//Journal Teaspoon//
Sticky note: Title (working) Fingers on Fire or the Stupid Things I Do for ART
THD 310 Project Journal- Abridged
Tuesday 11/14 4.30 pm: How do people deal with disruption? That’s the question of the hour (or of the 5 minutes I spent trying to calm the anxiety attempting to tear its way through my gut and causing my fingers to disobey their years of training and make my Pipe Major very sad). Beside the point. I came into this project with this research question, my bagpipes, a friend with a video camera, and a gnawing fear of being approached by the authorities for being too loud. The site I chose was the lamp post outside of the JRC. Why? It’s between the two of the busiest non-residential buildings on campus, and it provided a discrete position to film the project. Why 4.30? It’s the time that most consistently fit in my schedule with being in tech for the play. Back to the original question, if this day is anything to go by, they respond to disruption with money. Somehow, I neglected to think of how much I look like a busker with my instrument and case.
Note for Tomorrow: Decide when the performance begins. Structure this journal. You’ll want it later.
11/15: Weather: Nippy.
Performance: Had to retune on the spot. Intentionally cut the opening number and then forgot the march medley. Decided the performance starts when I cross the street and approach the site and ends when I cross the tracks when I leave.
People: Quiet. Very few people passed. Of those that did, some appreciated it. Some looked like they were purposefully ignoring it.
Note for Tomorrow: How important is consistency for this project? What about contingency plans for the cold? How are you going to deal with your need for consistency after you’ve established a plan?
11/16: Weather: 42 degrees.
Performance: Barely remembered the march set. Anxiety is starting to subside. Still bumbling through parts.
People: Two people from GWSS came back for more after yesterday. Small crowd of acquaintances came to listen. Some of them knew about the project. This raises a question. Does knowing something is for a class make it more socially acceptable in an academic environment?
Sticky Note: If someone asks if you’re playing for money, just say yes.
Note for Tomorrow: Consistency is important, but a contingency plan is necessary. I’ll deal. Compile a shorter pipe set and a whistle set since the pipes tend to choke when it gets below 32 degrees.
11/17: Weather: 28 deg. Hush.
Performance: Played a shorter set. Still can’t feel my fingers. Pipe reed began to choke. Attempted whistle set. Not sure why I thought that would work if I couldn’t feel my fingers. Should I be here? No, but a commitment is a commitment.
People: It’s too cold for people outside. Someone watched from Kistle study room. Curious how much they could hear since it’s not super loud inside Noyce. Starting to learn how weather affects an audience and a performer.
Note for Tomorrow: Should we move the camera? Nah. Consistency.
Sticky Note: Time to have an existential crisis about this project. I feel like my project isn’t up to snuff. I’ve been looking into other durational artists and I feel majorly out-classed. To be fair, they’re professionals. It’s just that I’m not here tackling any lofty social issue or making any world-altering commentary. I’m just having an embodied experience around a narrow question that only interests me, and I’m not even getting any good answers. Just more questions.
11/18: Weather: Not bad at all.
Performance: Today was nifty. Fingers??? Retaining feeling??? What is this??? Only played the short set even though I could have gotten away with the longer one. Better safe than sorry. The anxiety has decided to calm down completely which is exciting.
People: Noyce is busy. The street is dead. The Kistle viewer was back with friends one of whom appeared to be filming.
Note in response to yesterday’s crisis: I had expected to trouble others’ notions of what constitutes normal, but in reality, it seems like I’m troubling my own instead. I am at a point where this almost feels normal even though I know it’s not.
Note for Tomorrow: It’s supposed to be warmer tomorrow! Get pumped.
11/19: Weather: I lied. How a little breeze can make 32 feel like 23 is beyond me.
Performance: I lost all feeling in my fingers and the reed choked so hard I couldn’t even finish. So much for consistency even in the contingency. I’m starting to wonder if my need for consistency is stemming from my STEM background or just from my own stubborn nature.
People: The people were the smart ones today. Inside. Warm. The most audience I got was people driving by looking confused.
Note for Tomorrow: Experiment with a way to play with gloves if the windchill is below 26 tomorrow.
11/20 Final Performance: Weather: The wind chill was indeed below 26.
Performance: I tried the gloves. They failed. So, did my reed and subsequently, my fingers. Boy howdy, do I love ending a project on a low note. Have I considered playing one extra day to redeem myself? Yes, but this project’s over and that would be going against the original plan and a commitment is a commitment
People: Well no one was here to watch me fail ‘though the squeaking is audible in Noyce. Oh well.
Note: What do you get when you and the weather go head to head in a match of pure stubbornness? An embodied experience that you probably wouldn’t ever want to repeat but that made you think about the meaning of consistency and how no live performance is ever truly the same. That, and fingers that burn as they thaw.
End of Journal.
Sticky Note: Title: The Mid-autumn Misadventures of a Mulish, Midwest Piper
//Journal Images
//Video Footage
//Wednesday (First Perf)
//Sunday (Fifth Perf)
//Tuesday (Final Perf)
