergence of film, live performance, and the web. Simmons has created and will install the love conjure/blues film that is the digital envirnoment that will house the performance. Join in the fun as we step into a world of raucous gender bending/jook joint singing/Prayer circling/sexually liberated/deep loving fun!

For more information about love conjure/blues visit the website: www.loveconjureblues.com

An excerpt of her work:

"it was a hot night after a hot day. the peoples was in they finest/fresh pressed and set for whatever bettye's was about to bring. it was rib night/the start of the week-end..." an excerpt from love conjure/blues (c) Sharon Bridgforth, published by RedBone Press (http://www.redbonepress.com )

Watch videos of love conjure/blues

To learn more about Sharon Bridgforth's work, visit her website: sharonbridgforth.com

March Featured Artist: Wura-Natasha Ogunji

Wura-Natasha Ogunji was the featured artist for the Salon Sit Down on March 17, 2007.

Bio:

Wura-Natasha Ogunji is a sculptor who sews on paper.

About her work:

My creative work is rooted in thread. I sew on paper. I love the sensuality of thread, especially the way it looks against paper, sewn into paper, emerging from paper.

To learn more about Wura-Natasha's work, visit her website: wuraogunji.com

An excerpt of her work:

March 17 Salon Sit Down - Discussion

Today's discussion began with Zora Neale Hurston. One of the participants brought the book Speak So You Can Speak Again - the Life of Zora Neale Hurston, a collection of vignettes and printings of original writings by Zora Neale Hurston, including her short play, Spunk. Folks around town are interested in planning an event honoring the life of Zora Neale Hurston, and so we talked about how we were introduced to her work, individually and collectively, and what the impact of her work has been. Another participant commented that Zora's work, in particular, the recordings in the holdings at the Library of Congress, are particularly beautiful. Zora, at one point relegated to obscurity, has become a compass point for artists interested in questions of social interaction, overlaps in the myths of history (who's writing/telling/speaking the story?), and representation. Doubtful she would speak of herself this way, but here we are in 2007, opening a sunny Saturday afternoon discussion with a collective homage to her.

We then went on to discuss the works of featured artist, Wura-Natasha Ogunji. Wura presented individual pieces from her series, Monuments. In these works, we witnessed the extraordinary marriage of thread and paper - two fibers brought together to create a three dimensional image that is both a representation and an embodiment of intention. The majority of the pieces within the series are constituted by combinations and hybridizations of birds, women, abstract topograph-like `orgasm maps', and architectural elements (columns). In speaking about her work, Wura mentioned that the questions she is currently considering are questions of what is monumental? how does one create a piece of work that is both opened and closed, simultaneously? what are the overlaps of the sacred and profane (and she goes so far as to explicate that there is no division between these)? and finally, how does the work, and the actual thread used to create the work, demonstrate intention? Wura cited her artistic ancestors as: Ana Mendieta, Louise Bourgeois, Antonio Tapies, and Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons (as a contemporary, she serves more as a cousin). I asked her to consider questions of time/timelessness in her work, and how process and materials interact with each other. Her responses to these questions included comments on how the thread represents hours of labor on one level, however, they the composition of the piece is beyond frameworks of time. A very interesting tension in the work.

Participants also discussed connections between the body and thread - how veins and sinew are threadlike, and Wura suggested that because her work is based on Yoruba cosmology, it is simultaneously referencing the body, the earth, and the monument of the piece itself - that the stitched work is as significant as what it represents. Another participant focused on the question of intention and how intention translates beyond the aesthetics of the work into how the work interacts with the viewer. Because one of the artist's materials is thread, we touched upon the use of thread in practical matters, such as the sewing of clothes for wages. At the question of impressions, Frank mentioned the haiku "The upward flight of a great slow moving bird." (citation to follow). With Wura's work, we asked questions such as: When is a piece finished?
What is it about thread that is so intriguing? Is it that thread is both a practice and an art?

We had an intimate gathering, and wonderful discussions, as well as the opportunity to share resources and information about upcoming events.

Looking forward to meeting again!

February 17 Salon Sit Down - Discussion

Today we featured two writers, Denea Stewart-Shaheed and Erika Gonzalez.

What we focused on in the discussion were questions of artistic ancestry, the ways in which the artists' works interact with landscape and time. Excerpts from the two artists will be available shortly.

As the organizer of the event, and this being the introductory meeting, I was most struck by the balance between organic and formal interaction. I've structured the process so that the artist has time to present their work in any way they so chose. Following their presentation, I ask specifically pointed questions in an attempt to unearth the context of the work. In this sense, the folks in the Salon space act as witnesses to the artist's thought process, presentation and vocabulary.

For Denea, I asked her to speak about her artistic ancestors. She responded by citing: James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, John Coltrane and Bill Withers. What was interesting to me in this is that in addition to those artists, I also saw Toni Cade Bambara, Sharon Bridgforth. Another guest made connections between Denea's work and Tananarive Due's work. I asked Denea how she perceives the underlying dialogue of her work, and she responded that in addition to it being a story of migration, it also serves as a story about relationships between women over generations, as well as an exploration of gender and sexuality. There's sharecropping in her work, migration between Louisiana and Texas, magic, the blurring of boundaries between masculinity and femininity. When the conversation opened up to the guests, their questions and incites focused on the questions of accurate representations, a sense of time and timelessness, boundaries between present and past.

For Erika, I asked her to speak about the border, and the ways in which border tropes impact her writing process. What was immediately apparent in both her work and the reading of it are the repeated images of the border, water, assembly lines - the boundaries between machinery and human bodies - and the multiple references of landscape, mythical ancestry and blood kin. The guests asked her to consider the connections between blood-water-food, the embodiment of Coatlicue within the work itself, and to continue to explore the notion of borders and liminal spaces. Erika identified Gloria Anzaldua and Louise Erdrich as artistic predecessors, specifically. She also discussed how her work is deeply embedded in personal connections to both words and concepts. An artist that was cited in reference to her work was Wangechi Mutu.

Overall, this was a very inciteful discussion and themes of displacement, crossings, borders and water emerged from both of these artists' works. What I can't help but think about is Jonathan Lethem's article "The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism" (Harpers - February 2007) on the nature of artistic practice. He writes: "Most artists are brought to their vocation when their own nascent gifts are awakened by the work of a master. That is to say, most artists are converted to art by art itself. Finding one's voice isn't just an emptying and purifying oneself of the words of others but an adopting and embracing of filiations, communities, and discourses. Inspiration could be called inhaling the memory of an act never experienced. Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void but out of chaos. Any artist knows these truths, no matter how deeply he or she submerges that knowing." Whether or not I agree with the notion of a `master' artist is dubious, but the notion that the work of an artist is inherently intertextual (thanks T.B. for this one!) seems quite sensible. I have to say that I also appreciate being pushed to consider the notion that the creative process begins not in the moment of putting pen to paper, tool to matter, but rather, in the moment of inspiration. Very nice.

Can't wait until next month!

February Featured Artist: Denea Stewart-Shaheed

Denea Stewart-Shaheed was one of two featured artists for the Salon Sit Down on February 17th, 2007.


Bio:

Coming Soon!!

About Her Work:

Coming Soon!!

Excerpts from Her Work:

Coming Soon!!

February Featured Artist: Erika Gonzalez

Erika Gonzalez was one of two featured artists for the Salon Sit Down on February 17th, 2007.

Bio:

Erika González is a 27 year old Xicana born in the border of Eagle Pass, TX and Piedras Negras Coahuila, MX. She comes from a family of Tejano musicians and migrant farm workers. In 1998, Erika received a scholarship to attend St. Edward's University through the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) where she graduated with a degree in Elementary Education and a Minor in Psychology.

Her passion is working for social justice issues and writing. Currently Erika is Co-Director of a social and environmental justice organization based in East Austin called PODER (People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources) where she has worked for the past five years organizing around transportation, affordable housing/gentrification, health and juvenile justice for people of color and the working poor.

About Her Work:

Most of my writing focuses on women in my family and my grandparents. I always keep in mind my ancestors, my grandparents, and the Creator when I write. I see my writing as a way to heal myself and help others heal through my words. When I write, I tend to bring up bodies of water and mention the importance of land. In the pieces I chose to share with the Austin Salon, I write about the loss of my grandmother Mima due to her drinking a gallon of Miracle Water from the Rio Grande aka the Rio Bravo said to have been blessed pure. I write about the connection to my grandmother and question the treatment of bodies of water by humans (contamination) and the effects that has on our health and spirit.

In my other piece, I write about my mother and her strengths and weaknesses as my guide into womanhood. I write about the realization of my mother’s struggles and realize that it is now time for both of us to fight against what has oppressed us. I also explore my own feelings of emptiness in my womb and the hopes of one day having children.

Excerpts of Erika's Work:
published with author's permission. author retains all copyright.

School Trips Part I and II

School Trips Part I: The Tortilla Factory

I was just a little guerquía in Eagle Pass.

not too special,

not too popular,

just a little shy mocosa

in the back of a school bus

going to the tortilla factory or nursing home

on elementary school trips,

as if our mama’s tortillas and abuelitos living

in our own homes weren’t enough already.

But the tortilla factory made me understand

the tortilla in a border town….

All abuelitas made homemade tortillas…

de maíz

or de harina with every meal….

Then, there was the tortilla factory –

an abuelita’s worst nightmare.

All of us guerquios mocosos lined up

outside the building,

pansas llenas with morning tacos,

Then….

WOOF!

The door opened.

Our cheeks were kissed

with a hot breeze.

Calientito….Calientito

Machinery everywhere,

an assembly line of round maíz

just traveling around and around in a maze

and at the very end were

hundreds of stacks of tortillas, ready to be placed

in clear plastic bags.

We all looked at each other in shock,

almost wanting to puke our morning taquitos

de chorizo and eggs –

but we kept on looking and smelling,

mmmm…

Starting to smell good!

mmmm…

Starting to smell like home!

mmmm…

Starting to smell like the border,

The Border

Where corn and machines meet for the first time,

but abuelitas fight not to be replaced

with brick buildings that sell illusions

to young children

growing up in a border – modern world –

Where corn is snow genetically engineered

and future abuelitas line up for food stamps and buy into the

cycle of believing

the tortilla factory wasn’t so bad after all?

Part II: The Senior Activity Center

Once again we lined up –

Little soldaditos

With hands to our backs

And school teacher breaking us in,

Molding our postures, and saying,

“Mijos, This is the Senior Activity Center.

Portansen bien, and remember to smile

At the viejitos, okay?”

So we lined up to shake viejito’s hands,

Going around and around an assembly line

Of rectangular table while viejitos

Turned their chairs around,

Stopped eating their meals so they

Could smile at us, and shake

Our baby soft hands.

I couldn’t look into their eyes –

Just their old, wrinkled hands

That smelled like

Band aids and baby lotion.

Then viejita says,

“Ay Severino, no es esa tu grandaughter?”

My heart beat

Faster.

Too embarrassed to speak to Papa Cheno

Frozen

In line

Couldn’t move.

Couldn’t look into his eyes.

He was a stern man.

Skinny.

Alto.

Smoked two packs of cigarettes a day.

His home was my home,

But we hardly ever spoke.

We met again.

Two strangers meeting

for the

second time.

Then schoolteacher says,

“Keep the line moving, mija, keep the line moving….”

Our hands met in an embrace.

Felt warm inside.

Felt the border in my heart crumbling.

Felt the distance,

the border crossings,

my abueltio witnessing his home turn into two countries –

bitter strong man –

We crossed a distant border that day.

Papa Cheno and I,

But the line

Still keeps on

M

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