skirt the full circle

Dear diary -

These past couple weeks i had the centerpiece exhibit for the March ArtWalk at Doubting Thomas gallery; saw Easy Action and Cleveland Psych-Out with the Cynics and Rainy Day Saints; did the sound design for the first production of the 2011 season for convergence-continuum; put in an application for Pop-Up Pearl; celebrated Ostara with old friends i seldom see; had a lovely dinner with *other* old friends i see even less as they live in Ontario; walked downtown to see the St Patrick's Day parade; attended the world premiere screening of Long Way to Oblivion, a short feature written, shot, and based in Cleveland; and what else. Oh yeah. Got a year older and threw myself a party. You know, a typical few weeks in the life of a wolfkitten.

i've already written about the sound design in my last entry, seeing friends and bands is just what it sounds like, and getting old is a drag, and not in the fabulous lime-green false eyelashes sense either. i am really glad to have been invited to see the Canadians when they were in town, as One, they're just wonderful, fun, artsy people; and Two, it was really lovely and affirming to share food and wine and conversation with a group of folks who are all, in one way or another, continuing to live authentic and artistic lives in the face of a society that does not actively encourage either one.

What i really want to tell you about, tho, is the piece i did for the show at D.T. I'm probably more proud of the concept than i am the execution - not that it turned out badly; just that it didn't quite live up to the picture i had in my head, but then, when does art ever do that? The theme of the show was Full Circle, and i spent a couple weeks after agreeing to do it wracking my brain for something that would fit that idea.

What i came up with was first, the Wheel of the Year: the pagan concept of the turning of the seasons as a circle that we move through. But how to depict it? It would have to be shown in a circular format, obviously; however, i knew i wasn't likely to stretch a canvas into anything like a round shape. Finally, inspiration! i would make a circle skirt, of course, of course. And so i did.

It began as a plain white flannel sheet from the thrift store, a sketch, and a pattern (Simplicity 3847). Once the four panels were cut, i made a loose sketch on the material, and then the fun began. Originally, i wanted to do it all in batik, but batik is messy, i don't own a tjanting (batiking tool), and of course i'd left myself not quite enough time to work on it properly. Of course. Over the course of a couple days, i did get some rough wax outlines painted on. i'd purchased dye to use, but it wasn't turning out as i'd like so i opted for (shh - don't tell) food coloring instead. Which means the garment is likely NOT washable but its Art, right?

i'd found some tiny applicator bottles at Pat Catan's and used those to squirt on red, yellow, green, blue and black (that last being thinned acrylic). i know i had a couple shots of the panels drying on my porch that i want to put here, but now i can't find them to save my life. Instead i do have two pics of more-or-less completed panels:



Spring-summer first, then fall-winter.

The wax contained the colors somewhat, but there was more bleeding than i'd anticipated, so i had to let each color dry thoroughly before adding the next. Once everything was dyed, i had to remove the wax by ironing the panels between pages of newsprint - pages and pages and pages. i should have taken a shot of the mess this made of my workroom; i was ankle-deep in wax-soaked ad supplements by the time i was done!

After that, it was pretty simple to assemble the skirt - yes, including a zipper, to the surprise of some at the show. You can't see it here, but i used silver thread to hem it. Each panel has sequins or glitter embellishing some part of the design, and the pagan names for the eight holidays (solstices and equinoxes, plus the four 'cross-quarter days' that fall midway between them) written in gold metallic pen around the waistband. The piece will probably go up in my Etsy shop soon, cuz what else am i going to do with it?

And here - ta-da! - is the finished product en situ:


the upper edge wasn't tacked down enough to keep it from sagging, hence the ruffled look; but i really like the way it was surrounded by my friend Natalia's photos, all printed on round media just for this show. Here's a picture of the curator, Chelsie, in her fabulous outfit at the closing party.

Chelsie has a small part in Long Way to Oblivion, as do a number of my friends. The writer/director, Shawn Mishak, was the first person to ask me to submit something for a show back when i'd first returned to Cleveland in 2006; he hosted the long-running open mic at Edison's that was part of my weekly routine for years, and has been a true and supportive friend ever since i met him. The camerman/director of photography, Noel Maitland, was part of the technical crew at convergence when i first started, and (along with our late and much-missed friend brin) was one of the people to show me the basic ropes of sound design - so not only was there no WAY i was not going to attend their premiere, it all kind of comes - wait for it - Full Circle, don't you think?

And on that note, i better duck and run before you can reload. i promise i'll ~*try*~ to get another entry up mid-month, but April is teh crazeh tiem for me. i've already started prepping for the Fairie Festival that happens at the end of the month, and that is going to eat my time and my brain in a major way. Plus i modeled for the Pretentious Tremont Artistes group tonight, running lights for Morticia's Chair at the end of the month, costuming the next convergence production (and making puppets. PUPPETS!) and pulling together a one-day arts and community center prototype for Pop-Up Pearl so-o.. don't expect me to touch down anytime soon. But i promise i'll check in here when i do. Ta lovies!

The Alchemy of Sound Design

i've been meaning to put up a post for a while on the process of sound design, and now - while i'm in the middle of one, yet stalled - seems as good a time to do it as any (i'm stalled temporarily because the internet is down at the coffeeshop and i need to download files). Designing sound just might be my favorite thing to do for the theater, altho costuming runs a close second. As i tweeted last night, sound design is like DJ-ing - only different.

The process of putting together the soundscape for a play begins at the very first read-through. Listening to the actors go through the script, even at this early stage, can give you some ideas of where emphasis should fall, and what sort. Usually at this point, the only notes i make are emotional states: 'tense', 'mysterious', 'sexy'. However, if a particular song comes to mind, i'll put that down too, tho perhaps not right in the margins (ProTip: make notes in pencil!).

The next step is finding a cornerstone piece. Maybe this is suggested by a particular line that reminds me of a lyric; maybe it will come from a movie i've recently watched, or a CD i've been rocking lately. Quite possibly the director will have some suggestions, for types of tracks if not particular pieces. Whatever the track, it will sum up the overall mood of the play for me. Once i have this defining piece, the rest of the tracks i use will largely be grouped around it. Its not impossible that my cornerstone piece may not even get used in the play itself, altho if not it probably *will* show up in the pre- or post-show music.

For the play i'm working on now, the cornerstone was a piece by Brian Eno (which hm, come to think of it - i haven't found a place for it yet), 'Lantern Marsh'. Brian Eno leads me naturally to Robert Fripp, and i found a CD at the library i hadn't heard before, "That Which Passes". David Bowie associates with both of them, and Phillip Glass created a symphony based on the album "Low", which Bowie and Eno did together. 'Low' was recorded during Bowie's 'Berlin period', and Berlin suggests one of my favorite movies, "Wings of Desire" - and so on.

Now, this particular play revolves around the idea of instant media celebrities, so the director wanted to incorporate some NPR-style soundscapes. So while my overall mood was being created by the Bowie/Fripp/Eno/Berlin axis, a secondary thematic current has to be built around the notion of documentary soundtracks: lots of ambient soundscapes and sound effects. Often a script will call for particular sounds and even songs - i'm less happy when the playwright includes specific songs in the script, because i seldom agree with their tastes and choices, but you work with it. i found a site that offered free themes for use in podcasts, and was able to grab some things from there for the news aspect; other online sites provide canned audience reactions.

As you might expect, an NPR-type jazz intro theme doesn't in the *least* blend with the Teutonic dark ambient soundscape. This is good. Now, we can heighten the contrast between the fakely-cheerful media gloss on a subject, and the bleak discordance the subject is actually experiencing inside - a discordance that will become increasingly apparent as the flow of the narrative reveals itself.

This brings me back to the similarities with DJing. When i did college radio, i always preferred the late night slots, so that i could stretch out and put together hour-long sets if the mood was right. i would program based on my own mood, of course, but my mood was shaped by the group around me (the strange little tribe that called itself Thee Dark Lodge) - and i would begin to discover during those halcyon nights just how much an overall mood might pervade a scene, a town, a region. i would tap into an emotional state and program pieces that matched that state - which, in turn, would further SHAPE that state for anyone who happened to be tuned in to that night's show.

With sound design, i'm still shaping the flow of emotional reaction in my audience, although i only carry part of the responsibility for that influence. The actors themselves have the bulk of it; the lights, costume, set and actions contribute as well. Ideally, my sound design choices will work with the action onstage, serving functionally as an amplifier to what's being presented. Its a well-known cliche that movie music will clue you in to the action: Uh oh, here comes the scary part! Scoring for a play serves exactly the same function. Music and sound can indicate a mood, but they can also indicate a place – which may be somewhere different from where the action is occurring – a time (likewise) – or a particular character. You probably won’t use a character theme for every entrance, but if you use it a couple times, then that music can ‘refer’ to the character even if they’re offstage.

If you’re curious how this all comes together, “Valparaiso” by Don DeLillo opens Friday, March 18th at convergence-continuum. Doors at 7:30, curtain at 8:00 pm. Want to make a night of it? The Tremont TapHouse is just down the street, and a number of other fine restaurants like Properity, Bac, and Grumpy’s are right around the corner. And sadly, i am not getting kickbacks from any of them, i just like to promote good LOCAL entertainment. If i don’t see you there, i’ll catch you back here sometime real soon!

Crow's Tree

If you are reading this, you're probably already aware that we lost brin metzendorf (aka madbunny, aka Samual Crow Walker), a valued member of many of Cleveland's edgier arts scenes, last month. This past weekend, a number of his friends and associates gathered in Tremont's Lincoln Park to plant a living memorial to him.

If you go to the gazebo in the center of the park and then head down the path leading directly out to West 14th street, you'll notice three younger trees on the left-hand side. The middle one of these, a cherry tree set farther back, is his tree. Crows like cherries, you know; and its a rather tall and skinny tree, for a tall and skinny fellow.

i'd like to ask people who are in and around Tremont to stop by from time to time. Whether walking your dog, catching some rays, or just relaxing on an afternoon, take a little detour to visit. Bring some water if it hasn't rained lately, but bring something else too. Bring the things you'd tell brin if you could. What are you up to lately, what are you working on, what have you accomplished? Play some music, read it a poem, work on a sketch beneath the branches. Consider it a sort of mailbox where you can drop off messages - and who knows, maybe receive some as well.

i know that not everyone who reads this will share my beliefs and ideas about things beyond the known, but that's ok. This can still be just a nice spot in the park, a living thing that needs all of our care and attention to thrive. But if you have Belief - and i know that brin himself did - it can also be something More. There are many things a Tree of Tales can mean, many ways it can manifest. i have my vision; i hope you all will add yours. And most of all, pass the message along. This spot may be most special to those who knew and loved him, but the idea is one that can grow past even his wide circle of influence.

Thanks, folks. To everyone who came out and helped plant, and everyone who will continue to nurture both the tree and the legacy brin left behind. And if you'd like to discuss any of the deeper concepts implied here, i can often be found on the patio at Edison's, at the theater, or sitting outside Civilizations. Just ask for the village witch.

Rats and Bats and Tastes Like Chicken for Candy

Well. So much for 'soonest'. Its taken so long (read: i got too busy) that i decided to make this a separate blog, as the first was long enough. In fact i'll probably put up at least two tonight, to break the weekend into semi-manageable chunks. Not how i ~lived~ it of course. But then we can't all be the Fabulous Sascha Peppercorn. In fact, none of you can, because i already am. Heh.

i believe our intrepid heroine was last seen entering Duck Island Friday night. i love the Duck; its grimy and yet artsy, nothing works properly, and some of the crowd really DO lead sordid lives. Plus its not in an obvious location, almost in Tremont but not quite, so that you don't often have to worry about the plague of touristas that regularly infects some place like Edison's.

Friday was the one bartender's last night, so they were having a Sordid Lives party as her going-away. i've only seen the movie once, under rather dubious circumstances involving a drunken pilot and a pan of lasagna (don't ask). Friends of mine, however, are BIG S.L. fans, so i can recite "Why, Dr. Eve, you're not wearing any panties!" with the best of them. And there *was* tuna noodle casserole. Fried chicken. And apple pie. This was a good thing, because while i probably did eat before i'd left for the play, that would've been hours before and i was perhaps just a weeee bit woozy by then.

Ah, i nearly forgot! There were also three girls who came in late and sat side-by-side on one of the couches in front, hoovering up whatever food was left at that point. Gobble gobble gobble. My one friend said they looked like three dogs, their faces in the bowl. i didn't quite see that, but it *was* kind of funny how they were scrunched together, bent over the coffee table stuffing their dear little faces. Not even sure if they knew anyone there. Gotta love the Duck.

The rest of the night was - typical. Tag-team DJs (MC Cornflake, DJ Wednesday, DJ Slade - then also Jack Smiley, whose girlfriend was having a birthday party there, at the same time as the going-away). Clove cigarets. Dancing in the smoky back room. Wednesday played 48 Crash! How can you not love that?? Et cetera. The Duck is rather like a 9-volt battery.. eh, no, let's not make that analogy, shall we? You know its a dive, you know you don't *want* to know what all is in that couch, but you keep going back because..

Which i believe is about how Friday ended. That makes this a short-ish blog post, but then, i can do that sometimes, can't i? Of course i can. Really. Just watch me, watc-

Rats in Tuna-Noodle Casserole Paradise

Freshly showered, Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come on the record player, a cup of cold coffee at hand. Ready to try and note down last night before it all slips away.. another (too)crazy night in the fabulous life of a wolfkitten. Whose transformation to London party girl is a constant source of amusement to us all.

Mostly because this isn't London and girlhood is a long way behind me. But i intend to be Maude from Harold and when i grow old (sometime after the Mandy Slade phase passes), a doddering, wrinkled old lady with fire-engine red lipstick and false eyelashes - tho in my case, the lipstick will probably be lilac frost and the eyelashes tipped in silver glitter, one of them always, always askew. When i am old, i shall wear purple? Darlings, i've worn purple all along. When i am old - and i'm edging right up on being that *any day now* - i shall wear a top hat, and a fur coat, and dress like a Puerto Rican transvestite hooker. Coz that's just how i roll, bizzotch.

So yes. The last Friday of February. The day was worse than uneventful, but i managed to regain consciousness by late afternoon. i had a vague notion to stop at the Tremont library and pick out another DVD or two before the evening proper got underway, but shilly-shallied around until there was a scant 15 minutes left before the library closed and i was still getting dressed. Oops! In my defense, my steam-heated apartment is usually *very* warm and it can be difficult to wrap my head around the fact that i'll soon be standing outside smoking in below-freezing temperatures so yes, i really DO need that extra pair of socks.

Part of the plans for the night were to attend a Sordid Lives party, to which i had originally threatened to wear my waitress costume one more time. As Twitter followers already know, that didn't happen.. well, it really would have looked ODD the rest of the night. Instead, i chose a tasteful, low-key ensemble consisting of vintage black velvet mini-dress with studded collar and cuffs, wide black belt w/silvertone buckle around my hips, antelope-print velour bell-bottoms tucked in to black Ed Hardy 'tattoo' boots, topped with my shortie black rabbit fur jacket, top hat decked w/green Mardi Gras beads (the purple ones keep falling off) and my usual leopard-print fur gloves from Tarzhet. Yes, i am rather painfully aware that this blog is in desperate need of photos, but i haven't a digicam to my name. Wufkitties is technologicamally impairded.

Soo, once bedecked for the night ahead, i made a quick foray over to my local branch library, as i had a stack of cool Movie Night DVDs due back. Naturally i pulled in just as they were locking the door; hopefully i won't get fined the extra day :-( From there it was back home to an even-quicker bit of nosh - i <3 food that can be prepped with boiling water. TVP how i adore thee. Mmm, i think i need to make another pot of mock chicken noodle soup RIGHT NOW, hang on brb! Heh. Some day i will get around to posting my cookbook on Etsy ans then you can enjoy Mock Chicken Noodle in the privacy of your very own home.

Having re-fueled, i jumped into Severin Bloo, cranked up WCSB and headed to Tremont. Met up with some of the usual crew at Edison's.. i haven't decided yet how i should refer to those who make repeat appearances in my life in this here blog. First names only? Clever aliases? In-joke nicknames? Or maybe i should assign them all numbers, or single initials. i don't know. This is the interactive section of our blog, where you, gentle reader, can click right on down to that little 'comment' link at the bottom and have your say. O Web 2.0, how connected you have made all our lives!

Anyway, i barely had time for one quick cocktail at Eds - a black russian, in honor of it being National Kahlua Day. Mmm, have not had one of those in ~years~. i used to drink them all the time in a previous party girl incarnation, the one where i spent a lot of time inhaling butyl nitrate and dancing to Donna Summer in large, dimly-lit clubs filled with slim and sometimes mustachioed young men who really weren't too interested if i took my shirt off. Those were different times, as Uncle Lou says. But in a blink it was already 7:55, and the curtain for the Theater Ninjas production of "Crave" went up at 8:00. Good thing they are performing at Asterisk Gallery, a mere few doors down from Ed's - !

"Crave" isn't exactly a play, except that its performed by actors, who move about a stage area and recite lines in front of an audience. Some of those lines can be heard in the trailer (i don't know what you see, since the gumdrop refuses to show me). Asterisk has a central staircase in the floor as you enter from the lobby - the building was originally a nickelodeon, i believe - so that the audience was seated to either side of that. The actors would come together in the center, then break apart, sometimes flying into far corners of the gallery. The seating arragement meant that each half of the audience could see into one of the 'backstage wings', while action in the other one was effectively 'offstage'. Apparently, there are no stage directions at all in the play itself, so the choreographed action was all developed specifically for this production, in this space, by this troupe. Not a piece for the 'Tony & Tina's Wedding' crowd, but one i really enjoyed.

One of the actresses, in the role of 'M.', is someone i know and work with at the Liminis. Afterwards, the cast came out to mingle in the lobby, so we had a glass of wine and got to meet everyone. M. (as i shall call her for now) introduced me to the director and assistant director of the Theater Ninjas, and put in a word for me as possible costumer for their next production, "Heddatron". Robotic Ibsen? Oh *hells* yes. i'd already been eyeing audition notices on this one, trying to figure out if/how i might qualify somehow. But as costumer? Teh squee, i be has-ing it naow.

Of course, this one opens two weeks after "The Mineola Twins", which i'm stage-managing at the Liminis, and two weeks *before* the Fairie Festival, which is really the only craft show/event i do any more, and for which i should already be building up stock coz i'll sell almost everything i bring. Fortunately, the big secret "Center for Rock Research" project had to be pushed back to June, or i would ALSO be running lights on a brand-new DMX lighting system i know virtually jack and squat about right on opening night. As it is, it would be heaping my plate up pretty full, but hello? Theater work? If they offer it, you KNOW i'm going to say yes. And then proceed to drive myself backwards getting everything done in the next two months. See above reference to purple.

So. Yes. Since "Crave" is just less than an hour long, we were done and out of there while it was still relatively early - so back to Edison's for a moment to re-group. There, i was reminded that Kid Tested, fronted by a friend of mine, was playing at the Matinee; but i didn't think i wanted to try and squeeze one more thing into an already whirly night. So instead i headed directly to Duck Island, tho my one pal did hit the Matinee first. i hear Megachurch were really good and from his description i'm sorry i missed them. Can't recall if they're a Lottery League band but i'm kind of thinking so (ok i'm wrong). Btw, for anybody who might be wondering, ~why~ would such a fabulous creature as myself live in Cleveland of all places?!, just click that Lottery League link.

Ah darlings, its nearly time i was out the door, so the best(?!)(wildest) part of the evening shall just have to await my return. i don't think i'd better try driving to the Beachland in me undies, tho, so its time to pick out tonight's outfit and hustle my tuchus. Back soonest. Mwaaah.