Black Water, Performance, 2016
In the tradition of fairytales, suffering is caused by a character who seeks to transfix according to their own interests and to cease change in order to maintain power. With the use of a magical gesture or antidote, enchantments are broken; movement and change are once again possible. Black Water is a liquid whose origins, like water on earth, are ancient and extraterrestrial. It lubricates rigid bodies, engendering healing, fluidity and metamorphosis, but also possesses darker, mysterious qualities of poison and refuse.
This piece was originally conceived as a commissioned performance for an event at the Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo, NY. The music, written and spoken text, lyrics, video, and performative actions were all composed simultaneously, in an exploration of how a constellation of media converse with one another.