Vincent van Gogh is known for his chaotic paintings and similarly tumultuous state of mind. Now a mathematical analysis of his works reveals that the stormy patterns in many of his paintings are uncannily like real turbulence, as seen in swirling water or the air from a jet engine. Read the rest of this entry ?
Jack and I saw the IOU show ‘Waylaid’ tonight. It took place in a dome-like space; (yet another igloo-shaped structure – this must be a visual metaphor for us at the moment!). There was a sense of being in the far north, somewhere up near the arctic circle in my mind. The show involved each member of the audience wearing head phones to listen to a live music and spoken word sound track. I loved the emotional layering of words and sounds that this produced. It did create an audience who all seemed to be in their individual bubbles. I felt a little out of my depth responding to visual theatre as it is a new language for me. The piece explored a limbo land, a space between life and death, between being conscious and unconscious. There were strands of fairy tale elements, such as being kissed awake or trying on a glass slipper that doesn’t fit, but also surreal, almost science fiction stuff as well. Read the rest of this entry ?
Poem for Natajsa
You pour me apple tea
that catches light, tastes of golden weather.
This day is grey and full of ideas
yet to be written,
round and smooth as a pregnant belly
or a bag made from brightly coloured beads.
The world is a glass – neither half full
or half empty but ridged and beautiful in its own right. Read the rest of this entry ?
The welding projector
This trick was invented and produced by Harry Kentrotas and Simon Dunckley from Cape Town. We used the trick in several shows during 2002.
You need an arc welder. It’s not only useful to do metal work but can also be used perfectly as a light source to create a shadow puppet story: very bright, and within an actual light source less than a centimetre across.
The distances between the light source, the puppets and the projection surface (a wall, a container, etc.) can influence the size of the projected shadows, but doesn’t effect the sharpness: there’s always a clear-cut shadow. To prevent the audience from looking into a light that is far too bright but to allow them only to enjoy the projected images, we welded it in a small wooden box. In that, we cut out a small window, which defines the frame of the projected surface. Read the rest of this entry ?
