Interaktionslabor, Germany 2

Two more days.

Now I can see the whole piece.
I know what I am doing in each scene.
The woman I am playing, still I don't like her but I've got her.

The process has been something interesting. We are dealing with interactive technology, and talking something about inter-subjectivity, communication, real or virtual etc. Cool.

OK then. Look at the process we have been going through for these two weeks. Everyone says that this is so precious opportunity to work with the numbers of experts in each art discipline. I would say this is the only occasion that everyone gets together except the actual show. It is true that we are spending quite many hours together to create something, but I doubt if things happened as much as this if we were communicating through the internet or emails.

Here is actual real interaction between people and their ideas. Each of us create something they want to try, put them together, select what works in the performance context. As we do this process, there are other problems on another level coming up. For example, how we can reach an agreement on the treatment of movie we made for a love scene, which contains some nudity that performers do not wish to show (yeah I'm one of them). We have a discussion about it. This is not directly related to the creation itself and maybe the discussion does not reach to a clear conclusion. But what I see is that the activity of discussion makes people communicate and it gives some good affect on the creation of a collaborative work. Lots of try-out and discussion work in that way. They don't bring conclusions most of time but it works as oil or spring board for the creation.

The oil and the spring board make the richness of a performance. I tend to rush into a conclusion, or try to get a result quickly, but I have to remind myself that nothing is waste. They are fertilizer and we don't know what kind of flower is coming out from there, and when.

On the other hand, there is a danger of just thinking anything goes. Like everything, the balance is important. Playing and planning. Planning and playing.

Going back to the interaction, so, the actual meeting and interaction of people bring infinite possibilities. In the chaos of unreasonable humans (yes they are), a sparkling jewel jumps out.

Communication on the internet has different quality. I remember this man, who could tell me so much about his personal things like what happened in the past and what's going on in his life, however, could not tell me anything face-to-face. The personal private intimate communication on emails is also a particular art, that cannot exist in the reality.

I am writing this, and I never talk anything like this to people.

Is this just my lack of ability of talking, or the nature of a blog?

...Probably both.

Interaktionslabor, Germany

I am here in Gottelborn, Germany for Interaktionslabor. Interaktionslabor is an annual workshop for technology and performance. I came here two years ago too. This time, I am working with a group of 15 people(!) with different expertise such as fashion, textile, animation, motion graphics, music and performance. Suna no Onna is the title of the physical theatre we are making, which is based on a Japanese novel of the same title,the Woman in the Dunes in English. I am playing the role of the woman who lives deep in the dunes.

This novel can be described surreal, but to be honest, quite depressing. There are no one who I feel attracted in the story, and this woman is one of those types who I would avoid. Someone who does not question about their circumstances. She just accept and get on with it. (you probably want to know why she lives in the dunes, which no one knows including herself!).She does not show emotions, and waits and waits to get something she wants, for example a man. I almost disgust this woman. I cannot deny that there is some part of me like her. Is this typical nature of Japanese woman? Maybe ones in older generation? I have felt same irritation towards my mother before- why she cannot change the situation if she does not like it? Why she even does not make any struggle and just accept it?

Olu, a performer who plays the man who gets trapped by the woman, said "this woman is quite Zen, isn't she?". Ah, yes, you can say that. I like Zen generally. There is particular minimalistic beauty of being. I have studied a bit about Zen for my choreography several years ago, and I found that the key of Zen is acceptance. Rather than fighting against things and people you have, just accept them. OK, so this is what the woman is doing. Well, then I saw the negative side of Zen. I may not like it any longer.

But still, I have to work on the character since I have to perform her. This is hard. The project is also hard because there are so many involved, and so many technology and aspects to deal with. Hopefully after this intensive nine day work, I can connect everything and integrate them with the character.